V. D. Krishnaswami

V. D. Krishnaswami (18 January 1905 – 15 July 1970) was an Indian archaeologist who served as Director of the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad, the Indian Museum and as Deputy Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India. He is known for his pioneering work in unearthing Stone Age and megalithic sites in South India, especially those around Madras city in the 1940s and 1950s along with Mortimer Wheeler.

For other people named Krishnaswami, see Krishnaswami.

Early life

Born in Madras in 1905, Krishnaswami graduated with distinction from the Presidency College, Madras in 1927 and subsequently obtained an M. A. in geology. He worked as a lecturer at the Mining and Metallurgy Institute of the Banaras Hindu University till 1929.

Career

Krishnaswami was trained by the Archaeological Survey of India and in the late 1930s, he was appointed a prehistorian in the survey. In 1938, he published his first paper, Environmental and Cultural Changes of Prehistoric man near Madras in the journal of the Madras Geographic Association. From 1940 onwards, along with K. V. Soundararajan and A. Swami, Krishnaswami carried out a systematic study of archaeological sites around Madras. The appointment of Mortimer Wheeler as Director General of the ASI in 1946, especially gave a boost to prehistoric studies as Wheeler was especially interested in the prehistoric archaeology of South India. During 1946, Krishnaswami served as Director of the Department of Archaeology, Cochin State.

In 1947, Krishnaswami published his second paper Stone Age in India in the journal Ancient India. Two years later, in 1949, Krishnaswami was appointed Deputy Director General of the ASI. Krishnaswami was active in the survey and publishing papers until the late 1950s.

Death

Krishnaswami died in Bangalore on 15 July 1970 at the age of 65.

References
  • V. D. Krishnaswami (18-1-1905/15-7-1970). Purattatva. Archaeological Survey of India. 1971.
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