The original Blog Post can be found at the following link:
https://www.magd.cam.ac.uk/news/archaeological-research-in-india
For my PhD research, under the supervision of Dr Cameron Petrie, Prof Charly French and Dr Patrick Quinn, I am working on producers, crafts and technologies of the Indus Civilisation (2500–1900 BC) in northwest India.
Simply put, I spend a lot of time looking at fragments of ancient pottery. I use a range of technological and compositional techniques to study ancient ceramic industries, including various analytical procedures. I analyse ceramic powders and thin-sections taken from pottery sherds to investigate sources of materials used for manufacturing ceramic vessels; this also allows reconstruction of how the vessels were produced. Combining multiple analytical methods with traditional visual observations of the ancient pottery, I am investigating ceramic traditions to understand aspects of Indus communities and their behaviour.
The first part of my job actually begins in the field, more specifically in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, India. From excavations at Indus sites to the study of archives of archaeological material within India, I’ve had the opportunity to spend the past year working in India alongside a team of researchers jointly from both Cambridge and Indian universities.
Continue reading the whole Blog Post at the following link:
https://www.magd.cam.ac.uk/news/archaeological-research-in-india
Dr Alessandro Ceccarelli 