Arvin Raj Mathur
Credentials: Anthropology (Archaeology)
Position title: PhD Student

Previous Institution(s) |
MSc. Archaeological Science.
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
BA Anthropology
Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio.
Areas of Research Interest
Indus Tradition (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan): Trade and economy, agriculture, social organization, cuisine, diversity
Umm an-Nar culture (Oman, UAE): Trade and economy, links to South Asia, pottery and cuisines
Organic residue analysis: Food lipids from pottery, GC-MS, isotopes, GC-Orbitrap, identification of cuisines
Ceramic petrography: identifying patterns of ceramic paste production, thin-section preparation and analysis
Analytical chemistry: separation science, mass spectrometry, lipidomics, natural products, organic geochemistry, food chemistry
Mineralogy: mineralogy and chemistry of clays and ceramic materials, mineral characterization and provenance
Areas of General Interest
The archaeology of Iran and Afghanistan: social organization, pottery use and cuisines in the Helmand Tradition
The archaeology of Central Asia: social organization, state formation, pottery use
The archaeology of northern and Central Europe: organic residue analysis, ceramic vessel use, cuisine in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
The archaeology of the Vinca culture, Serbia: chronology and ceramic production
Biomolecular archaeology: Py-GC-MS applications, paleoproteomics and other applications of organic mass spectrometry to archaeology
Languages and cultures: South Asian languages and cultures
Languages: English (Native), Urdu (fluent), Hindi (fluent), German (fluent), Arabic (upper intermediate), Spanish (basic), Persian (basic)
List of published and non-published works
Domani, Paula, Arvin Raj Mathur and Silvia Amicone. Petrographic and typological study of pottery from Begash, Kazakhstan (in progress).
Amicone, Silvia, Arvin Raj Mathur, Rengasamy Deepthi Pavithra, Neda Mirković-
Marić,, Ivana Pantović, and Julka Kuzmanović-Cvetković. “Beneath the surface: exploring variability in pottery paste recipes within Vinča culture, Serbia.” Quaternary International (in press).
Mathur, Arvin. Biomolecular investigations of pottery use and cuisine during Periods 1 and 2 at Harappa, Pakistan. Unpublished MSc. Thesis, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, 2020.
“Cuisine and urbanization in the Indus Tradition: preliminary results of organic residue analysis at Harappa.” The Foundations of South Asian Cuisine: Indus Foodways in Urban and Rural Settlements Panel, Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison, WI, Oct. 18, 2019.
Desai, Meghna and Arvin Raj Mathur. “Medieval Trade Routes in the Kadapa Basin: A Study of Chitvel Taluka” Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 5 (2017): 343-356.
Favorite part about CSA
Opportunities to meet scholars, weekly talks, South Asian studies courses
Hobbies
Tourism, digital art, yoga, running