SOCIAL SCIENTIST Elaborating this he advocated the strong desirability of interdisciplinary approach to the study of man. According to him natural forces like climate, geography, the changing courses of the rivers, rocks, minerals, soils, etc. constantly influence the life of man. Therefore, in order to understand man's life, it is also necessary to understand these forces.11 Similar views are echoed in his presidential address to the Anthropology and Archaeology Section of the Indian Science Congress, Bangalore Session, in January 1946.u He further underlined the necessity of the aerial observations and photography. It is surprising that neither he saw any role of man nor of his tools to shape his destiny. It is not the natural forces alone which influence man, but man and his tools with which he interacts with the former also influence these very forces. However in the same address he lamented the absence of geochronological laboratories for studying the pre-historic climatic fluctuations and the impact on human development in India. In the pre-independence period excavation of the major Indus centres like Harappa (1921) and Mohenjodaro (1922) had furnished valuable information on the mature phase of the Harappa civilization. Nevertheless there were serious gaps about its evolutionary and devolutionary processes. To secure more information on these aspects Wheeler resumed excavation at Harappa in 1946.13 He discovered remains of an entirely new cultural complex, popularly known as "Cemetery H", superimposed upon Cemetery R-37, indicating altogether a new stock of people. This prompted Wheeler to correlate it with the Aryans who were supposed to have destroyed the forts of their predecessors.14 Although this was opposed by B.B.Lal immediately which, however, surely added a new dimension to the interpretation of such archaeological material, especially in the aftermath of the partition of India. In the context of future archaeological research on the Harappa civilization it was thus imperative not only to explore its remains but also to discover the processes of its evolution and devolution, extent and variants, patterns of living and movements of people in eastern contiguous areas to the Indus in the Union of India. Besides there was a dire need to know about the soil-types, water resources, climatic conditions, flora and fauna, ethnographic practices, etc. in order to place the archaeological remains in their proper context. This was the one area which deserved to be explored immediately. Similarly the excavations at Ahichchhatra conducted by the then Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (hereafter ASI) K.N. Dikshit between 1940 and 1946,15 added