Two Years After Submission of Report on Keezhadi Excavations, ASI Asks Archaeologist to Rewrite it
The presence of such an ancient civilisation in south could pit it against the narrative that the Indus Valley Civilisation had ushered in the Iron Age.
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Indian Express
2 days ago
- Indian Express
When it comes to critical minerals, India cannot rely on China — it needs to fast track its own exploration
The evolution of human civilisation is intrinsically linked to the use of metals. Around 7,000 years ago, civilisation made a great leap from the Neolithic Age to the Chalcolithic Age. Subsequently, it grew more advanced as it moved to the Bronze Age and then the Iron Age. In more recent times, epochs have not necessarily been named after metals or their source — minerals that occur under the surface. But eras have been defined by them. Coal powered the first industrial revolution of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Oil and its derivatives fuelled the second industrial revolution (think cars and planes), and global prosperity in the second half of the 20th century. Now, the long 21st century is going to be the critical minerals age. In a way, it already is. The president of the world's largest economy has put critical minerals at the core of his foreign and domestic agenda. The reason Donald Trump wants to 'annex' Canada and Greenland is to have control over their vast mineral wealth. The only reason he is remotely interested in solving the Russia-Ukraine conflict is the potential for the US to access Ukraine's rich mineral resources. At home, Trump is opening up vast tracts of federal land — previously on no-go lists — for mineral exploration on a fast-track basis, cutting approvals time from a year to less than a month. Minerals have also taken centre-stage in the global trade war. China is using its disproportionate control over rare earth materials to threaten the US and the rest of the world with the debilitating consequences of restricted supply. Twenty or even 10 years ago, the thought of critical minerals or rare earths being at the centre of global conflict, whether geopolitical or geoeconomic, would not have been taken very seriously. The only natural resource that figured in the context of international security and strategy was oil. Since then, two things have happened. First, a growing consciousness about climate change. Second, technological advancement towards a fourth industrial revolution. The technologies that help mitigate climate change — by enabling a substitution of fossil fuels like coal and oil — are heavily mineral-intensive. An electric vehicle uses six times the minerals a conventional vehicle does, largely because its battery is made of lithium, cobalt and nickel. Renewable energy infrastructure for solar and wind power is also mineral-intensive. For example, an offshore wind infrastructure project consumes nine times the minerals that a conventional power plant would. The fourth industrial revolution, which involves AI, robotics and big data, is also mineral-intensive. For example, any digital or digital connectivity infrastructure requires copper in large quantities. Copper is critical because of its electrical conductivity. Data centres, the backbone of big data and AI, consume a lot of copper. They also consume large amounts of energy. To mitigate climate change, a lot of this needs to be sourced from renewable sources. There are several other examples of the mineral intensity of emerging technologies. As the adoption of these technologies grows, the demand-supply gap of critical minerals will grow. The biggest risk to the emerging landscape is the heavy concentration in the supply of critical minerals, much greater than the concentration in oil. There are two stages of the value chain that are of concern. First, the extraction of the metal ore from the surface. Second, the processing of that ore into usable metal. There is a high degree of concentration in the first. Cobalt comes almost exclusively from Congo. Indonesia dominates the mining of nickel, almost 50 per cent of the global supply. China alone accounts for two-thirds of global rare earths mining. Australia, Chile and China account for a majority of lithium mining. In processing, there is complete dominance across the board by just one country, China. Sixty-six per cent of the processing of critical minerals (also including copper and aluminium) takes place in China. For rare earths, this goes up to more than 90 per cent. China alone can bring the global EV industry to a halt by restricting the supply of rare earths. It is happening right at this moment. Neither the US nor India can rely on China. It is time to emulate America's policies and fast track the exploration of critical minerals. India remains under-explored for all minerals. This state of affairs is no longer an option, especially if India is to become a serious player in manufacturing. It is near-impossible to secure mineral supply chains from overseas — even the US is struggling. As a country that is geologically rich, India must explore within. The author is chief economist, Vedanta Ltd
The Hindu
2 days ago
- The Hindu
ASI to host three-day international conclave in August on decoding Indus Valley script
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will host a three-day international brainstorming conference in August on ways to decipher the Indus Valley script. Invitations to the international conclave on 'Decipherment of the Indus Script: Current Status and the Way Forward', to be held from August 20 to 22 at the Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Institute of Archaeology, Greater Noida, have been sent out to experts working on the Harappan civilisation and culture both in India and abroad. EDITORIAL | Script reading: On deciphering the script of the Indus Valley Civilisation Tamil Nadu CM's offer The ASI move comes months after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced a $1 million prize for experts or organisations that succeed in deciphering the scripts of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Sources in the ASI told The Hindu said there are also plans to announce a fellowship for research scholars who are interested in working dedicatedly towards deciphering the Indus script. The sources said the seminar will take place mainly through presentations, both offline and online. Thematic sessions shall be designed based on the current stage of research in this field. Discussions shall follow presentations at the end of each session. It is expected that the papers will be submitted prior to the date of the seminar. Anticipated results will include, but not be restricted to, a better understanding and documentation of the current state of research in this field, and the potential for further research. 'The proceedings of the seminar is anticipated to highlight the scope and quantum of current and future research in the field,' a senior ASI functionary said. The Indus Valley Civilisation was discovered more than a 100 years ago in 1921 at Harappa, and was formally announced to the world in 1924 by John Marshall, the then Director-General of the ASI. According to ASI records, the first official report on excavations at Mohenjo-daro, in 1931 had a section on the 'Indus Script'. It also listed different symbols and their variants. Also Read | Tamil Nadu CM Stalin announces $1 million prize for deciphering Indus Valley script A riddle since This script has attracted and fascinated a number of archaeologists, epigraphists, scientists, and many others who have made sincere attempts to solve its riddles, if not read it. Scholars have propounded several hypotheses about the nature and contents of this script. Most examples of this script have been found on Harappan seals and their impressions. Other objects that preserved this script are metal and terracotta tablets, copper objects, pottery, etc. The corpus of documented characters of the script suggests that they are predominantly pictorial. A rough estimation of the principal characters puts them at over 400. This has led some researchers to hypothesise that the Indus script is primarily 'logo-syllabic', the ASI official said. Also Read | When John Marshall revealed the Indus Valley civilisation to the world Major challenges The major limitations in deciphering the script are the absence of bilingual texts and the relatively short nature of recorded specimens. Computational linguistic analysis has added a new dimension to the study and decipherment of the Indus script. According to Bahata Ansumali Mukhopadhyay, who has been working on the Harappan script for more than a decade now and is one of the invitees to the conference, most of the Indus script signs were language-agnostic – meaning symbols that could be understood by people from different parts of the Indus civilisation. The script was largely used to record commercial administration such as taxation and licensing-related information, on seals and tablets. Ms. Mukhopadhyay says that her research indicates that though ancestral Dravidian languages were spoken by a significant population of the Indus civilisation, the one million square km area of the ancient civilisation must have had other groups of languages. In some of the Indus script signs, ancient Dravidian symbolism is found. She maintains that 'Sanskrit was most likely not the language that influenced the Indus script. However, the symbolism of Indus civilisation has certainly influenced Vedic texts and culture, and has remained alive in various forms across multiple languages and cultures across the Indian subcontinent.' However, according to archaeologist Ravi Korisettar, all claims till now are hypothetical as the symbols are not complete. 'So far, in the Indus Valley site, we haven't been able to find any bilingual records running into at least a couple of sentences. Hence, serious archaeologists refrain from making any claims on deciphering the script,' he said.
Time of India
10-06-2025
- Time of India
Mysterious jewellery made from alien world metal found in 3,000-year-old treasure
A stunning archaeological discovery in Spain is rewriting the story of ancient metalworking . Hidden within the famed Treasure of Villena , researchers have discovered two iron artifacts crafted from a substance meteoritic iron that does not belong to the Earth. It is a rare metal that arrived on Earth via falling space rocks. The treasure which dates back over 3,000 years, includes a bracelet and a decorative hemisphere. Both of the objects are made from extraterrestrial material . This surprising find predates the known start of the Iron Age in Iberia and reveals early humans' advanced use of celestial metals. Scientists discovered alien world metal jewellery The treasure was discovered in 1963 in Alicante, Spain. The Treasure of Villena consists of 66 stunning artifacts, mostly gold, from the late Bronze Age. But among them unusual iron items—a bracelet and a small dome—stood out. Their iron composition seemed out of place for an era that hadn't yet embraced iron tools or ornaments. What is the source of alien metal by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo Researchers led by Salvador Rovira-Llorens, former conservation head at Spain's National Archaeological Museum, tested the artifacts using mass spectrometry. They found the iron was rich in nickel which is a distinct marker of meteoritic origin. Unlike iron mined from Earth, this variety falls from space and makes these items some of the earliest known examples of space metal used by humans. Redefining Iberian metallurgy These artifacts date to between 1400 and 1200 BCE, nearly 500 years before the Iron Age began in Iberia around 850 BCE. The discovery challenges established timelines and suggests that ancient Iberians not only encountered meteoritic iron but also recognized its value and developed methods to shape artefacts and jewellery. Significance of meteorite iron Meteoritic iron was used in other ancient cultures like Egypt's Tutankhamun's dagger. Similarly, the Iberians may have regarded this 'metal from the heavens' as special. The items may have carried ritual or symbolic meaning, possibly worn or wielded by elite members of society. A first for Iberian archaeology This is the first recorded use of meteoritic iron in Iberia. The artifacts offer a rare glimpse into Bronze Age innovation. Published in Trabajos de Prehistoria, the discovery has opened the door to more non-invasive tests that could uncover further secrets from the stars that are locked within Earth's oldest treasures.
