தமிழ் பாரம்பரியம்
(Tamil Heritage Trust)
and Reach Foundation, Chennai
present
திரை கடல் ஓடியும் திரவியம் தேடு
by Dr. P. Raghavan
at 5.30pm on January, 7th, 2012
at Vinobha Hall, Thakkar Bapa Vidyalaya, T Nagar.
Topic:
Archaeological
excavations at Adichchanallur (1904 and 2004) District, Tuttukudi, Tamil Nadu
brought to light many salient features of a culture of composite nature that
could bridge the gaps in the cultural assemblages of South
East Asia. The early excavation by Alexander Rea established the
multiple facets of the Society that domiciled in the southern part of the
ancient Tamilagam, the latter work by T. Satyamurthy set up a new archaeological
conduit that can satisfactorily provide the cultural contours of the population
of the middle second millennium BCE.
Many
historians of early part of last century had chosen to decide the population of
Adichchanallur represented the present population of South and confined the
culture that it represented as the megalithic culture of Tamil Nadu. The recent
excavations and research show that the population of Adichchanallur contains
more than one ethnic group that lived together with amity and peace. The
skeletal remains also prove their sea-faring trade activities. The cultural materials
unearthed reflect various stratum of the population that lived there.
The current
lecture unearths the hidden mysteries of the forensic skeletal biological
aspects of the prehistoric of Adichanallur. The lecture also covers the probabilities
of the skull with third socket near the eyes. This discovery was unique in the
excavations in South East Asia.
Speaker:
Dr. Raghavan
Pathmanathan, did his graduation, post-graduation and PhD from Panjab University,
Chandigarh.. His area of research is Physical or Biological Anthropology. His
varied research interests includ, biology, earth science, human anatomy,
skeletal biology, human auxology, human genetics, forensic science, dental
anthropology, remote sensing, coastal archaeology, bioarchaeology, palaeoenvironments,
palaeoecology, human evolution, biogeography, primatology, software
applications & solutions for skeletal biological problems, X’ray, CAT Scan,
EDAX and SEM applications & interpretations. He is also equally interested
in exploring ancient Tamil and Hindu civilizations and evolution of languages
and cultures.
He has been
involved in research activities since 1982. He was selected as an outstanding
scientist award for the developing countries by the University Grants’
Commission (New Delhi)
during the period of 1993-98.
Dr.
Raghavan’s Major Discovery project entitled “Contributions of South Asia for
the peopling of Australasia” 2002-07, won the
funding of Aus$ 1 Million from Australian Research Council. He was in charge
for the skeletal biological research on South Asians. For the first time in the
history of human anatomy of Indians, he has studied more than 1600 of human
crania which were represented from well defined geographical zones and ethnic
groups of India.
He was the Principal Investigator of another important project entitled
“Ancient Indian Heritage links with Australia” : 2002-03 - a multi
faceted project sponsored by the Australia- India Council (Department of
Foreign Affairs & Trade, Federal Government of Australia).
In Sept, 2004,
the Federal Government of Australia has honored him by granting the Australian
Citizenship against his off-shore research contributions and for creating a
good will & cordial relationship among Indo Australian academicians and
researchers.
He has written
many research articles in leading international science journals on various
topics. More recently, he has worked on the biological aspects of the
prehistoric humans of Adichanallur with Dr.Gayatri Pathmanathan and
Dr.T.Satyamurthy. He has also guided post graduate and PhD theses in Human
Anatomy from Medical Faculty. Dr.Raghavan has also conducted his independent
research of the giant ape, Orangutan and Loris and Cervit Cat species of Sri Lanka.
Currently,
Dr. Raghavan is attached to the School of Archeology & Anthropology at ANU,
Canberra as a Visiting Scientist and also
serving as Visiting Senior Consultant in Bioanthropological problems to
National Archaeology Department of Sri Lanka, and the Department of Zoology at Colombo University.
RSVP:
Badri Seshadri: Kizhakku-p-padippakam -
badri@nhm.in; 98840-66566
S. Kannan: Bank of Baroda - 2498 5836
