Noted Mumbai archaeologist Shereen Ratnagar passes away at 82

One of Indias most distinguished archaeologists Shereen Ratnagar passed away in Mumbai after a brief illness family sources said on TuesdayRatnagar 82 who died on Monday night was synonymous with Harappan history She specialised in the Indus Valley Civilization with a focus on its trade networks social organisation and decline through empirical analysis of artifacts and sitesEducated at Deccan College in Pune and at the Institute of Archaeology University College London where she studied Mesopotamian archaeology Ratnagar later became Professor of Archaeology and Ancient History at Jawaharlal Nehru Universitys Centre for Historical Studies in Delhi After retiring in 2000 she pursued independent research in MumbaiHer book Encounters The Westerly Trade of the Harappa Civilization 1981 documents Harappan artifacts like chert weights found in Iraq confirming westerly exchanges She also authored Understanding Harappa Civilization of the Indus 2001 providing a detailed evidencedriven overview of Harappan economy urbanism and intercultural contactsRatnagar also challenged unsubstantiated interpretations such as reevaluating Mohenjodaros dancing girl bronze as nondance related and attributing some flawed attributions to Edwardian biases while emphasising statecontrolled production in beads and tools based on distributional evidence from sites like the Rohri HillsRatnagar was born in 1944 in Mumbai and pursued her undergraduate studies with a BA in History before transitioning to specialised archaeological trainingAfter her postgraduate training Ratnagar undertook fieldwork in Iraq as part of a fellowship with the British School of Archaeology in Iraq where she served as registrar documenting antiquitiesShe then returned to India and joined Jawaharlal Nehru University JNU in Delhi as a junior fellow at the Centre for Historical Studies supervised by Romila Thapar During this period she completed her PhD on interactions between the Indus region and MesopotamiaRatnagar served as an expert witness for the Sunni Waqf Board in the Ayodhya title suit litigation during the 2000s providing testimony that challenged the Archaeological Survey of Indias ASI 2003 excavation findings at the disputed siteThe ASI report resulting from courtordered digs following the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid concluded that a large structure interpreted as a Hindu temple existed beneath the mosque based on features like pillar bases terracotta figurines and stratigraphic layers dated to the 12th century or earlierRatnagar argued that the evidence was inconclusive emphasizing disturbed stratigraphy due to prior construction and demolition activities which undermined claims of continuous temple occupationIn her court submissions Ratnagar contended that the pillar bases identified by ASI were not uniquely indicative of a grand Ram temple as similar features appeared in nontemple Islamic structures and lacked precise dating ties to Hindu architectural traditions specific to Ayodhyas Ram Janmabhoomi narrativeCritics accused Ratnagar of allowing Marxist ideological influences which they said were prevalent in JNUs historiography tradition where she taught to shape her archaeological interpretations often prioritizing classbased economic narratives over evidence of cultural or religious continuityTrained in Indian and Western Asiatic archaeology Ratnagar was the author of many books and academic papers on the Indus civilization its overseas trade political organization cities and its decline as well as studies on pastoralism and urbanismHer interest in the conceptualisation of the early state of nonstratified tribal societies and of the limits and potentials of nonmarket economies coloured much of her work She also made interventions concerning the political abuse of archaeologyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever