Archaeology In The Third World

by Dilip K. Chakrabarti

This volume shows how in the first flush of Independence archaeological research added new depths and dimensions to the ancient Indian past. It also looks closely at the tangled web of ideas behind this research, highlighting the major mile-posts in its story of development.

At the same time it demonstrates with unerring clarity how the national archaeological policy of the 1950s and the 1960s has currently lost its direction. This is accompanied by an incisive analysis of different aspects of Indian heritage management, including the impact of religious fundamentalism, the looting of antiquities and the place of archaeology in Indian education. Finally, there is a detailed discussion on the scope of nationalist archaeology in India.

One of the core arguments of the book is that the developments and features of post-Independence Indian archaeology may be representative of the archaeological scenario of the Third World as a whole. In fact, this is the first book to set down clearly the basic traits of Third World Archaeology and argue for its acceptance as a separate conceptual area in mainstream archaeology.

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• The Quest for New Horizons 1947-73
  • The Beginning, 1947-52
  • The Evidence of Ancient India
  • Monographs on Prehistory
  • Developments in Protohistory
  • Comments
  • Ancient India 9 (1953)
  • Ancient India
  • The Publication of Indian Archaeology – a Review (IAR)
  • Excavations
  • Other Publications
  • Indian Prehistory: 1964
  • Some New Developments
  • 1966-73: Ancient India 20-21 (1967), 22 (1973)
  • Excavations
  • Other Publications
  • Concluding Remarks on Indian Archaeology, 1947-73
•  New Issues And Perspectives: 1947 To The Present
  • 1947: The Publication of H D Sankalia’s Prehistory and Protohistory of India and Pakistan and the New Researches
  • It is Based On
  • The Coming of Age of Radiocarbon Dating in India
  • 1975-81: Publications
  • Excavations
  • Emerging Trends
  • 1982: D P Agrawal’s The Archaeology of India
  • The Settlement-Subsistence System Approach in Prehistory
  • 1983-89: Major Discoveries and Studies in Prehistory
  • Protohistory and Later
  • Area Studies
  • Excavations
  • 1990-2000: Publications
  • Excavations
  • An Overview of the State of Publications in Indian Archaeology
  • Concluding Remarks
• Archaeological Heritage Management, Education and Nationalism
  • Introduction
  • Preservation of Archeological Heriage
  • The Role of the Indian Universities and Museums in the Preservation of Archaeological Heritage
  • The Legal Framework
  • The INTACH and Other Heritage Agencies
  • Funding
  • The Ground Realities of Indian Archaeological Heritage Preservation
  • The Big Dams and Impact on Archaeology
  • The Looting of Antiquities
  • Archaeological Heritage and Identity
  • Archaeology in Indian Education
  • Nationalism
  • Concluding Remarks
•  Religious Fundamentalism, Archaeology and The Problem and the Problem of the Preservation of Archaeological Heritage in Modern India
  • Introduction
  • The Case of the Bamiyan Buddhas
  • The Ayodhya Incident
  • The Aryans
  • Monuments and Religious Groups
  • Concluding Remarks
•  The Common Denominators of Third World Archaeology: India as an Example
  • Defining the Third World
  • The Scope of the Present Chapter
  • The Common Denominators of Third World Archaeology
  • The Colonial Background
  • The Situation after Independence
  • Discussion
•  Bibliography
• Index
• Appendix.