Ph.D. Dissertation Topic: The Eternal Grind: Multiple Dimensions of Grinding Stones in the South Indian Neolithic

Advisors:

Prof. Gideon Shelach-Lavi, Professor, Department of Asian Studies the Louis Frieberg Chair of East Asian Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Prof. Naama Goren-Inbar, Emeritus Professor, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Professor Shanti Pappu, Secretary, Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, Visiting Professor, SIAS, Krea University, India

Abstract:

The primary aim of the research is to investigate the role of grinding stones in understanding issues related to subsistence, sedentism, and seasonality of the southern Indian Neolithic communities. This study examines the technological and functional variations of the grinding implements at three southern Neolithic ‘Ashmound’ sites (Sangankallu, Budihal and Tekkalakota). Ethnoarchaeological and experimental studies will be employed to reconstruct grinding stone manufacturing and use processes. Grinding stones are widely used in India for both subsistence and ritual purposes. This provides a unique opportunity to examine reduction sequences from manufacture to discard and reuse within the context of modern settled agro-pastoral communities, pastoral nomads, and hunter-gatherers. The significance of this study lies in analysing grinding stones from multiple perspectives, which helps better understand changing human interactions with the ‘wild’ and ‘domesticated’ landscapes through time in the Southern Indian Neolithic landscapes.

Projects:

• August, 2020 – Present: Government of Tamil Nadu, Department of Archaeology In collaboration with Sharma Centre for Heritage Education. Appointed as research assistant for a project on Exploration and Scientific Investigations of Neolithic Sites Along The Eastern Coastal Plain And Eastern Ghats, Tamil Nadu
• May-August, 2017: Indian Council of Social Science Research Project After Partition: Postmemories of Partition - Oral Histories of Indian Partition 1947 under Dr. Anjali Gera Roy in Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur: The aim of the project was to document the people's history of the 1947 India-Pakistan Partition, a globally disruptive event that created one of the largest mass refugee crises of the last century. Participated as a research intern engaging in collecting and curating People’s story in lieu of this great exodus.

Publications:

• Paromita Bose, Sutonuka Bhattacharya, Prachi Joshi, Mokshada Salunke and Chintan Thakar. “Conference Report: Archaeology from Home: Connecting Things and Thought”, Guest Editorial, Antiquity, (2020).
• Bhattacharya, Sutonuka. "Modern reuse of ringstones: a case study from Eastern India." Antiquity 95 (2021): no. 381.
• Akhilesh, Kumar, Paromita Bose, Sutonuka Bhattacharya, Prachi Joshi, S. Paranthaman, R. Sivanantham, K. Bakialakshmi, K. Rajan, and Shanti Pappu. "Celts, Slabs, and Space: Organisation of lithic reduction strategies in Tamil Nadu, India." Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 68 (2022): 101464.