Mapping Mania 🗺️ One of MAHSA’s main outputs is georeferencing historical Survey of India maps. And as of July, we’ve reached over four-million square kilometres of georeferencing coverage in South Asia.

The Mystery of the Indus Unicorn 🦄 Meet the enigmatic one-horned creature of the Indus Valley Civilisation, a recurring image found on stamp seals recovered from archaeological sites. This steatite example dates to c. 2500-2000 BCE and was found at the iconic Mohenjo-daro site in Pakistan.

From Salt to Sovereignty 🧂✊ This week we remember the courageous resistance to imperial rule embodied by the Salt March of 1930. Led by Mahatma Gandhi, this iconic act of civil disobedience aimed to break the British salt monopoly on a very public stage.

One mound, one hundred years ⌛ Sitting in the southwest of Sirsa, Haryana, you can easily spot a large archaeological mound. While we don’t know much about the site, our documentation work enables us to chart its relationship with the growing city as it starts to surround it.

Pillars of Punjab 🕌🛕👑 Old Survey of India maps reveal many forgotten monuments of bygone eras. Plenty remain standing today but have melded into the background of everyday life in South Asia. Enter the Kos Minar!

Learn how to georeference historical maps with MAHSA & MAEASaM ▶️🗺️ Want to work with old maps for yourself? Our latest GIS workshop will teach you how! 🔗 Watch now: youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Surveying in the shadow of Kussak Fort, Chakwal, Pakistan 🏰 Follow the MAHSA field team as they document this impressive site, once controlled by the Janjua Rajputs from the 11th century. “This was us finishing our records in the shade after hiking up Kussak Fort in the morning..."

AI in Archaeology – it’s more than just a trend 🤖 At MAHSA, we’re actively using machine learning to identify potential archaeological mounds in collaboration with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.

Introducing Dr Charlotte Evans! 🤝 We’re excited to introduce our newest team member, Charlotte, who specialises in GIS and hydrology. Charlotte is joining us following her PhD and postdoc in Manchester, where she worked for the NERC Digital Solutions Programme.

Today marks the International Day of Potato, putting the spudlight on these vital veggies. Surveyed in 1968, our first map shows India’s Central Potato Research Institute in Himachal Pradesh. It helped popularise potato cultivation in the region and continues its spudtactular research today.

Level up your GIS and digital heritage skills with the MAHSA & MAEASaM YouTube channel 🗺️💻 Explore our growing collection of playlists designed to build foundational knowledge in digital heritage management: www.youtube.com/@mahsa_maeas... @maeasamproject.bsky.social

Getting figgy with it 🌳🕺 The peepal tree, or Ficus religiosa, frames this weathered temple in Punjab, Pakistan. Native to the Indian subcontinent, the sacred fig has religious significance in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. It’s a real peepal pleaser.

“The landscape between Ludhiana city and Malerkotla town feels like two different worlds in the hot summer and smog-filled winter."

By Friday, the tanks have run dry after a week's surveying 🥱 Sending energy to our MAHSA colleagues, Afifa & Babar, for this week's ground truthing! #SurveyStories #Archaeology #Heritage #Pakistan

Bellum by the Jhelum ⚔️ Crossed swords mark the spot of a battlefield on the historic map, north of Chillianwala in Mandi Bahauddin District, Pakistan. This likely signifies the location of the Battle of Chillianwala (1849) – a brutal stalemate in the Second Anglo-Sikh war.

Introducing Shoaib Mohammad! 🤝 The latest member of our Cambridge team, Shoaib trained as an architect at the National College of Arts, Lahore, before specialising in building conservation through an MSc in Sustainable Building Conservation at Cardiff University.

Ground truthing + ground coffee, a recipe for success in the field ☕ Afifa, Waqar and Moazzam were back on the road again, in the Cholistan Desert. With some fancy beans and an AeroPress, any coffee snob will be happy in the field. Not sponsored by AeroPress but we’re open to offers 👀

The hidden histories of cities 🏙️ Heritage underpins our lives in so many ways, often unseen. But these hidden entanglements with the past can be revealed in historical maps. For today’s #MappingMonday we look at Bahawalpur, Pakistan, in 1908.

MAHSA & MAEASaM at the Cambridge Festival! 🏔️🧩 We brought mapping to the masses last weekend at the fantastic Cambridge Festival Family Weekend. Over 1,000 visitors joined us at the University Centre where our teams joined the department to share interactive archaeological experiences with families.

Spilling the tea on field surveys in India 🫖 Well-earned refreshments with Kuili & Anisha after a long day of surveying in Ludhiana district! A special thank you to the farmer who saved the team's car from an agricultural field with his tractor 😅🚜

Mapping is for everyone! 🗺️ In today’s #MappingMonday we venture to the region around Garhmukteshwar, Uttar Pradesh. Sat between the Ganges River and the former Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway, the town highlights the methods, challenges, and opportunities of georeferencing historical maps.

Eid Mubarak and Nowruz Mobarak from the MAHSA team 🥳 It’s a double bill of blessings today as we celebrate Eid al-Fitr and the Persian New Year. Whether you are breaking your fast and/or bringing in the new year, we hope you enjoy cherished moments and delicious food with your loved ones.

Bake Your Project 🧁 This week, MAHSA team members hosted Bake Your Project at the McDonald Institute, where colleagues baked treats inspired by the projects they work on. We raised over £170 for Cambridge Community Kitchen to support their fight against food poverty in Cambridge.

Arches Workshop available on YouTube! ▶️ Learn how the MAHSA & MAEASaM Projects are sharing their work with the world, and how you can create your own open access heritage database. youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Watch our latest GIS workshop ▶️ The recent MAHSA-MAEASaM online GIS workshop can now be enjoyed on our YouTube channel! 🔗 youtube.com/playlist?lis...

This week MAHSA & MAEASaM hosted a successful workshop covering the application, history, and challenges of GIS in archaeology. 280 participants joined us from over 30 countries, bringing together an international community interested in strengthening the use of GIS in archaeological research. (1/5)

Join our next South Asia: Women in the Field meeting! 🕑 Thursday, February 26th, 2-4 pm (GMT) 📍 McDonald Institute Seminar Room, Downing Site, Cambridge

In today’s #MappingMonday we join MAHSA team members Afifa Khan & Babar Hussain as they survey Nankana Sahib in Pakistan: “Nankana Sahib is a peculiarly shaped district, not far from Lahore, and is renowned for being a part of the Sikh pilgrimage route in Pakistani Punjab..."

The first episode of South Asia: Women in the Field is now available on YouTube. Join Malini Roy, Professor M.B. Rajani and Vaneshree Vidyarthi as they discuss the conservation of archaeological heritage using ground-breaking geospatial methods. 🔗 Tune in here! youtu.be/IolMTRC0zPc?...

🗺️ Historic maps of South Asia – now at your fingertips The MAHSA Project is thrilled to share our open-access search portal for historic Survey of India maps! (1/3)