In today’s #MappingMonday we take you into the field with MAHSA’s own Afifa Khan and the University of the Punjab as they survey Natho Ram Smadh, seen on the historical map. 1/7

Big news! 📢 MAHSA team members have just published their research on South Asian social media and heritage in the collection, Reporting Heritage Destruction. doi.org/10.32028/978...

Register for the CAA-UK Conference 2025! 📢 Join us in December for conversations in Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. Find out more and register to attend here: www.eventbrite.com/e/caa-uk-202...

This week’s #MappingMonday takes us to the era before the Survey of India, when cartography was a confluence of reality and fantasy. This colourful map of the Mughal Empire was published c.1740 by renowned German cartographer Matthäus Seutter. (1/4)

Did the Indus Civilisation use caravanserai-like settlements to support its network of exchange and interaction across long distances? The excavators of the site of Kotada Bhadli, Gujarat, India, suggest so. Caravanserais are sites that facilitate trade and transportation over long distances. (1/5)

Today’s belated #MappingMonday takes us to the village of Narayan Sarovar in Gujarat, India. Fortifications like those found in this village stand out on the historic maps as locations of cultural and strategic significance. They are handy sites for cross-referencing with modern satellite imagery.

A very Happy Diwali from the MAHSA Team! Wishing you prosperity, happiness, health - and georeferenced historic maps 🤩 #diwali #southasia #heritage #India #Pakistan #history #festivaloflights

With Diwali around the corner, today’s #HeritageHighlights shines a light on the earthenware lamps of the Indus Valley. Lamps contribute to the vast corpus of terracotta artefacts excavated across the Indus Valley, creating (cautious) connections with modern day material culture. (1/5)

Last week representatives of the MAHSA team were privileged to attend the National Consultation Workshop on the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, Islamabad. (1/3)

For #HeritageHighlights we’re looking at the culture-clash cash of Indo-Greek coins. It’s 185 BCE and you find yourself invading Punjab. How do you let your new subjects know who’s boss? If your first thought is to stick an elephant on your head, you’d get on well with Demetrius I of Bactria. (1/6)

It’s #MappingMonday, and this week we’re putting the Survey of India’s logo under the magnifying glass 🔍 Established in the 18th century and continuing to survey today, the Survey of India’s transition from colonial cartography to national mapping can be gleaned from its iconography. (1/4)

For today's #HeritageHighlight, we’re hedging our bets on the theme of salt. Introducing the Great Salt Hedge of India! Disappointingly, the salt hedge was not actually made of salt, but that doesn’t mean it was just a hedge. (1/6)

Are you interested in remote sensing and geospatial analyses in the context of African heritage and its future monitoring? If so, MAEASaM project has a new position! Applications are now open until 17 October 2025 To apply : www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...

In today’s #MappingMonday we are fort-unate to share how historic maps can bring lost landscapes back into perspective. Here we have a selection of forts in the Ludhiana region of Punjab, India – each demonstrating a different level of preservation on the satellite imagery. (1/4)

Feeling salty? You certainly will be after a trip to the Khewra Salt Mine in today’s #HeritageHighlights. Found in the creatively named Salt Range in northern Punjab, the mine is famed for its vast reserves of pink Himalayan rock salt. (1/4)

For this week’s #MappingMonday we are taking you to… jail! 🚓 Welcome to New Central Jail Multan, located in Punjab, Pakistan. Built in 1930, the jail was brand new when it was recorded in the historical map by the Survey of India. (1/5)

Today’s #HeritageHighlights takes us to the storied Rampur Raza Library in Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1774, the library flourished under the patronage of the scholarly Nawabs of Rampur who grew the collection with books, rare manuscripts, artwork, and calligraphy. (1/3)

CAA-UK 25: Call for papers & posters extended to the 29th September 2025! We invite you to submit a paper or poster related to quantitative methods and computer applications in archaeology and heritage. Full details can be found here: uk.caa-international.org/caa-uk-2025/

For today's #MappingMonday,we are looking at the site of Vadi Medi Punvareshwar Mahadeva in Katchh,Gujarat,India. We can see that its visible both in our historical map and more recent satellite imagery. Its a great example of how our team uses multiple remote snesing methods to validate sites!

More petroglyphs! Feast your eyes on the array of beautiful and transfixing images sketched into the gorges which span the meandering Indus Valley. The Diamer Basha Dam area of Northern Pakistan is home to an array of petroglyphs from the Epipalaeolithic to the Buddhist period

For today’s #MappingMonday, we explore Rampur Fort in Uttar Pradesh, founded in the late 18th century by Nawab Faizullah Khan. Strategically built along the Kosi River, the fort served as the political and administrative nucleus of the princely state of Rampur after the decline of Rohilla power.

Continuing on our theme of petroglyphs, for this week’s #HeritageHighlights we’re turning to the Petroglyphs of Ladakh. The region of Ladakh is a varied cultural area with influences extended from the plains and deserts of Sinkiang, Western Tibet and the towering Himalayas to the south.

This unusually shaped feature on our historic maps is the mound of Lurewala, or Lurewala Theh. It was first noted by the silk roads archaeologist, Aurel Stein, and then later visited by Dr Mughal and his team...and then later by the MAHSA team with students and staff from IUB university.

Yesterday, MAEASaM and MAHSA had the pleasure of welcoming an amazing group of #SuttonTrustSummerSchool students to explore our work in digital archaeology. They got hands-on experience with maps, Google Earth Pro, and QGIS, discovering how technology helps us study and preserve cultural heritage.

For today’s #MapsMonday post, we look at South Asian Heritage Month, celebrated annually from 18 July to 17 August in the UK. It honours the histories, cultures, and contributions of people with heritage across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka

For this week’s Heritage Highlights we’re looking at the petroglyphs of Ratnagiri found along the Konkan coast of India. This phenomenon is a form of prehistoric rock art which occurs along the rich laterite plateaus which span this coastline.

The hedge was built over a preestablished customs line becoming a natural barrier which as seen in this map divided India in two. It was a impediment to free travel and trade across India and became a symbol of the bureaucratic corruption and bribery which existed in the Inland Customs system (2/2)

#MappingMonday we are looking again at the British Colonial Inland Customs Line constructed using native shrubs and designed to prevent people, especially salt smugglers from passing through it. It was eventually abandoned after colonial powers took complete control of salt production. (1/2)

This is a great example of #contemporaryart and #archaeology converging - taking a closer look at how things like a hedge can spark so much inspiration and conversation. Perhaps one day an archaeologist will be able to map the hedge… (4/4)

In this installation, the artists use images and historical records to explore themes of violence, rebellion and resistance where the hedge becomes a “poetic and political space, a partition full of perforations that continue to fray, tear and rip into out present”. (3/4)

The Inland Customs Line was a barrier built in India to prevent the smuggling of salt and maintain the British monopoly on its sale. It was first established in Bengal in 1803 and grew to cover more than 4000km. The line was made of a 12ft high living hedge with staff patrolling its length (2/4)

For #HeritageHighlight we’re drawing attention to a new exhibition at the Tate Britain in London, UK where the artist duo Himali Singh Soin & David Soin Tappeser examine the archive of the Inland Customs Line and the ways in which indigenous knowledge can be used as a decolonial tool (1/4)

This map, originally drawn by A. Fraser, is the earliest map where the relief is demonstrated with hachure lines and there are important roads highlighted. It shows Lahore during the Late Sikh period with a walled central city and the gardens, villages and plains that surrounded it (3/3)

This plan on the city and environs of Lahore was drawn up in 1846, a decade during which the British began annexing the Sikh Punjab territories, installing the young Maharaja Duleep Singh as Raj soon after the first Anglo-Sikh war in 1845-46.

#MappingMonday we’re examining the history of Lahore through it’s early cartography. The map presented here is an early example of the British colonial maps of Pakistan during the tumultuous 1840s. (1/3) 'Mapping Lahore: Tracing historical geography of a city through maps' by Dr Abdul Rehman (2013)

I’m sure you’re as glad as I am that medical practices (and pain relief!) has evolved since the Stone Age! (6/6) Coppa, A et al. 2006 Early Neolithic tradition of dentistry Nature 440, 755–756 Szücs-Csillik et al. 2015 Astronomical Orientation of the Trepanned Neolithic Woman of Burzahom, Kashmir

The edges of each drilled hole were slightly smooth suggesting that the individuals operated on were alive during the procedure and continued to use their teeth to chew. It’s not clear why they were drilled but 4 of them show evidence of caries suggesting this was some kind of dental treatment (5/6)

And in Kashmir at a Neolithic site dating back to 9000 BP archaeologists have found some of the earliest evidence for Stone Age dental work. At least 11 molar teeth were found to have been drilled using flint drill heads in a surprisingly complex procedure. (4/6).

Part of her skull had a growth indicating a brain tumour – possibly the reason for treatment. The tissue around most of the perforations is healed indicating that she survived at least some of the surgeries. Unfortunately, and perhaps needless to say she did not live for much longer after… (3/6).

At the #Neolithic site of Burzahom in Kashmir Valley in India (4000 BP) one interesting female skeleton was discovered which showed evidence of trepanations or holes in her skull. Researchers believe that these were surgically made possibly by a spiritual healer to cure her of some disease (2/6).

Inspired by our exciting and informative #Fieldwork First Aid course taken by MAHSA colleagues Vaneshree, Afifa and Daisy earlier this week we have decided to take a look at some of the ancient medical practices across Stone Age #SouthAsia (1/6). #archaeology #heritagehighlights

Position OPEN! MAHSA is hiring a new 'Project Administrator' to help us achieve our goals. Full time, fixed term (until 30/06/29) based at Cambridge. DEADLINE:20/07/25 Apply here: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51769/ #job #newhire #career #admin #cambridge #universityofcambridge #archaeology

There are also thousands of inscriptions in Bactrian, Sogdian, Chinese and others carved into the rock by Silk Road travellers. This wealth of languages in one location is demonstrative of the diversity of cultural exchange which was occurring in Hunza and the #SilkRoad region at this time (3/3).

These rocks are up on a hill near the Hunza River and groups of ancient Buddhist caves and feature intricate carvings dating back to the 1st Millennium AD. The carvings are of ibexes which are placed on the rock faces to possibly signify the abundance of the animal here for passing travellers (2/3)

For this week’s #heritagehighlights we’re looking at the Sacred Rocks of Hunza which are located along the route of the ancient Silk Road in Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan. The site consists of four main boulders which feature two separate phases of engravings covering a 180m stretch (1/3).

#MappingMonday we’re highlighting the life of Lal Singh a surveyor who endured dangerous conditions to #map across Asia. He worked on topographical surveys and #archaeological expeditions, aiding Aurel Stein on two of his expeditions. To learn more click below storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/16b9...

#HeritageHighlights 🎤Today, South Asian Women in the Field (SAWIF) recorded their first #podcast in the series. In conversation with Prof Rajani we discussed the changing field of remote sensing #archaeology and what its like for women in this field. Stay tuned for the release!

You can see from comparison with this 1921 Survey of India map and the modern-day satellite imagery the extent of the flooding and how this ancient, mounded area has now become an island in a man-made reservoir. (4/4)

In the 1954 Archaeological Survey of India began salvage operations to save the archaeology there. Archaeological remains from the ancient Buddhist settlement Nagarjunakonda revealed 30 Buddhist monasteries which were subsequently dug up and removed to the nearby village of Anupu (3/4)

The dam became one of India’s “modern temples” symbolising new industrialised technology and marking a new era of national development. However because of its construction huge areas to the south and west of the original river course were flooded causing environmental and archaeological damage (2/4)