Dr Kaushik Gangopadhyay is currently engaged as Assistant Professor (Stage II) in the department of archaeology, University of Calcutta. He is presently the Head of the Department of Archaeology. He obtained B.A from the department of History, Presidency College, M.A from the department of Ancient Indian History Culture & Archaeology from Deccan College PG & Research Institute, Pune and Ph.D from the department of Ancient Indian History Culture & Archaeology, Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha under the supervision of Prof K.K.Basa, Professor, Department of Anthropology and former Director of Indian Museum, Calcutta.
Dr Gangopadhyay is actively engaged in archaeological research from 2003. He has been a junior research fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, 2003-2004, and Fellow of the Centre for Archaeological Studies & Training , Eastern India, an autonomous institution of the Government of West Bengal 2004-2013,which was a permanent position at the Institute. He joined his present position in 2013.
Dr Gangopadhyay is an experienced field archaeologist and his main interest lies in the proto-historic and early historic archaeology of Eastern India with particular emphasis on the coastal zone of West Bengal and Eastern coast of India. He has directed three excavations and he has participated in archaeological excavations in India as well as abroad. He received the prestigious Nehru Fellowship Award to travel to the United Kingdom and participated in excavations conducted the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA). He has employed geo-archaeological methods in understanding the coastal sites. He is also actively engaged in understanding the ancient patterns of interactions and trade by using archaeological chemistry of ancient ceramics and other objects.
His other interests include field research for ethnoarchaeology where Dr Gangopadhyay has combined theoretical archaeology with field research with the cult of the serpent Goddess in West Bengal to understand the role of rituals and symbols in past and contemporary societies.
Dr Gangopadhyay has several articles in reputed peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings. He has also edited jointly two important books on Archaeology. The first book edited with Prof Gautam Sengupta is titled History of Archaeology in India. Ideas, Institution and Individuals. His latest edited book along with other scholars namely Prof Kenneth Hall, Prof Suchandra Ghosh and Prof Rila Mukherjee has papers dealing with cross- cultural connections between India and South-East Asia.
Dr Gangopadhyay is a member of the World Archaeological Congress and he has organized sessions on interactions in Northern Bay of Bengal region in the Eighth World Archaeological Congress held at Kyoto in 2017. He is also a life member of Indian Society for Prehistory and Quaternary Studies (ISPQS).
