Art and Archaeology of India : Stone Age to the Present

Contents: Preface/S.P. Gupta. I. Introduction: 1. The early fossil hominds and related apes of siwalik foothills of the Himalayas (stages of pre-human evolution)/A.P. Khatri. 2. Hominid fossils (stages of human evolution)/V.N. Misra. 3. The pleistocene mammalian fossils of the Narmada River Valley and their horizons/A.P. Khatri. 4. Looking at Indian art history/A.Model and S.P Gupta. II. Chapters: 1. Palaeolithic period or old stone age. 2. Neolithic period or new stone age. 3. The Indus-Saraswati civilization. 4. Chalcolithic period. 5. Early historical period. 6. Medieval art and Persian documents. 7. Late medieval art. 8. Painted manuscript. 9. European art. 10. Contemporary art. 11. Decorative art. Handlist of select antiquities in the Indraprastha Museum of Art and Archaeology. Bibliography.

From the preface: "During the short period of around five years of its existence, the Indraprastha Museum of Art and Archaeology, established by the Indian Archaeological Society under a trust, has made a sizable collection of art and archaeological materials. This collection is varied, touching a number of periods of Indian history. In fact, a small collection belongs to other countries as well which throws light on the history and archaeology of those countries located in West Asia, Africa and Europe. There are prehistoric artifacts and protohistorical antiquities. There are a great number of fossils of several extinct animals, plants and wood.  There are skulls of apes and human beings. There are Persian manuscripts and documents, painted and unpainted, and works of art of historical period. There are contemporary paintings and objects of decorative arts as well.

The prehistoric materials in the form of stone tools and implements belong to palaeolithic, mesolithic and neolithic periods, while the protohistoric materials in the form of pottery and other artifacts, belong to the Chalcolithic cultures and the Indus-Saraswati civilization. The remains of the historical period belong to the Buddha's period, sixth - fifth centuries B.C. as well as Maurya, Sunga, Kushana, Gupta and medieval periods.  There are oil paintings, water colour paintings, pastel colour paintings and etchings, both old and contemporary. There are also stone sculptures, terracottas, ceramics and objects of other materials.These have been listed at the end in the form of a handlist. But around 3000 more objects still remain to be studied which will require one more catalogue."