The archaeology of glass in south asia: the state of the field and new directions

Abstract

This article provides a review of the state of South Asian glass studies. It presents a survey of the emergent trends, animating questions and new discoveries that currently structure the interpretation of vitreous materials in the South Asian archaeological record. It engages with the historiography through providing summary accounts of the papers read at the ?International Conference Cum Workshops� held from the 21st to the 25th of January 2019 at IIT Gandhinagar that focused on the History, Science and Technologies of Ancient Indian Glass. It provides first a thorough review of the burgeoning use of elemental compositional analysis of vitreous materials in South Asia. It draws attention to the manifold possibilities that detailed studies of artefact typology, distribution and variability hold in clarifying the development, growth, trade and use of glass ornaments and objects in the region and as traded beyond over the last two-thousand years. It provides reflections on the need for training in experimental and ethnoarchaeological methods for the advancement of the field, and how such relationships between archaeological questions and the present predicaments of traditional crafts communities may be responsibly entered into and advanced.