Bone up on archaeology courses

Pervin Malhotra

Q. I am a Class XII (Humanities) student. History is my favourite subject and after watching Indiana Jones, I have become very fascinated with archaeology. But since no one in our family or friends is familiar with this field, I don’t know what prospects it offers. Can you please tell me something about it so that I can convince my parents? — Manveen Sukhija

A. Archaeologists study extinct cultures and civilisations, and the past of living societies through excavation, analysis and interpretation of their artefacts, human and other remains. It includes instruction in archaeological theory, field and sophisticated dating methods, conservation, and cultural and physical evolution.

India has an extraordinarily rich heritage dating back to thousands of years across its vast and varied landscape.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that 90 per cent of all archaeological sites have not been excavated. Modern day archaeologists use diverse remote sensing datasets, including lasers, remote sensing and satellite imaging systems to detect and map even totally invisible features ranging from extinct rivers and fragmented walls to entire “hidden” cities. NASA is a rich repository of high-resolution data.

Preserving our rich and diverse heritage and protecting it from urbanisation, vandalism, climate change and neglect is of utmost importance. But before we do that, we need to map their location.

Moreover heritage can be protected only when we share our knowledge with the people living in the surrounding areas and co-opting them in our conservation effort.

You can study archaeology at the bachelor’s level or alternatively, you could do your bachelor’s in history and pursue archaeology at the PG level.

A majority of jobs related to this field are offered by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

There are increasing opportunities both in the public and private sectors in heritage management, museum curating and academics, regional archaeological services and development work both in India and overseas. You can also work with museums, research bodies, travel & tourism industry or with conservation bodies like Indian Council for Cultural Research (ICCR) or INTACH. Private collectors also require the services of archaeologists.

Specialisations in this field include epigraphy (deciphering ancient inscriptions), space archaeology, numismatics (the study of old coins, medals, etc. to reconstruct history), restoration and conservation of ancient monuments, heritage sites and artefacts.

Choices for pursuing PG in other fields after MBBS

Q. Our daughter had completed her MBBS last year. Considering the acute shortage of medical seats at the PG level, we are not sure whether she will succeed in getting a seat. What else could she do? — Keerti Awasthi

A. Considering that India faces a shortfall of around 82 per cent specialists, there may be a significant addition of 10,000 new postgraduate medical seats from the new academic session this year to improve availability of specialists across the country besides facilitating the district residency programme, which entails at least three months of rural posting.

The Board of Governors has approved the proposal to increase PG seats after concerns were raised by states about the residency programme, saying hospitals attached to medical colleges will suffer if these students are sent to district hospitals. Serving in district hospitals is mandatory for every PG student.

The Board has given the go-ahead to district residency programme. Presently, we have over 23,000 PG and 68,500 undergraduate medical seats in both government and private colleges across the country.

The district residency programme has been in the works, but the BoG’s approval will facilitate the increase in seats in the 2020-21 sessions itself.

As for other options, there are several: Ranging from Hospital managent, Public Health Administration, Law, Clinical Research, Community Health, Pharma marketing, quality control etc. But let her target her first choice (PG in med) first.

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