Essays in History of Archaeology : Themes Institutions and Personalities
Contents: Preface. I. Themes and institutions: 1. Theoretical perspectives in Indian archaeology: an historical review. 2. The Madras school and its place in the nineteenth-century Colonial Orientalism. 3. Personality of Dakshina Maharashtra: an historical perspective. 4. Archaeology in Karnataka: achievements and issues ahead. 5. On some aspects of the early history of the Deccan College, Pune. 6. On the earliest use of photography as a documentation procedure in Indian ethnology. II. Personalities: 7. Sir William Jones: a tribute. 8. Colonel Colin Mackenzie and the discovery of the Amaravati site. 9. Colonel Colin Mackenzie and the discovery of the Sanchi Stupa. 10. Contributions of Robert Bruce Foote to Indian prehistory. 11. Hasmukh Dhirajlal Sankalia: born for archaeology. 12. Homage to the Sankalias. 13. Shantaram Bhalchandra Deo: the genial generalist archaeologist. 14. Zainuddin Dawood Ansari: field archaeologist par excellence. 15. Frank Raymond Allchin’s contributions to South Asian Archaeology with special reference to Southern Deccan. 16. Christian Jurgensen Thomsen and the three age system. 17. Sir John Grahame Douglas Clark: the distinguished Disney Professor. 18. John Desmond Clark: Master of Afro-Asian prehistory. 19. Robert John Braidwood: pioneer of near eastern prehistory. 20. Lewis Roberts Binford: mastermind of the new archaeology.
The twenty essays included in this book are based on a considerable amount of archival research undertaken by the author and cover a wide range of topics concerning history of archaeology.
Part I deals with certain themes and institutions-a review of the theoretical perspectives used in Indian archaeology since beginning the newly recognized Madras School of Orientalism and the earliest use of photography in ethnological documentation. Also included in this part are two essays which review the progress of archaeological research in Dakshina Maharashtra and Karnataka and highlight the scope for further work. The essay on the early history of Deccan College in Pune focusses attention on the intense debates that took place between utilitarians and orientalists in the early part of the nineteenth century about the nature of education to be introduced in India.
The essays in Part II give the author’s assessments of the pioneering contributions made to Indian archaeology by among others Sir William Jones, Colin Mackenzie, Robert Bruce Foote, Hasmukh D. Sankalia and Raymond Allchin. This part also includes essays on C.J. Thomsen, Grahame Clark, Lewis Binford and others who contributed enormously to the growth of archaeology as an academic discipline. (jacket)
