Lower Palaeolithic settlement of the Middle Pleistocene
The Luonan Basin is located about 1000 meters above sea level, in the valleys of the Qingling Mountains. This research project investigates the settlement pattern of Lower Palaeolithic sites in the small basin.
Upper Palaeolithic microblade technology
Begun in 2000, this research project investigates the origin and development of microblade technology in the Upper Palaeolithic of north-central China (30,000 - 8,000 BC).
During the Han Dynasty, stone and brick tombs of the wealthy were subterranean residences adorned with decorated walls and furnished with everything the occupant might need in the hereafter. At the south end of the ROM Gallery of Chinese Architecture lie two reconstructions of Han Dynasty tombs (206 BC – AD 220).
Theban Tomb #89 was built by Amenmose who served King Amenhotep III (1391 -1353 BC), King Tutankhamun’s grandfather. The tomb is located on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor, Egypt, among some 500 tombs that dot the hillside, dating roughly from 1500 - 1200 BC. The project’s goal is to record and interpret the paintings on the tomb walls.
Over the past 20 years, archaeologists have become increasingly aware of the complex nuances of culture contact and the difficulties in distinguishing between a broad range of interregional interactions based solely on the archaeological record. This situation is particularly relevant to the Middle Horizon (AD 600 - 1000) period of Peru, since writing only appeared in the Andes after the Spanish Conquest in 1532 AD.
Excavation, conservation and restoration of the capital of Kush
In 1999, a joint ROM-University of Khartoum expedition to Meroe was formed to explore and protect the ruins of the ancient capital of the Sudan. The first full excavation season directed by Krzysztof Grzymski and Ali Osman was conducted in 2000/2001. Among the main achievements was the clearance, detailed study and partial reconstruction of the main courtyard of the Amun Temple as well as the discovery of a domestic complex known as the mound M712.
This project analyses the photographic work of Raja Deen Dayal (1844-1905), arguably one of the most well-known and prolific photographers in 19th-century India...
This project is an attempt to write a history of photography in India in a condensed format that can be used as a class text book. It will exoplore the practice and development of photography in India through identifying key photographers, images, styles, technological advances, and other important "moments" in its evolution. There will be a synthesis of secondary sources with primary research consisting of visual analysis of photographs in various collections and interviews with key figures in the industry and practicing photographers.
This project examines an important genre of South Asian photography that is distinct in the history of the medium and that has not yet been adequately studied. While other regions in the world applied paint to the photographic image, none did it with such frequency nor continued as long after the advent of colour photography. This points to another conception of the photographic image, one not based only on the photograph’s connection with “reality”, suggesting a need to rewrite photo history more broadly.
Inspired by an album of 168 cartes-de-visite of courtesans from various North Indian locations, mostly Lucknow, currently in the Royal Ontario Museum collection, this project examines the history of representation of the courtesan, from the dancing girl (nautch) in 18th-century Mughal and Company School painting to the playback singer and female film starlet in the early 20th century. It focuses on the period of the album: 1860s-1880s when the photos were taken and c.1900 when the album was compiled.
