Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

A ‘Reflexive’ Multi-Stage Survey Methodology for Historical Landscape Research in Central India:Field-Walking, Local Knowledge, and Satellite Imagery as Archaeological Site Prospection and Mapping Tools in the Sanchi Survey Project


Affiliations
1 Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, WC1H 0PY, United Kingdom
 

The present article evaluates the relative usefulness of systematic versus unsystematic field-walking, local knowledge frameworks and satellite imagery as archaeological prospection and mapping tools for the Sanchi Survey Project (SSP) in central India. While the satellite imagery proved helpful as a supplementary site prospection and mapping tool during later phases of the project, initial site identification was more effectively facilitated through ground-based explorations, and a ‘reflexive’ approach that included a sensitivity to local memory and the continued currency of archaeological sites in today’s socio-ritual landscape. Set within discussions of the role of local traditions in ‘reflexive’ field methodologies, as well as broader public archaeology discourse, the article stresses the importance of local perceptions of place and history in the development of a regionally specific research design.

Keywords

Archaeological Mapping, Local Knowledge, Landscape Archaeology, Reflexive Survey Methods, Satellite Remote Sensing.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Shaw, J., Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. 3rd Century BC to 5th Century AD, British Academy, Routledge, London, 2007.

  • Shaw, J., Archaeologies of Buddhist propagation in ancient India: ‘ritual’ and ‘practical’ models of religious change. World Archaeol., 2013, 45(1), 83–108.

  • Shaw, J., Religion, ‘nature’ and environmental ethics in ancient India: archaeologies of human: non-human suffering and well-being in early Buddhist and Hindu contexts. World Archaeol., 2017, 48(4), 517–543.

  • Thakuria, T., Padhan, T., Mohanty, R. K. and Smith, M. L., Google Earth as an archaeological tool in the developing world: an example from India. SAA Archaeol. Rec., 2013, 13(1), 20–24.

  • Conesa, F. C., Madella, M., Galiatsatos, N., Balbo, A. L., Rajesh, S. V. and Ajithprasad, S. V., CORONA photographs in monsoonal semi-arid environments: addressing archaeological surveys and historic landscape dynamics over north Gujarat, India. Archaeol. Prospect., 2014, 22(2), 75–90.

  • Rajani, M. R., The expanse of archaeological remains at Nalanda: a study using remote sensing and GIS. Arch. Asian Art, 2016, 66(1), 1–23.

  • Beck, A., Google Earth and world wind: remote sensing for the masses? Antiquity, 2006, 80(308); http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/beck308/

  • Hodder, I. (ed.), Towards Reflexive Method in Archaeology: The Example At Çatalhöyük, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, 2000.

  • Hodder, I., Archaeological reflexivity and the ‘local’ voice. Anthropol. Q., 2003, 76(1), 55–69.

  • Cherry, J. F., A preliminary definition of site distribution on Melos. In An Island Polity (eds Renfrew, C. and Wagstaff, M.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1982, pp. 10–23.

  • Renfrew, C. and Wagstaff, M. (eds), An Island Polity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1982.

  • Jameson, M. H., Runnels, C. N. and Van Andel, T. H., A Greek Countryside: The Southern Argolid from Prehistory to the Present Day, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1994.

  • Foley, R. Off-site archaeology: an alternative approach for the short-sited. In Pattern of the Past (ed. Hodder, I.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1981, pp. 57–83.

  • Plog, S., Plog, F. and Wait, W., Decision making in modern surveys. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory (ed. Schiffer, M. B.), Academic Press, New York, 1978, vol. I, pp. 383–421.

  • Ammerman, A., Surveys and archaeological research. Annu. Rev. Anthropol., 1981, 10, 68–88.

  • Dunnell, R. C. and Dancey, W. S., The site less survey: a regional scale data collection strategy. In Advances in Archaelogical Theory and Method (ed. Schiffer, M. B.), Academic Press, New York, 1983, vol. 6, pp. 267–287.

  • Carmichael, D. et al. (eds), Sacred Sites, Sacred Places, Routledge, London, 1994.

  • Bradley, R., The Archaeology of Natural Places, Routledge, London, 1999.

  • Cunningham, A., Reports of the Archaeological Survey of India, Simla, Government Central Press, Simla, 1871–1887 (reprint 2000), I–XXIII.

  • Erdosy, G., Urbanisation in Early Historic India, British Archaeological Reports (International Series), Oxford, 1988.

  • Lal, M., Settlement History and the Rise of Civilisation in the Ganga–Yamuna Doab (from 1500 BC–AD 300), B.R Publishing Corporation, Delhi, 1984.

  • Possehl, G. L., Indus Civilisation in Saurashtra, B.R Publishing Corporation, Delhi, 1980.

  • Mughal, M. R., Ancient Cholistan: Archaeology and Architecture, Ferozsons, Lahore, 1997.

  • Joshi, J. P., Bala, M. and Ram, J., The Indus civilisation: a reconsideration on the basis of distribution maps. In Frontiers of the Indus Civilisation: Sir Mortimer Wheeler Commemoration Volume (eds Lal, B. B. and Gupta, S. P.), Books & Books, Delhi, 1984, pp. 511–530.

  • Possehl, G. L., The Indus Age: The Beginnings, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1999.

  • Shinde, V., New light on the origin, settlement system and decline of the Jorwe culture of the Deccan, India. S. Asian Stud., 1989, 5, 59–72.

  • Hooja, R., The Ahar Culture and Beyond: Settlements and Frontiers of ‘Mesolithic’ and Early Agricultural Sites in South-eastern Rajasthan, c. 3rd–2nd Millennia BC, British Archaeological Reports, Oxford, 1988.

  • Murty, M. L. K., Pre-Iron Age agricultural settlements in South India: an ecological perspective. Man Environ., 1989, 14, 65–81.

  • Lahiri, N., Singh, U. and Uberoi, T., Preliminary field report on the archaeology of Faridabad–Ballabgarh Tehsil. Man Environ., 1996, 11(1), 32–57.

  • Chakrabarti, D. K., Tewari, R. and Singh, R. N., From the Ganga Plain to the Eastern and Western Deccan: a field-study of the ancient routes. S. Asian Stud., 2003, 19, 57–71.

  • Hodder, I. and Malone, C., Intensive survey of prehistoric sites in the Stilo region, Calabria. Proc. Prehist. Soc., 1984, 50, 121–150.

  • Sinopoli, C. M. and Morrison, K., Archaeological survey at Vijayanagara. Res. Explor., 1992, 8(2), 237–239.

  • Sinopoli, C., Nucleated settlements in the Vijayanagara Metropolitan Region. In South Asian Archaeology 1995 (eds Allchin, F. R. and Allchin, B.), Oxford & IBH Publ., New Delhi, 1997, pp. 475–487.

  • Sinopoli, C. M., Morrison, K. D. and Gopal, R., Late prehistoric and early historic South India: recent research along the Tungabhadra River, Karnataka. Antiquity, 2008, 82(317); http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/sinopoli317/

  • Johansen, P. G. and Bauer, A. M., The Maski Archaeological Research Project (MARP): investigating long-term dynamics of settlement, politics and environmental history in ancient South India. Antiquity, 2013, 87(336); http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/johansen336/

  • Boivin, N., Korisettar, R., Venkatasubbaiah, P. C., Lewis, H., Havanur, D., Malagyannavar, K. and Chincholi, S., Exploring neolithic and megalithic South India: the Bellary District Archaeological Project. Antiquity, 2002, 76(294), 937–938.

  • Smith, M. L., Systematic survey at the early historic urban site of Sisupalgarh, Orissa. In Archaeology of Eastern India: New Perspectives (eds Sengupta, G. and Panja, S.), Centre for Archaeological Studies and Training, Calcutta, 2002, pp. 109–125.

  • Smith, M., Systematic surface survey at the early historic site of Kaundinyapura, India. Man Environ., 2000, 25, 75–87.

  • Fogelin, L., Archaeology of Early Buddhism, Altamira Press, New York, 2006.

  • Shaw, J. and Sutcliffe, J. V., Ancient irrigation works in the Sanchi area: an archaeological and hydrological investigation. S. Asian Stud., 2001, 17, 55–75.

  • Shaw, J. and Sutcliffe, J. V., Ancient dams and Buddhist landscapes in the Sanchi area: new evidence on irrigation, land use and monasticism in Central India. S. Asian Stud., 2005, 21, 1–24.

  • Hawkes, J. D., Bharhut: a reassessment. S. Asian Stud., 2008, 4(1), 1–14.

  • Olivieri, L. M. et al., Archaeology and settlement history in a test area of the Swat Valley: preliminary report on the AMSV Project (1st phase). East West, 2006, 56(1–3), 73–150.

  • Coningham, R. A. E. et al., The state of theocracy: defining an early medieval hinterland in Sri Lanka. Antiquity, 2007, 81(313), 699–719.

  • Coningham, R. A. E. and Gunawardhana, P., Anuradhapura: Vol. 3, The Hinterland, British Archaeological Reports (International Series), Oxford, 2013.

  • Sen, S., Crossing the boundaries of the archaeology of Somapura Mahavihara: alternative approaches and propositions. Pratnatattva, 2014, 20, 49–79.

  • Casile, A., Changing religious landscapes in Gupta times: archaeological evidence from the area of Badoh-Pathari in Central India. S. Asian Stud., 2014, 30(2), 245–268.

  • Lacey, H., Nandivardhana and Nagardhan: preliminary analysis of the surface evidence from Nagardhan and Hamlapuri in the Eastern Vakataka Territory near Ramtek, Maharashtra. S. Asian Stud., 2014, 30(2), 116–132.

  • Hawkes, J. D. and Abbas, R., Copper plates in context: investigating the archaeological settings of land grant inscriptions. Pratnatattva, 2016, 22, 41–71.

  • Kennet, D., Reconsidering the decline of urbanism in late early historic and early Medieval South Asia. In Les Préludes de l’Islam (eds Robin, C. J. and Schiettecatte, J.), De Boccard, Paris, 2013, pp. 331–353.

  • Gallant, T. W., The Ionian Islands Palaeo-Economy Project. In Archaeological Survey in the Mediterranean Area (eds Keller, D. R. and Rupp, D. W.), BAR (IS), Oxford, 1983, pp. 223–226.

  • Fotiades, M., Surveying with limited resources. In Archaeological Survey in the Mediterranean Area (eds Keller, D. R. and Rupp, D. W.), BAR (IS), Oxford, 1983, pp. 207–210.

  • Singh, R. N. et al., Changing patterns of settlement in the rise and fall of Harappan urbanism and beyond: a preliminary report on the Rakhigarhi Hinterland Survey 2009. Man Environ., 2010, 35(1), 37–53.

  • Singh, R. N., Petrie, C., Pawar, V., Pandey, A. K. and Parikh, D., New insights into settlement along the Ghaggar and its Hinterland: a preliminary report on the Ghaggar Hinterland Survey 2010. Man Environ., 2011, 36(2), 89–106.

  • Beck, A., Shaw, J. and Stott, D., Best practice approaches for applying satellite imagery for landscape archaeological applications: a case study from the World Heritage Site of Sanchi, India. Proc. SPIE, 2007, VII(674905), 6749.

  • Lahiri, N. and Singh, U., In the shadow of New Delhi: understanding the landscape through village eyes. In The Archaeology and Anthropology of Landscape: Shaping Your Landscape (eds Ucko, P. J. and Layton, R.), Routledge, London, 1999, pp. 175–188.

  • Fotiadis, M., Regions of the imagination: archaeologists, local people, and the archaeological record in fieldwork, Greece. J. Eur. Archaeol., 1993. 1, 151–170.

  • Flexner, J. L., Where is reflexive map-making in archaeological research? towards a place-based approach, Archaeol. Rev. Cambridge, 2009, 24(1), 7–21.

  • Feder, K. L., Site survey. In Field Methods in Archaeology: 7th Edition (eds Hester, T. R., Shafer, H. J. and Feder, K. L.), Routledge, London, 2009.

  • Guttormsen, T. S. and Hedeager, L., Introduction: interactions of archaeology and the public. World Archaeol., 2015, 47(2), 189–193.

  • Sherratt, A., ‘Settlement patterns’ or ‘landscape studies’? reconciling reason and romance. Archaeol. Dialog., 1996, 3(2), 140–159.

  • Hodder, I., Entangled: An Archaeology of the Relationships between Humans and Things, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, 2012.

  • Bailey, G. and Mabbett, I., The Sociology of Early Buddhism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003.

  • Shaw, J., Sutcliffe, J. V., Lloyd-Smith, L., Schwenninger, J.-L., Chauhan, M. S., Harvey, E. and Misra, O. P., Ancient irrigation and Buddhist history in Central India: optically stimulated luminescence and pollen sequences from the Sanchi dams. Asian Perspect., 2007, 46(1), 166–201.

  • Cunningham, A., Bhilsa Topes, Smith, Elder & Co, London, 1854.

  • Shaw, J. and Sutcliffe, J. V., Water management, patronage networks and religious change: new evidence from the Sanchi Dam complex and counterparts in Gujarat and Sri Lanka. S. Asian Stud., 2003, 19, 73–104.

  • Shaw, J., Sanchi as an archaeological area. In History of Ancient India (eds Chakrabarti, D. K. and Lal, M.), Vivekananda International Foundation and Aryan Books, New Delhi, 2013, vol. 4, pp. 388–427.

  • Doelle, W., A multiple survey strategy for cultural resource management studies. In A Guide for Cultural Resource Management Studies (eds Schiffer, M. B. and Gunnerman, G. J.), Academic Press, New York, 1977, pp. 201–209.

  • Shaw, J., Monasteries, monasticism, and patronage in ancient India: Mawasa, a recently documented hilltop Buddhist Complex in the Sanchi area of Madhya Pradesh. S. Asian Stud., 2011, 27(2), 111–130.

  • Shaw, J., Stupas, monasteries and relics in the landscape: typological, spatial, and temporal patterns in the Sanchi area. In Buddhist Stupas in South Asia: Recent Archaeological, Art–Historical, and Historical Perspectives (eds Shimada, A. and Hawkes, J.), Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2009, pp. 114–145.

  • Shaw, J., Buddhist and non-Buddhist mortuary traditions in ancient India: stūpas, relics and the archaeological landscape. In Death Rituals and Social Order in the Ancient World: Death Shall Have No Dominion (eds Renfrew, C., Boyd, M. and Morley, I.), Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 382–403.

  • Rosen, A. M., Cities of Clay: The Geo archaeology of Tells, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1986.

  • Blinkhorn, J., Bora, J., Koshy, J., Korisettar, R., Boivin, N. and Petraglia, M. D., Systematic transect survey enhances the investigation of rock art in its landscape: an example from the KatavaniKunta Valley, Kurnool District. Man Environ., 2010, 34(2), 1–12.

  • Beck, A., Philip, G., Abdulkarim, M. and Donoghue, D., Evaluation of Corona and Ikonos high resolution satellite imagery for archaeological prospection in Western Syria. Antiquity, 2007, 81(311), 161–175.

  • Donoghue, D. N. M., Galiatsatos, N., Philip, G. and Beck, A. R., Satellite imagery for archaeological applications: a case study from the Orontes Valley, Syria. In Aerial Archaeology: Developing Future Practice (eds Bewley, R. H. and Raczkowski, W.), IOS Press, Leszno, 2000, pp. 211–223.

  • Tilley, C., A Phenomenology of Landscape: Places, Paths and Monuments, Berg, Oxford, 1994.

  • Schopen, G., Burial ‘ad sanctos’ and the physical presence of the Buddha. Religion, 1987, 17(3), 193–225.

  • Lahiri, N., Archaeological landscapes and textual images: a study of the sacred geography of late medieval Ballabgarh. World Archaeol., 1996, 28(2), 244–264.

  • Shaw J., Ayodhya’s sacred landscape: ritual memory, politics and archaeological ‘fact’. Antiquity, 2000, 74(285), 693–700.

  • Davis, R. H., The Lives of Indian Images, Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 1999.

  • Di Castro, A., Graves trees and powerful spirits as archaeological indicators of sacred spaces. In Old Myths and New Approaches (ed. Haendel, A.), Monash University, Australia, 2012, pp. 237–251.

  • Fredengren, C., Unexpected encounters with deep time enchantment. Bog bodies, crannogs and ‘other worldly’ sites. The materializing powers of disjunctures in time. World Archaeol., 2016, 48(4), 482–499.

  • Northcott, M., Myth, ritual, and the new universe story in the Inner Hebrides. J. Stud. Relig. Nat. Cult., 2015, 9(2), 192–198.

  • Coccari, D. M., Protection and identity: Banaras’s Bir Babas. In Culture and Power in Banaras: Community, Power and Environment 1800–1980 (ed. Freitag, S. B.), University of California Press, Berkeley, 1989, pp. 130–46.

  • Cherry, J. F., Frogs around the pond: current archaeological survey projects in the Mediterranean area. In Archaeological Survey in the Mediterranean Area (eds Keller, D. R. and Rupp, D. W.), BAR (IS), Oxford, 1983, pp. 375–416.


Abstract Views: 394

PDF Views: 136




  • A ‘Reflexive’ Multi-Stage Survey Methodology for Historical Landscape Research in Central India:Field-Walking, Local Knowledge, and Satellite Imagery as Archaeological Site Prospection and Mapping Tools in the Sanchi Survey Project

Abstract Views: 394  |  PDF Views: 136

Authors

Julia Shaw
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, WC1H 0PY, United Kingdom

Abstract


The present article evaluates the relative usefulness of systematic versus unsystematic field-walking, local knowledge frameworks and satellite imagery as archaeological prospection and mapping tools for the Sanchi Survey Project (SSP) in central India. While the satellite imagery proved helpful as a supplementary site prospection and mapping tool during later phases of the project, initial site identification was more effectively facilitated through ground-based explorations, and a ‘reflexive’ approach that included a sensitivity to local memory and the continued currency of archaeological sites in today’s socio-ritual landscape. Set within discussions of the role of local traditions in ‘reflexive’ field methodologies, as well as broader public archaeology discourse, the article stresses the importance of local perceptions of place and history in the development of a regionally specific research design.

Keywords


Archaeological Mapping, Local Knowledge, Landscape Archaeology, Reflexive Survey Methods, Satellite Remote Sensing.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv113%2Fi10%2F1918-1933