SB

Sutonuka Bhattacharya

Sharma Centre for Heritage Education India, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

ORCID iD 0000-0003-0569-3451
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About

I am an ardent ‘all things Neolithic’ lover whose motivation stems from understanding how social formations happen, particularly those associated with material culture.
After completing my graduate courses with B. A and M.A degrees in History from Presidency University, Kolkata, I sought to engage with my interests in Archaeology by pursuing a Post Graduate Diploma in Archaeology (PGDA) course from Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi. As a part of that course, I have had the opportunity to participate in one field season in Barnawa, a multicultural site in Central India. After the course, I had the opportunity to work as a field intern at the Palaeolithic site of Sendrayanpalayam, Southern India. Besides, I have also been a part of several field explorations in Central, Western, Southern, and Eastern India. My PGDA dissertation dealt with examining recycling behavior as observed in the Bargarh district, Odisha, with ‘ring stones’ within contemporary communities, with specific reference to rituals connected with cattle and associated medicinal purposes. Now, I am at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem pursuing my PhD to understand the earliest processes involving food technology focusing primarily on the grinding stones from Southern India. During my PhD in Jerusalem, I have had the opportunity to explore and excavate several Palaeolithic and Neolithic sites in Israel as well as participate in Historical exploration and excavation in Northern Mongolia.
My interests encompass the Late Palaeolithic and Neolithic cultures, ethnographic studies, and material cultural studies. I am keen on understanding the origins of Neolithization processes in India: the transition from mobile hunter-gatherers to sedentary agricultural societies and the cultural stability and change during this long-term process. I hope to be able to apply anthropological perspectives to the study of material culture and land use during this time. My career as a researcher hence focuses on two prime objectives:
• To examine the origins of Neolithic processes in India and its global perspectives.
• To understand archaeological theory, particularly those associated with material culture and long-term socio-cultural change.
I am currently pursuing these objectives during my doctoral study at the Hebrew University.

Employment

  • Sharma Centre for Heritage Education India Research fellow Project
    2024 - Present

Education

  • The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
    2021 - Present

Projects & Funding

Projects & funding information is unavailable.

Publications (6)