Speaking Archaeologically™

It started with Instagram posts and WhatsApp stories. This organisation, they said, will make you write research papers every 15 days (for a year!), and was dedicated to Archaeology. Apart from that, one knew little.     Perhaps it was the boredom then, or perhaps the genuine will to be productive in lazy times. At least, that was the mindset just before joining Speaking Archaeologically. Whatever the case, the virtual induction really got us working. Since physical contact was not possible, WhatsApp became the primary source of getting information on the organisation, our fellow members, or the supervisor, Shriya Ma’am. The induction itself began with a series of requirements - (we only had a bare idea of the organisation before the induction itself) - Join a Facebook group (in some cases, Join Facebook!), join Pinterest, join Trello, and join their Research Wing Induction group. With compliance to those directions sorted, then began the dive into Object Analysis , ...

If you're looking for a perfect holiday destination or somewhere you would drive to hangout and grab some beers with your friends,Sanghol might not qualify to feature in your list. But if your archaeology seeds are yearning to sprout, Sanghol is water to you. Archaeology does something to you. It makes you excited about an ordinary place, excited enough to write a blog about it. Sanghol, a small village in the Fatehgarh Sahib, district, around 40 kilometres from Chandigarh on the Chandigarh-Ludhiana highway is an archaeological haven. The village, in a series of excavations in 1968 and 1985 had yielded many sculptures, stone slabs and pillars dating back to the Kushans ( now housed at the Sanghol site museum), and also played host for the First Planning Workshop and Site Visit of Speaking Archaeologically’s New Batch. On the dawn of August 19, 2018 we set out, on what we as Batch 2018, assumed would be one great adventure trip. Something à la Indiana Jones, an idea tha...

“The past is a foreign country and art is the passport to it.” - Anonymous If my life could be a testament to anything it would probably be to the fact that staying up post three scrolling through Instagram while sipping on your second cup of espresso can land you in the most unexpected of places; sometimes ,even the right places. Now don’t get me wrong , I don’t mean to recommend such unhealthy behavior to anyone reading this but that is how I came across ‘Speaking Archaeologically’s’   Instagram handle some three months ago. Needless to say i t wasn't long before I fell in love with history all over again  and decided this organisation was something I wanted to be a part of . What followed that was me applying the famed and oft used three fold Bollywood strategy to get anything you want in life, which in this case included religiously stalking the Instagram page for recruitment posters or declarations, working hard to prove I’m worthy by sending in submissions and final...

Our 2017 Research Wing has been out and about since they joined us last September. Watch this short video summarising their activities so far.

What comes to your mind when I talk of an Archaeological recording workshop? A formal site visit led by a regimented Task In-charge?   If yes, then let me help you get rid of this preconception. Because the Speaking Archaeologically site visits are nothing like that. On the fine Sunday morning of 15th October,  I embarked on the bus journey from Chandigarh to Pinjore. Though I had visited the place before, but never knew there was a temple too. Anyway, it was a 45 minute long journey and I spent the whole time trying to wrap up the essay we had to submit the same day. I reached there by noon as we all were supposed to, where Shriya greeted us all warmly (See, what did I say? No formalities). We walked further, got onto the site, had a session on Hindu temples and conferred about them in detail. Studied Hinduism in its primary form, discussed Tantra, Mantra and Yantra, familiarized ourselves with different Gods, including the one pictured below. That's Ishana (Moon)...

Shriya, the Recruitment Team and the New Volunteers   Finally the post you've all been waiting for!  The Orientation Event of the Speaking Archeologically Volunteer Wing, the fruit of the efforts of our talented recruiters,  was held on August 13 at the Chandigarh Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10-C, Chandigarh.Panel member, Shriya Gautam joined in the team at 11 am at the Museum Entrance, with an ethnoarchaeological dress discussion drill for the new hands and a good news for the old one: she won't be alone on the next recruitment drive (but more on that later!) It was tine to show those who had joined the beautiful world of archaeology at the base source itself. Uma Maheshwari Sculpture from the Stone Sculpture Section, Chandigarh Museum As soon as a quick headcount was done, the tickets were  bought and the participants were advised to fasten their seatbelts for a tour in the world of antiquity. The twenty new history enthusiast, along with five...

Recruitments for SA is the hype in this season, A team of our very talented Volunteers-Anubhavpreet Kaur Nirankari, Athira Jamwal, Rakshanda Thakur, Tarannum Caur, Vidushi Chandel and Vedant Chandel-took up the responsibility of recruiting new hands from Chandigarh's premier institutions. As a part of this, they have been constantly meeting,  talking and organising events for the Recruitment and our Orientation Event Scheduled 11 am on August 13, 2016. They are also addressing students in various colleges in town and as a part of our first day of recruitment,  Rakshanda Thakur addressed History students of Bachelor of Arts, First Year in MCM DAV College for Women. Here's what she did today,  to set the ball rolling:  I met Athira and Tarannum today. We discussed about the classes we had to address and what all was to be said. I went to the 1st year History class of Mrs Mini Grewal , and acquainted the freshers with Speaking Archaeologically and the dif...

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!

A few days ago, the SA Scribes (official blog writers for SA) decided to interview some of the Volunteers,  who have been a part of SA in the past or are still actively engaged in the tasks.  The idea was to acquaint all our readers and followers with what SA actually does and what Volunteering for it is all about?  Does one need a background to do all the tasks? What made them join in? Let's find out in this exclusive interview by Scribe Dixita, who talked to 4 such volunteers: Anubhavpreet Kaur Nirankari SA Volunteer since November 2015 Q.1 What made you join SAV? ANUBHAV - I had always been passionate about archaeology and the concept of SA was new. TANYA- I found about Speaking Archaeologically  from a poster in a college and it seemed so interesting and something I could learn a lot from. So,  I joined it. Q.2 In your opinion does one need historical/ archaelogical background to join SA? TANYA- Definitely not. I'm from a Commerce ba...

In our last post, you read how an idiosyncratic Panel of five archaeologists started posting their findings on the Facebook page Speaking Archaeologically,  drawing interested people and parties from all over the world. Today's post is about what happened next! Within two months of its inception,  the Panelists began to receive  invites and emails from several amateurs and professionals to visit new towns and cities, with lost archaeological stories and historical anecdotes, so that, they could include them on the Global Archaeological Map.  Travelling to all these sites was, however,  impossible for the Panel. Long journeys, international flights and brain wracking archaeological work is not easily done, especially when one has to rely on personal finances for the work, after all! This gave birth to Phase II of Speaking Archaeologically: something the Panelists christened   Citizen  Archaeology .  Drawing inspiration from th...