Our ECRs
Akash Srinivas
Akash Srinivas is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Archaeological Research (CIAR), Ashoka University. He is a prehistoric archaeologist, and his research interests primarily concern with palaeoanthropology and palaeolithic archaeology, incorporating a multidisciplinary approach. He is currently engaged in the study of the nature and variability of lithic techno-complexes of the South Asian Palaeolithic. He was awarded his Doctorate from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali. He has a Masters in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology from Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune, and an Erasmus Mundus International Masters in Quaternary and Prehistory from a European consortium of institutions based in Italy, Spain, France and Portugal. He has carried out fieldwork at various sites in India, Italy, Germany, Spain and Tanzania, including prominent sites such as Hathnora (India) and Atapuerca (Spain). His previous research work has concerned prehistoric explorations and the analysis of stone tool assemblages of key Lower Palaeolithic sites such as the Kibbanahalli Palaeolithic Complex (southern Karnataka, India), Mahadeo Piparia (central Narmada Valley, India) and Isernia La Pineta (Italy). He also engages in public archaeology and science communication, and is the co-host of the podcast ‘Chippin’ Away’.
P. Arunkumar
Arunkumar has passed out his bachelor degree in Archaeology from Madras Christian College, Chennai. His Master degree is in Archaeology and Ancient History from Maharaja Sayajio University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat. He has done his Post-Graduate Diploma in Archaeology from Pandit Deendhayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh state. Recently, registered for his PhD from Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology, Egmore, Chennai, Which comes under University of Madras. His research topic is Archaeology of Ariyalur Region from Prehistoric time to Medieval. He has a field and excavation experiences from Naduveerapattu site, Tamil Nadu (2015), Vejalka site, Gujarat (2016), Barnawa site and Sanauli site, Uttar Pradesh (2018), Adicahanallur (2019-20), Korkai (2020-21) under Tamil Nadu state department of Archaeology, Then, from 2021-2023 worked in Adichanallur excavation site conducted by Trichy circle, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Now working in a project as Research Associate in Archaeological and Historical Atlas of Tamil Nadu.
Ashwin Kumar V
Ashwin Kumar V. is an early-career archaeologist with a master’s degree in ancient Indian history, culture, and archaeology from Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute Pune. He has earned his Bachelor in History from Government Arts and Science College Udma Kasaragod, Kerala, under Kannur University. His research interests are Archaeozoology, Taphonomy, Prehistoric archaeology, and experimental archaeology. He did his first archaeology research work, starting by studying faunal remains from the excavated site of Nagardhan, Maharashtra. There, he studied the faunal materials from the site with special reference to taphonomic characters. After his master's, he was able to be a part of the research on a Preliminary Archaeological Exploration and GIS Approach to the Rock Cut Chambers of Kasaragod District, Kerala. He has worked at the archaeological site of Kohla excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India excavation Branch 1 in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
His research focuses on analysing cut marks on animal bones to understand tool usage through taphonomic and experimental studies.
Deepjyoti Mahanta
Deepjyoti Mahanta is a full-time PhD candidate in Earth Sciences at Pondicherry University. His research is directed towards understanding the weathering and erosional variability in the Thamirabarani River Basin, Southern Tamil Nadu, utilising geochemical studies of channel and floodplain sediments. Deepjyoti presented his research work at the 39th convention of the Indian Association of Sedimentologists and the International Conference on “Voyage of Sedimentology from the Mountains to the Oceans: An Innovative Trajectory” at the Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India.
He holds a BSc in Geology honours with Physics and Mathematics from Gauhati University and an M.Sc. in Applied Geology from the Central University of Karnataka. Before his research pursuits, Deepjyoti served as an Assistant Professor (contractual) at the Department of Geology at Dimoria College Khetri, Assam for two years.
Deepjyoti has achieved notable success in national-level examinations including GATE-2019, GATE-2022, and GATE-2024 in the Geology & Geophysics paper, along with qualifications for Lectureship in JOINT CSIR-UGC NET in December 2022 and Junior Research Fellowship in June 2023, securing an All India Rank (AIR) of 60.
Gaurav Gupta
Gaurav Gupta, currently persuing his Ph.D. In " Study of Transitional phases of Lithic industries in Pleistocene period with special reference to Banda-Chitrakoot district (U.P.) from Department of Ancient History Culture and Archaeology of Allahabad University. His study focuses on the development of the Palaeolithic culture developed in the study area will be done through archaeological remains (especially in the context of stone tools). Apart from this, he has conducted a survey of OCP archaeological sites in the Upper Ganga-Yamuna Doab {Reassessment of OCP sites in saharanpur district and a newly discovered site at Lalu Bans , ITIHAS DARPAN XXVIII (2) } also, conducted a survey near Jayanti Mata Mandir in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh. Under this, two localities of Palaeolithic and Middle Palaeolithic period have come to light. {Newly Discovered Acheulian site at jayanti mata temple in khandwa district Madhya Pradesh , Itihas Darpan XXVII (2) }
K Ronald Terieng
He is a research scholar in the Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical, Chemical and Applied Sciences, Pondicherry University. He is currently working on reconstructing past climates from lake sediments in the Manipur region of Northeast India using a multi-proxy approach (Organic, non-organic, texture, and mineralogical proxies) as a part of his PhD research work. Through the process, he has equipped himself and built confidence in carrying out his work both on the field and in the laboratory. In the past years, he had the opportunity to attend various workshops and conferences where experts share scientific knowledge. He also had the privilege of interacting and presenting his work. Some of them are listed here:
1. National Training Workshop On: Paleoclimate-Archives, Proxies and Analysis/
Measurement techniques(NT-PALEO 2023) by DESK-IITM Pune-2023
2. International Conference "Voyage of Sedimentology from the Mountains to the Oceans: An Innovative Trajectory," by Indian Association of Sedimentology Dec 2023 at Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India.
3. Quaternary Sciences for A Sustainable Future Earth (Q-SAFE) 2nd Indian Quaternary Congress June 2024 at IISER, Mohali
Besides the subject of his research, he is also actively involved in research related to recent sedimentary and other related surface processes with his team in the lab. He has always considered the role and importance of interdisciplinary research for a better solution to scientific problems, and this workshop perfectly fits it.
Medi Divya
Medi Divya has completed a Master of Arts in the Department of AIHC & Archaeology at Osmania University. She is pursuing a Ph.D. at Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana under the guidance of Professor N.R. Giridhar. Her current research is on archaeological sites in Telangana – A study of Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic Cultures. She has recently participated in the Phanigiri excavation (2024). She has participated in a workshop on geospatial technology for archaeological & Heritage studies conducted by IITGN.
Praveen Kumar
Praveen Kumar is a doctoral fellow at the Awadhesh Pratap Singh University, Rewa, India. He is working on Acheulean settlement pattern in the northern Vindhyan Plateau. He has a Masters in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India.
His research area in prehistoric lithic assemblage, rock art, Quaternary geology, geomorphology and Palaeontology.
Rajesh Samal
Rajesh Samal is an experienced professional in geological research and a first- year Ph.D. student in the Department of Earth Sciences at Pondicherry University.
His research focuses on studying river sediments to examine the variability of weathering, erosion, structure, morphology, and climatic conditions of the Ponnaiyar River Basin in Tamil Nadu. Rajesh presented his research at the 39th convention of the Indian Association of Sedimentologists and the International Conference on "An Innovative Voyage of Sedimentology: From the Himalaya to the Indian Ocean," held from December 6th to 8th, 2023, at Annamalai University. He obtained his Bachelor of Science from Utkal University, Odisha in 2016 and his Master of Science in Geology from Annamalai University
in 2018. His dissertation focused on groundwater quality assessment and was published in the “International Journal of Innovative Research and Advanced Studies (IJIRAS) Volume 6, Issue 1, in January 2019.” He began working as a Project Fellow in the Department of Earth Sciences at Pondicherry University in 2019 and completed the project in 2022. His work focuses on collecting sediment samples, processing and analysing them, interpreting data, and writing reports. He also has hands-on experience operating sophisticated scientific instruments.
Teetas Nandi
Teetas Nandi is currently a Post Graduate student in Geology, seeking a challenging position as a research intern in Quaternary Geology and Geoarchaeology. She is keenly interested in Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating and its applications in reconstructing the past climate and archaeological studies in India. She is currently a Summer Research Fellow by the Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc INSA-NASI Summer Research Fellowship 2024) at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee.