Archaeology: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Past

Archaeology and History are considered to be two sides of the same coin as their aim is to reconstruct past life ways. However, the sources and approaches to the subject are different. Due to lack of synthesis between archaeological and literary sources, there have been lacunas in the writing of history. History cannot be written without considering archaeological sources such as their settlements, structures, pottery, tools, ornaments, food remains, biological remains. Archaeology deals with a very vast period starting from the Stone Age to the modern times. The archaeological remains found in ancient sites are very sketchy, which is collected systematically in proper context by undertaking exploration and excavations. The data that is collected is analyzed in collaboration with various other disciplines such geology, geography, astronomy, zoology, botany, anthropology, physics, chemistry, social sciences, etc. The present talk will discuss the nature of archaeological data, methods of collection and its interpretation and the story of the reconstruction of the history right from the Stone Age to the modern times.