Shabeena Yasmin Saikia
(Guwahati, Assam, India)
In a federal polity where the small federal units bear the burden of managing their own houses in order, the importance of archaeology and archaeological sites is at stake. Archaeology, as a discipline, in many such areas, has not yet developed or yet to find a place in the Universities. It is because of this that, there are not too many enthusiastic lobbies of students who could make teams, raise funds and lead archaeological excavations. India being an ancient country has archaeological relics some of which are dated back to some 3500 BC. The country is indeed rich in important archaeological deposits. The small units which we call States under the Constitution, administration of archaeology is within their fore while most of them are out of resources to give appropriate cover to their valuable archaeological pasts preserved so far as heritage sites. This is because, except the few five percent States, the financial constraint in others is so acute that at times, they become pennyless even to pay their employees. It is indeed a pathetic affair. Carrying out continuous exploration and excavations is an unsolved equation. As a result, the important archaeological sites, in both urban and rural areas, transformed into jungles. There are instances when Government had to block funds for diverting the same for other emergency purposes. Preservation of archaeological findings comes only to the next of providing bread to the masses. While this is the status in almost all developing countries, few countries in east Europe like France are also no exceptions to this. This paper is an attempt to find out the causes behind such large scale failure on the part of the Government to give protective coverage to the heritage sites. This analysis will be followed by an effort to fund out an alternative solution to it and gauge the prospect of archaeology in the developing countries.