Speaking Archaeologically™

Tell people you are a doctor, and their eyebrows shoot so high on their foreheads, you’re scared their hair will swallow it. Tell people you’re an engineer, and they have the choicest words of praise for you. Tell them you are an archaeologist, and you’ve hit the goldmine of blank-faces, confused looks and stoned eyes. Hain? You dig graves, beta? Or worse! They mistake it for architecture! (Nope, not kidding!) Archaeologist? Achha achha! So, do you design bridges? Or buildings? My typical reaction to this: What the devil were you doing in Grade 5, when you first came across the words , “Archaeologists are yet to decipher what the Indus Valley Script means!”?   Seriously, sometimes I wonder, whether I was the only one who heard my teacher explain what an archaeologist truly was! However, you’d be surprised, there are other oddballs like me who took the teacher seriously when he added in an encouraging way: “Well who knows? Maybe you can be an archaeologist tomorrow and...

Hold it right there! Save your breath. Don't expect me Allahabad juxtaposed with Prayagraj  to call it Prayagraj. The blue of a city I share part of my maternal heritage from never responded to that name. Devprayag if you must absolutely insist but it hasn't been that in several centuries. There's not much of Devprayag left, though, to be fair.  Like I said, it's not a city anymore, it's  a blur-a place where past gasps out of the present like a drowning man gasps for air, beating helplessly at the surface of water.  Allahabad (anglicised version of Illahabad) was originally named after the secular religion Mughal Emperor wished to propagate and was named after the  eponymous Illahabad Fort No matter how much you try to saffronise it, Allahabad  is secular, just like the Mughal Emperor,  w ho decided to call it that but its fate is not too different than that of the unorthodox great-grandson, who was a "pestilent infidel" in the eyes o...

Pen Dinas Hill Fort, Aberystwyth Pen Dinas is the pre-eminent hillfort on the Cardigan Bay coast. The position of Pen Dinas allowed for visual command and political control of the two regional arterial rivers, with sweeping views both inland and also to the North and South of Cardigan Bay. This hour-glass shaped fort is situated on a ridge between the rivers Rheidol and Ystwyth.  Two peaks are enclosed and it is clear that originally they were separate enclosures. At first the northern summit was surrounded by ramparts with a timber revetment and a ditch. Soon afterwards, the southern crest was more substantially fortified with a stone-faced rubble bank and ditch some 3m deep. There were entrances at the north and south with gates supported by posts.  A period of decay or deliberate destruction may have followed before the southern fort was re-modelled. Eventually both forts were joined together with a new revetted wall across the saddle between the peaks, known ...

The mosque inside the Chingus Fort, Rajouri If you're an intrepid traveller like us Speaking Archaeologically lot and ever visit the Indo-Pakistan Border, you will be sure to notice a plenty of things to surprise you as they surprised me. The area of Poonch, in Rajouri District of Jammu, is perhaps the last point that is politically under India. Although under military control, now, this area once thrived with trading activity and fell on the Old Silk Route. Even today, when the roads have fallen into disrepair, you still see the Afghani Workers along the roads, best known for road maintenance. "They are the fastest in their job," our driver tells me as I point towards one. "You will be surprised how many countries hire them." However, I soon lose interest in the workers as an imposing Mughal structure catches my eye. Lesser known but a Mughal Fortress from the times of the Great Mughals, Chingus was built during the reign of Jehangir.  Back in the Mug...

“Does anyone here knows History?” the pretty lady wearing red coat asks. “No.” they answer, after couple of minutes of speculation. “To answer or not answer.” This is what came in our mind that moment. As we were there for a sculpture session which automatically means that one’s got to know about history related to different topics. “That’s perfect.” the young lady in red coat says with a smile on her face. We take a sigh of relief and she further explains. “It’s wonderful you guys don’t know about it as sometimes what happens is when we are students of History. We come with a biased opinion and we block our learning area.” I look at her stunned, wondering how can someone give such a optimistic approach to this situation? I smile, and believe me, it got me so excited for the session we were just about to begin with. To Shriya, the founder of Speaking Archeology, is someone, so many people including me are grateful for. I kid you not when I say, in my few months of bein...

Some pieces from Lyn's Private Collection A passion, how does it begin? My passion with Tunbridge Ware began when I was about 8 years old, and yes, that may be rather young to start appreciating craftsmanship, but then I had a very good mentor.  My Great Aunt Clara Shuell had a small collection of this lovely, intricate work and as I spent part of my summer holidays staying with her and my Uncle Jock at their home in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, I grew to love it as much as she did. Lyn's Great Aunt Clara Shuell and Uncle Jock If I was good, and I was in those days, I was allowed to open my Aunt’s display cabinet and  take out her collection. Auntie would talk to me about how it was made and when she had bought the pieces.  She did tell me that one day her collection would be mine, but sadly that wasn’t to be, however, my own collection has been built on trying to find similar pieces so that I can connect back to this wonderful, kind lady. My favou...

Each coin has a story to narrate, which may either be outlined on it's either side or hidden inside the covers of rust and dust. To get familiar to these hidden tales and to unfold the mysteries veiled in the metallic discs, the first workshop that was organised for the New Volunteers of Speaking Archaeologically was the Coinage Workshop.  The history of coins extends from the ancient times to the present, and is related to economic history, the history of minting technologies and the history shown by the engraved words and images. A single metal piece, unfurling a number of secrets is what attracts the lovers of this subject.  The workshop was held on the 4th of September at   S Cafe  and Bar, Chandigarh. The dim lights and the dusky-wooden shades adorning the walls of the Cafe created a perfect atmosphere. Without any delay, Shriya opened up the coins album which was welcomed all the energy that was present in the room. The enthusiasm and...

You'd think one won't be covering a Temple when one's first cousin is  getting   married !  Wrong! In the heart of my heart, I always knew that I took an off from supervising SAV India for this wedding, only because it was being held 10 minutes away from the Ancient Temple of Baijnath. You'd think a ten hour long drive on a topsy-turvy road, that included meandering our way through many village roads would be enough to exhaust anyone! The Baijnath Temple, Kangra,Himachal Pradesh, North India Oh, so wrong, again! There we were, in a hotel overlooking Binwa River, appropriately named Hotel Binwa View, and while my family was busy reuniting for the wedding, congratulating the groom, trying dresses on and discussing the events, but more importantly, resting, yours truly spent the better half of the night, talking to the man at the concierge, to the devout Aunt, to the encyclopaediac Uncle, gathering information on the site, which I was determined to visit t...

Fabric on Display When the word ‘Silk’ is mentioned, it immediately conjures an image of waves of light and luxurious fabric in bright jewel colours. However, when I get to talk about the ‘Silk Workshop’ of Speaking Archaeologically , all that I may ponder upon is the golden-mauve Thai Silk costume or the Chinese emerald-green Silk dress. After a series of written tasks, team tasks and Museum visits, the Silk Workshop acted as a source of recreation. The workshop was held in MCM DAV College, Chandigarh (Firstly, because the College staff calls it Shriya’s second home and secondly because more than half of the volunteers were students of this college,) A powerpoint presentation was prepared to highlight SA’s journey so far, it’s aim, achievements and all the activities that the volunteers were involved in.  Athira and Tarannum in  the traditional Chinese and Thai National Dresses    As I entered the Conference room, (the venue), the first ...

An Album, a Stock book and the sheets from the Workshop If I have to talk about this workshop, it was probably one of the hardest we had to organise. Stamps are almost impossible to link with archaeology but what's harder is getting them 'Workshop ready', especially since the Panel was borrowing from a private collection, which already had  been exhibited. The risk involved was too much! So, was the security I had already paid for it. (I was handling stamps worth a million dollars that afternoon and taking them amidst my bunch of loons to a place where coffee spills aren't uncommon, wasn't exactly risk free (we had some stamps right from the 1850s!) So, amidst all the stress and the tension, the Philately Workshop finally happened on January 31, 2016. The first job was to talk about what is a stamp, really? The Roland Hill idea behind paid postage, the history of this tiny scrap of paper which we were going to link with the past... There were also qu...

As a pleasant, windy November melted into a foggy December , the First Season of Speaking Archaeologically Volunteers came to an end, too. I was going to miss these loons I had spent the last one month working with and tutoring. All of us were going to miss them! That's why, there had to be a proper farewell, because some of them were leaving SAV for good. You'd think, it'd take time for a bunch of college students and an archaeologist, who has never met them outside the formal work environment, to bond. Don't be deceived! These kids know how to dig stories and anecdotes out of you, even the cringe-worthy personal details, and it's only fair they dig so well-they are archaeologists-in-making, after all! A lot happened over coffee and lunch that day-enough to get us kicked out of the restaurant. I'll shut up now and let you watch what happened before you go on to read the End-of-the-Season Report!

The Complete Feature                          It's a big deal for the Panel and the Volunteers when we make it to a National Daily like the  Hindustan Times. We, at, Speaking Archaeologically,  thank all of you for your love, support and encouragement to all of us as we strive to prevent  Forgotten History from becoming Forgotten Culture! A Closer look at what we said!

Top:  The Svetambara Temple at Zira, Bottom Left: The Newly Renovated Svetamabar Temple, Lehra Bottom Right : The Digambara Temple, Zira This one is to be a jumbled up post because I am late with this. My memory shouldn't,  but might, fail.  So, here's what happened on the day we went to Zira to see the Jain Temples .  Now, there were conflicting opinions on the temple and how old it was. Also, there's very limited record of it anywhere so, it was nothing short of surprising that I found out about it at all. Sitting at the dinner table, I wondered out loud that if it was indeed 1200 years old, it would be an ancient temple,  very very significant for SA and me because that would place it between circa 800-1000AD. We drove to Zira with the music playing and the sky a beautiful blue in front of us.   Zira is about 35 kms away from Ferozepur Cantonment and was a disputed territory during the Partition of 1947.  On reaching, I was surpris...