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Abstract: Professor McKim Marriott indicated one anomaly in social sciences researches in India regarding the use of western ideas in Indian situations and called for an ethnosocial science. Acknowledging Marriott with characteristic humility, Saraswati reminded us that the Indian stalwarts like S.C. Roy and N.K Bose had similar appeal to posterity. The later development of anthropology in India has made it clear that Professor Baidyanath Saraswati was the most prominent practitioner in this direction. Saraswati began his anthropological journey with the study of material culture and gradually drifted towards the studies of social organizations of Indian civilization and religion which ultimately culminated in the exploration of senses and more ethereal aspects of Indian society and culture. His philosophically informed approach took him to the understanding of mind through indigenous categories. As a result, we get cosmic anthropological principles which according to him is the very alternative paradigm of Indian anthropology. In this discussion, we shall try to locate the major areas of Saraswati’s works, the conceptual categories he proposed to understand culture and society, and the cosmological narrative he built for the anthropological studies. My argument here is that Saraswati had an ingenious mind that expanded the scope of his imagination towards a kind of reflective anthropology. Uttering not a single word about post-modern theory or methodology, Saraswati paved the way for a more nuanced, subjective, and phenomenological turn in the discipline for grasping the realities in the field beyond the conventional methods followed after Malinowski. Critically looking at his contribution one may say that he was singularized by his venture in his time wading into the studies which had a few takers. Secondly, in dealing with the Indian situation, did he appropriate the tribal communities in the Indian civilization glossing the uniqueness they portray? We shall try to find answers to these questions in our discourse with regard to larger socio-political context in which our discipline is situated.

Keywords: Ethnosociology, Indian civilization, Alternative, Cosmo-cultural Principle, Baidyanath Saraswati.

Abstract: Mahurjhari is an Iron Age and Early Historic site in the Vidarbha region of western Maharashtra, 15 km. northwest of the city of Nagpur, India. The excavations at Mahurjhari were conducted in 1978-79, by Deccan College and directed by S. B. Deo. Human remains were recovered and subjected to bioarchaeological examination. Dental and skeletal variations at Mahurjhari are described here to better understand the diet, nutrition, health, and biological adaptations of these Iron Age denizens of Vidarbha. Fifteen burials yielded evidence of 28 individuals, yet not all were suited to analysis. Demographic analysis reveled equal representation by sex (5 males, 6 females), though sex was indeterminate for 10 skeletons. Age at death ranged between 10 and 32 years and is similar for both sexes. Dental analysis focused on wear, morphology, crown size, and pathology. Lingual surface abrasion of anterior teeth and micro-chipping of post-canine teeth (66.7 per cent of individuals) are associated with large tooth size. Dental caries are moderate in frequency (53.3 per cent individuals; 7.7 per cent teeth), suggesting a refined diet that included carbohydrates. Dental chipping implies that meat was also part of the diet. Dental crowding and impacted canine and molar teeth indicate that teeth developed in constrained jaw space. Reduced masticatory stress and thorough food processing impacted dental variation. Skeletal robusticity is evident in upper and lower limbs. Humeri lack perforation of the olecranon fossae and femora are bowed and exhibit a developed linea aspera (pilaster). Anterior-posterior bowing of the femoral diaphysis may result from nutritional deficiency in childhood, but in association with a strong pilaster it suggests biomechanical stress as in horseback riding. Mahurjhari is similar to megalithic Kodumanal in demography (few sub-adults), tooth wear (dental chipping) and post-cranial robusticity. Yet differences, including larger tooth size and higher caries at Mahurjhari are also evident.
 

Keywords: Tooth wear, Dental morphology, Tooth size, Dental pathology, Osteometry, Skeletal morphology, Biological variation

Abstract: Ethnomedicinal knowledge remains central to everyday healthcare among many indigenous communities in India, functioning alongside formal medical institutions within plural therapeutic landscapes. This paper examines ethnomedicinal practices among the Bodo community of Gossaigaon in Kokrajhar District, Assam, focusing on how plant-based healing is embedded in household life, gendered care practices, and local ecological knowledge. Based on ethnobiological fieldwork conducted between 2022 and 2025, the study documents medicinal plant use, modes of preparation, and therapeutic applications, while situating these practices within broader anthropological debates on medical pluralism and traditional ecological knowledge. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, quasi-participant observation, and interactions with elder knowledge holders, mothers, caregivers, and Anganwadi Workers, the study records sixty-one medicinal plant species used to treat a range of ailments, including gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory conditions, febrile illnesses, skin diseases, and maternal and child health concerns. Ethnomedicinal remedies constitute the first line of treatment within Bodo households, reflecting culturally grounded understandings of illness, efficacy, and bodily balance. Engagement with state-supported services occurs selectively and pragmatically, shaped by local evaluations of need rather than by replacement of indigenous practices. The paper argues that Bodo ethnomedicine should be understood not as a residual tradition but as a living and adaptive system of knowledge, sustained through everyday practice and social transmission. By foregrounding the coexistence and negotiation of multiple healing traditions, the study contributes to anthropological discussions on indigenous healthcare, medical pluralism, and the persistence of ethnomedicinal knowledge in contemporary rural India.

Keywords: Ethnomedicine; Medical pluralism; Traditional ecological knowledge; Indigenous healthcare; Bodo community; ICDS; Maternal and child health.