Topic started by rama (@ dhcp98-61.cs.cornell.edu) on Thu Aug 31 15:18:40 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

A seminar course is being offered in Cornell University on the paleo-anthropology of south asia. The perview of this course would involve discussions about the current anthropological knowledge of the peoples of the Indian Sub continent from the paleolithic period to the on set of iron age. Since many forummers are intrested in this subject, I have decided to post weekly summaries of this seminar on this forum.

I am also looking for interesting questions (anthropological) that I can raise in the seminar on behalf of the forummers.

Responses:

• From: rama (@ dhcp98-61.cs.cornell.edu) on: Thu Aug 31 15:25:27 EDT 2000
  
  This seminar is being offered by Prof. Kenneth Kennedy, a physical/biological/forensic anthopologist. He has spent close to 40 years in the indian subcontinent. His job includes analysing the skeletel remains for possible causes of death, morphlogical descriptions, etc... He is a world renown anthropologist and a professor in Cornell for the last 26 years.
  
  He has worked on the famous sites of IVC such as Harappa and Mohenjeodaro. In fact he was the person who analysed the famous skeletal remains uncovered by Mortimer Wheeler in Mohenjeodaro. His analysis has shown that the skeletons did not suffer from any kind of mutilations (such as sword cuts, axe cuts etc). This along with the later knowledge that these skeletons came from different stratigraphic layers (different time periods, some even before the urbanization of mohenjeodaro) has disproved the claims made by wheeler for the aryan invasion and destruction of mohenjeodaro.
  
  
• From: rama (@ dhcp98-61.cs.cornell.edu) on: Thu Aug 31 15:34:34 EDT 2000
  
  For the benifit of some forummers :
  
  Anthropology is the stidy of humans. Especially those aspects of humans, that led to the evolution of humans from primate ancestors, still on going human evolution, study of human remains, etc etc...
  
  Physical or biological or forensic anthropology deals mainly with study of human remains, which more often than not is skeletal. Typical things that can be learnt from study of skeletal remains are
  1. approximate time since death. This would sometimes also depend on other objects found with the skeleton.
  
  2. approximate cause of death: Not always detectable exactly, but death in a war (bullet wounds, axe cuts, knife cuts, etc...) can be identified. Also death by certain kinds of diseases can be identified.
  
  3. approximate estimate of age and sex of the deceased.
  
  4. some physical features of the deceased. such as height, protruding chins, etc..
  
  This seminar would discuss the skeletal remains and archeological remains found in India from the old stone age to the beginnings of iron age.
  
  
• From: msiddarth (@ d-131-151-107-211.dynamic.umr.edu) on: Fri Sep 1 01:01:17 EDT 2000
  
  Thanks, Please do post regularly. Will follow it.
  
  
• From: nick (@ wornt14.wam.umd.edu) on: Thu Nov 30 18:08:17 EST 2000
  
  rama
  
  is the indian three race theory still in vogue? are dravidians caucasians?
  
  
• From: mousetrap (@ spider-tm044.proxy.aol.com) on: Wed Feb 7 22:09:30
  
  nick- dravidians are considered to be ancestors of the negroid race, when the aryans (caucasians) invaded the indian subcontinent, they interbred with the indigenous negroid race and created what we see today in india. but since there were not so many negroids living in the subcontinent at the time of the invasions, modern day indians picked up the caucasian looks and the only thing the negroid genes could pass down was their skin tone.
  
  
• From: mousetrap (@ spider-tm044.proxy.aol.com) on: Wed Feb 7 22:10:56
  
  basically we are a nation of mulattos
  
  
• From: Anantha (@ webcacheh11a.cache.pol.co.uk) on: Fri Mar 2 20:09:01
  
  Actually Indians are far purer than you'd like to believe. Far purer than your Pakistanis.
  
  In reality, there is no fully 'pure' land. Britain was invaded by Spaniards (Iberians), arguably Hungarians (Tuatha de Danu), Keltois, Danes, Angles, Saxons, French (well, Normans were actually Viking), Dutch ... and now the Asians.
  
  If Indians are hybrid, what do you call your Pakistan? Pakistan was the 'hotspot' where all the fanatic hordes coming to India first plundered, pillaged and raped. The Persians, Greeks, Seleucids, Bactrians, Sakas, Huns, Parthians, Arabs, Turks, Persians, Afghans and who knows who else unleashed their fury on Pakistan first. Is there a single pure Pakistani left? By the time these hordes reached India, their 'venom' was by and large 'spent'.
  
  That is why India retains her cultural identity. And Pakistan has totally lost her's. And is desperately searching for one. Without success.
  
  Pakistan's sole raison d'etre remains in trying to malign India. Again, without success.
  
  
  
• From: Geet (@ pc016921.med.cornell.edu) on: Thu May 24 16:09:01
  
  To MOUSETRAP,
  How old/ingnorant are you. Your opinion on Dravidian racial stock is completely unfounded and unscientific. Don't further perpetuate the
  b_llshit that Europeans put into their texts books to take credit for the first great human/hindu civilizations by rattling off stuff you read five minutes ago from a site
  that has not been updated in four years. People from southern india are darker because they are closer to the equater and get more sun. Ever notice the skin color variation btwn Swedes and and and Sicilians. Also don't confuse forum readers that are trying to get responces from tolerant educated, intelligent readers.
  
  

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