Heritage Science and Society
Programme Head: Sharada Srinivasan
The Heritage Studies at NIAS is a multi-disciplinary programme which seeks to locate the aspect of tangible and intangible heritage, materials heritage and surviving craft practices and related technological dimensions within the educational and academic discourses in social sciences and humanities. It also makes important linkages to science and technology and explores the ramifications for science and civilisation and science and society. Topics of research include archaeological sciences and the applications of scientific techniques in the study of archaeological artefacts, art objects and heritage and the study of materials heritage in particularly archaeometallurgy, the study of metal artefacts, metal working and production and extractive metallurgy and geo-archaeology. The heritage of iron and steel production and bronze casting are especially explored. Ethnographic, ethno-archaeological and social anthropological studies on traditional metal crafts are attempted keeping in mind also the broader issues of sustainability. An extension to conservation involving preservation and restoration of cultural heritage assets is new research theme An India (DST)- Taiwan (NSC) bilateral Symposium on Technology for Preservation and Restoration of Heritage Artefacts and Architecture Design will be held in Taipei in June 2012. The use of space-based applications in the study and documentation of archaeological and heritage sites forms another significant theme. The implications of the use of digital technologies in heritage studies have been recently initiated. Material culture is studied from a range of contexts including Chola and Vijayanagara bronzes and sculpture, megalithic cultures and metal artefacts, Harappan archaeometallurgy, early historic sites such as the Indo-Roman trading port of Pattanam, pre-industrial iron and steel and high-carbon wootz steel from antiquity. Projects range from the UKIERI-I project in collaboration with Exeter University in archaeometallurgy which used multi-disciplinary approaches such as archaeometallurgical survey, GIS techniques in archaeology, materials characterisation and ethnoarchaeology, and UKIERI-II project for PhD in the area of Intangible histories (including topics in archaeology and drama) to the DST supported India Digital Heritage project which also has as its aim the setting up of a knowledge resource for Hampi. The NIAS Heritage Studies programme is working in partnership with numerous national and international institutions including Indian Institute of Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Exeter University, Kerala Council for Historical Research, Oxford Research Laboratory for History of Art and Archaeology, Archaeological Survey of India, British Museum, University of Chicago, Tokyo University of Arts, Toyoma University, University of Michigan and University of Chicago, USA.
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Opportunities for the Position of Post-Doctoral Associate (Last Date to Apply: 15th July 2018)
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Settar, S., 2018. Prakruta Jagadvalaya: convergence of Prakrit, Kannada and Sanskrit languages, Bengaluru: Abhinava. Available at: https://www.sapnaonline.com/books/prakruta-jagadvalaya-settar-s-1234096862-5551234096864?position=1&searchString=prakruta%20jagadvalaya.
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Rajani, M.B. & Das, S., 2018. Archaeological Remains at Nalanda: A Spatial Comparison of Nineteenth Century Observations and the Protected World Heritage Site. In Records, Recoveries, Remnants and Inter-Asian Interconnections: Decoding Cultural Heritage. Records, Recoveries, Remnants and Inter-Asian Interconnections: Decoding Cultural Heritage. Singapore: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. Available at: https://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/2305.
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Menon, S.M., 2018. Megaliths: New perspectives for future studies. In Beyond stones and more stones. Beyond stones and more stones. Bengaluru: Mythic Society, pp. 208-256.
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Thakur, H., 2018. Buddhism, donors and donations at Sannati (3rd century BC- 3rd century AD) – an archaeo-material perspective. In International Conference on the Growth and Development of Indian Culture: Historical and Literary Perspectives (Pre-historic Period-12th C CE.) . International Conference on the Growth and Development of Indian Culture: Historical and Literary Perspectives (Pre-historic Period-12th C CE.) . 29-6 to 1-7-2018. Bengaluru: Dr. S.R. Rao Memorial foundation for Indian Archaeology, Art and Culture.
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Menon, S.M., 2018. From megaliths to temples: Astronomy in the lithic record of South India. 9th International Conference on Oriental Astronomy, Growth and Development of Astronomy and Astrophysics in India and the Asia-Pacific Region, p.241‒258.
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Thakur, H., 2018. Role of Geography in sustenance of Pre-historic Settlements in Karnataka, India. Annals of the National Association of Geographers, India (NAGI), 38(1), pp.75-91.
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Mallik, A. et al., 2017. Digital Hampi: Preserving Indian Cultural Heritage, Springer. Available at: https://www.springer.com/in/book/9789811057373.
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Srinivasan, S., 2017. Chola and Vijayangara Bronzes: Archaeometallurgical mapping of shifting iconographies, Banaras: Banaras Hindu University.
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Settar, S., 2017. Halagannada Bhashe, Bhasha, Vikas, Bhashabandhavya (Ancient Kannada Language, its Evolution, its Relations with other Languages), Bengaluru: Abhinava Publications.
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Rao, D.S.Achuta & S ed, S., 2017. Administrative and Social History of Mysore under Wodeyars 1600-1800 CE, Manipal: Manipal University Press. Available at: http://eprints.nias.res.in/id/eprint/1249.
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Chandru, U.V. et al., 2017. Digitizing Hampi and Lepakshi Temple Ceiling Murals: Towards Universal Access and Tangible Virtuality. In Digital Hampi: Preserving Indian Cultural Heritage. Digital Hampi: Preserving Indian Cultural Heritage. Singapore: Springer, pp. 189-203. Available at: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-981-10-5738-0?page=1#toc.
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Mallik, A. et al., 2017. Indian Digital Heritage: The Next Steps. In Digital Hampi: Preserving Indian Cultural Heritage. Digital Hampi: Preserving Indian Cultural Heritage. Singapore: Springer, pp. 393-403. Available at: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-981-10-5738-0?page=2#toc.
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Srinivasan, S. et al., 2017. Vijayanagara Era Narasimha Bronzes and Sculpture: Digital Iconometry. In Digital Hampi: Preserving Indian Cultural Heritage. Digital Hampi: Preserving Indian Cultural Heritage. Singapore: Springer. Available at: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-981-10-5738-0.
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Chandru, V. et al., 2017. Digitally Archiving the Heritage of Hampi . In Digital Hampi: Preserving Indian Cultural Heritage. Digital Hampi: Preserving Indian Cultural Heritage. Springer. Available at: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-981-10-5738-0?page=2#toc.
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Rajangam, K., 2017. Linking People and Heritage: Lessons from Community Engagement Initiatives in India. In Heritage, Conservation and Communities: Engagement, Participation and Capacity Building. Heritiage, Culture and Identity. Heritage, Conservation and Communities: Engagement, Participation and Capacity Building. Heritiage, Culture and Identity. New York: Routledge, pp. 213-225. Available at: https://www.routledge.com/Heritage-Conservation-and-Communities-Engagement-participation-and-capacity/Chitty/p/book/9781472468000.
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- 24 Jul 2018 to 25 Jul 2018 Student Research Workshop: "Exploring Research on the past through archaeological methods and theory" at NIAS
- 24 Jul 2018 to 25 Jul 2018 Conference on "Relevance of Archaeology for 21st Century India" organised by NIAS.
- 8 Nov 2017 to 10 Nov 2017 NIAS- Heritage, Science and Society progamme workshop: ‘Understanding the past: Intervention through dissemination’, Lecture Hall, NIAS, IISc Campus.
- 30 Aug 2017 NIAS Wednesday Discussion: "The Untold Tales of Srirangapatna's Myriad Monuments" by M.B.Rajani, Lecture Hall, NIAS, 0930 hrs
- 18 Aug 2017 NIAS Public Lecture: “The Indus Civilization: New Insights on Trade, Technology, Ideology and Writing” By Prof. Mark Kenoyer, JRD Tata Auditorium, NIAS, 1700hrs
- 11 Aug 2017 NIAS Public Lecture: “Vishnu iconography and Art and Temple architecture in the Angkorian period” by Prof. Vasudha Narayan, Lecture Hall, NIAS, 1600hrs
- 19 Apr 2017 NIAS Public Lecture: "Multi-Billion Dollar Projects to find answers to some fundamental questions in Physics and Astronomy" by Prof. B V Sreekantan, Lecture Hall, 1600 hrs
- 12 Apr 2017 NIAS Wednesday Discussion: “Ancient Monument or Concrete Temple: One Site Many Visions" by Dr Smriti Haricharan, Lecture Hall, 9.30hrs
- 17 Feb 2017 NIAS Public Lecture: "A journey through Publishing and Short Courses in Art Conservation...," by Dr. James Black, Lecture Hall, 1600 hrs
- 27 Jan 2017 NIAS Public Lecture: "Galileo's Sources in the Arts" by Prof. Mark Peterson, Lecture Hall, 1600 hrs