Virendra Nath Misra (9 January 1935 – 31 October 2015) was an Indian archaeologist. He graduated from

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Pune, is a public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshkhind. The uni ...

. He is noted for his research into the

Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE ...

Life and career

Misra came from a small Village at the bank of ramganga river-Nisvi, Khandauli, in

Farrukhabad district Farrukhabad district is a district of Uttar Pradesh state of India. The town of Fatehgarh is the district headquarters. The district is part of Kanpur division. Farrukhabad is situated between Lat. 26° 46' N & 27° 43' N and Long. 79° ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. After completing his initial studies from the

University of Lucknow University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is one of the oldest public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. LU's main campus is located at Badshah Bagh, University Road area of the city with a second ...

, he joined the Deccan College, Pune and graduated from the

. He is noted for his research in Prehistory, Protohistory and Ethnoarchaeology. A career spanning over several decades, Misra is remembered for his studies in northern

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, western

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

and

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. He excavated important archaeological sites such as

Bhimbetka The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site in central India that spans the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, as well as the historic period. It exhibits the earliest traces of human life in India and evidence of the Stone Age star ...

(a world Heritage site) and

Balathal Balathal is an archaeological site located in Vallabhnagar tehsil of Udaipur district of Rajasthan state in western India. It is one of the ninety Ahar-Banas culture sites located in the Basins of the Banas river and its tributaries. Exca ...

, among others. Misra died in Pune on 31 October 2015, at the age of 80.

Publications

* 1965. V. N. Misra and M. S. Mate (eds.). ''Indian Prehistory'': 1964. Pune: Deccan College. * 1965. V. N. Misra. ''Pre and Proto-history of the Berach Basin, South Rajasthan''. Poona : Deccan College. * 1967. J. R. Lukacs, V. N. Misra, and K. A. R. Kennedy. Bagor and Tilwara: ''Late Mesolithic Cultures of Northwest India. Vol. I: The Human Skeletal Remains''. Poona: Deccan College. * 1978. V. N. Misra, Y. Mathpal and M. Nagar. ''Prehistoric Man and his Art at Bhimbetka, Central India''. Poona. * 1985. V. N. Misra and Peter Bellwood (eds.). ''Recent Advances in Indo-Pacific Prehistory''. Delhi: Oxford-IBH. * 1992. V. N. Misra (ed.) ''Indus Civilization, a special Number of the Eastern Anthropologist''. Lucknow: Ethnographic & Folk Culture Society. * 2009. V. N. Misra and A. K. Kanungo (eds). ''Dr. Swarajya Prakash Gupta: An Academic and Human Profile''. Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies. .

References

External links

Biography/CV at infinity.foundation.com
1935 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Indian archaeologists Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni Archaeologists of the Indus Valley civilisation Archaeologists of South Asia {{india-scientist-stub