I have been teaching and practising archaeology for the last twenty years. I have worked at several archaeological sites since 1983, and have co-directed explorations and excavations at the sites of Indor Khera and Rohana Khurd in Uttar Pradesh. My interests on crafts and ancient technology began with my doctoral research on the South Asian Bronze Age, and was carried forward during the excavations at Indor Khera, which gave evidence for a household-based craft economy in an urban context. I am also interested in the use of domestic space, both within Harappan and early historic urban settlements in the Indian subcontinent.

I aim to train students in the current theories and field methods of archaeology so that the vast potential of material evidence in understanding the past can be realized. My interest also lies in making archaeological data accessible to a larger audience, through pedagogical interventions such as the writing of school and university-level textbook chapters, and the devising of digital methods to project the excavation evidence from Indor Khera. I strongly feel that a sound training in archaeology can enable students to explore the past and work with material remains at archaeological sites, in museums, and with heritage management projects.

Educational Qualifications

• 1992 Ph.D Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
• 1985 M.A. Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune
• 1983 B.A. University of Delhi
  
  

Work Experience

• 09/13 – Present Professor, Shiv Nadar University, District Gautam Budh Nagar
• 01/04 – 09/13 Associate Professor, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
• 02/96 – 01/04 Senior Lecturer and Lecturer, M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara
• 09/93 – 12/95 Research Associate, Department of History, University of Delhi, Delhi

Teaching & Research Interests

My aim is to make the discipline of archaeology, one that is barely taught at the undergraduate level, accessible to a larger number of students, and enable them to view and interpret aspects of our material pasts.

My current research interests focus on technology and the patterns of domestic space. I aim to bring these together, both in the South Asian Bronze Age, as well as the early historic period through attempting an archaeology of households.

Courses Taught(Selected)

Awards(Selected)

2021 Research Excellence Award, SNU Circle of Excellence Awards