INSTITUTIONS OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY
The Anthropological Survey is a subordinate office of the Department
of culture with its headquarters at Calcutta. It is a specialised agency
for conducting- advanced scientific research in anthropology. It conducts
Andy and surveys of the tribes and other communities of India. It acts as
a clearing house and coordination centre at national level for all agencies
in the field of anthropology.
The National Museum of Man has been set up as a subordinate office
where man and his activities from the earliest pre-historic- times to present
day shall be dealt with taking into account the biological and cultural deve-
lopment of man, considering man in the total perspective of mankind..
Two Advisory Committees have been set up to ad-vise the institutions.
Anthrapological Survey of Established in 1945 as a subordinate office for advanced scientific
India research in Anthropology, the Anthropological Survey of India is engaged
in biological and cultural investigation among the people of India and in
the collection and preservation -in the ancient and modern skeletal remains
for scientific research. It also functions as a clearing house and publishes
the results of the researches. The Survey with its headquarters at Cal-
cutta has several Regional Offices at Shillong, Calcutta, Port Blair, Dehra-
dun, Nagpur, Mysore and Udaipur and sub-regional Office at Jagdalpur
(Madhya Pradesh).
Physical Anthropology
The activities of the Anthropological Survey of India during the year
included :
(i) Con duct of an exploratory study in Shivalik hills of Himachal
Pradesh to collect fossils and stone artefacts.
(ii) Completion of the restoration and preservation of ancient
human remains excavated from Nagarjunakonda and Kali
Bangan.
(iii) Excavation and chemical treatment of the Megalithic human
remains from Khuntitoli in Ranchi district.
(iv) Work on the project AU India Bio-anthropological Survey
which aims to assess the quality of the Indian population in
respect of physical constitution and dietary habits, the propor-
tion of healthy component in the population regional difference
in morbidity load etc. Samples were drawn from 351 loca-
tions from different States and Union Territories covering
35100 households.
(v) Collection of data on body height, body weight, chest girth,
demographic features,disabilities, genetical defects, diseases
and dietary habits from rural as well as urban areas. The
data so collected is being, processed and statistically analysed.
(vi) Conduct of study on growth and development in Assam and
Madhya Pradesh. Field work was conducted among the
Santhal, Oraon and Munda settlers in North Bengal and As am
in order to assess the effects of emigration on their physique.
Data on dental health was collected from the Khasi of
Meghalaya. Research on Morphlogical variation was also
conducted in different States.
(vii) Analysis of finger and palm prints from different population
in relation to ethnicity, reproductive isolation, diseases' and
mental disorders.
(viii) A bio-anthropological study on breast cancer is in progress.
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Cultural Anthropology
1. Under the All India, Project "Ethnography Structures and Change" field work was conducted among 18 ethnic groups belonging to 10 States.
2. A now All India, Project "Weaving in India" has recently been launched to elucidate the techno-cultural -base of the weavers of India. Nine weaving communities, one from each State, have already been investi- gated.
3. Brief reports relating to the project 'Tribal Customary Law" based on empirical data collected from'50 tribes distributed all over India aiming to highlight the customary laws of different tribal groups with reference to ecology, economy, social organisation, and belief system were finalised.
4. A seminar on "Shifting Cultivation in India" was organised in September, 1981 and field work was conducted in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to study human -adaptation to extreme climate. The Psychology Unit of the Survey investigated into the impact of industrialisa- tion on mental health, cultural detriments of personality etc.
5. The All India Linguistic Traits Survey was completed and the work' oil Dorla and Muria folklore tales is in progress.
6. The Central Museum of the Survey set up in Calcutta was opened to the public in September, 1981.
Fellowship Programme : The Survey awards one Visiting Fellowship, two Fellowships, 15 Senior Research Fellowships and 30 Junior Research Fellowships to scholars for conducting research in different branches of anthropology and -allied discipline. At present 8 Senior Research Fellows and 18 Junior Research Fellows are working on different projects.
Other Activities : (a) A Refresher Course for the Research Workers of the Anthropological Survey of India was organised during October-November, 1981.
(b) The Central Library of the Survey prepared five bibliographies on different subjects.
(c) The Sound unit of the Survey edited a number of folk music tapes from Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
(d) A cine film on the Dang festival of Gujarat and a cine film on the Jaunsari people of Uttar Pradesh were made/edited. Six monographs, six issues of the Journal entitled Bulletin of the Anthropological Survey of India were brought out.
National Museum of Man With the above objectives in view this new Museum will dedicate this to enlarging consciousness, to imparting a sense of history, and to contri- buting to the development of a temper of science; to serve several vital roles in the field of national education and national integration, salvaging and preservation of fast vanishing aspects of material culture, art and crafts so as to generate a new museum movement in the country and also to provide consultancy for setting up similar museums or specialised galleries; to act as major centre of research in technology and to store and preserve for posterity the various types of material objects used by man in the contempo- rary cultural context. It will also provide training in different aspects of museum craft and research facilities not only in the area of material, cul- tural and technology but also in integrated study of man in relation to his environment.
During 1981. work had been started to conserve and prepare for exhibi- tion the entire series of painted pre-historic rock-shelters situated within the museum site at Bhopal. A vast study and reproduction of rock art has been started. Also an indoor exhibition dealing with the aspects of
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pre-historic rock art has been put up at the site to orient the visitors to the museum. Two typical life size dwellings Of Warly and Katkari tribes of Maharashtra have been erected and equipped with objects of material culture towards developing tribal habitat component of the out-door complex. Ethnographic field work was undertaken among the Jaunsaries and Tharus of Uttar Pradesh, Marias and Baigas of Madhya Pradesh, Rathwas and Chaudhuries of Gujarat and Santhals of Bihar for documenta- tion and collection of specimen.
Members of the Museum participated in the Annual Conference of the Museum Association of India 'and conferences organised by the Ethnographic and Folklore Society and the Anthropological Survey of India.
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