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Item Use of Neural Networks in archaeology: preservation of Assamese manuscripts(International Seminar on Assamese Culture & Heritage, 2018) Abeysinghe, A.; Abeysinghe, AdityaHistorical documents are engraved as manuscripts ranging from palm leaf manuscripts, metal carvings to paper manuscripts. These manuscripts reveal significant information about yesteryear. Although, there are thousands of such manuscripts, the majority of them are not in good condition. Assam has one of the most ancient and largest collections of manuscripts. Assamese 'manuscripts are bound up with Srimanta Sankardeva (15th–16th century Assamese polymath) as well as his Neo Vaisnavite Movement as the manuscripts were the medium of transmission of the ideals of this religio-cultural movement. At the same time, Assamese are grateful to Sankaradeva and his successors for manuscripts which displayed Assamese culture. This saint-scholar, poet and playwright wrote his compositions on these manuscripts. Assamese consider these manuscripts as objects of veneration. Over the years, manuscripts, especially those in print are prone to decay due to various reasons such as climate (light, heat, dust and humidity), pest attacks and theft. At present, Information Technology (IT) is used for preservation of cultural heritage including preservation of manuscripts, the primary source of historical information. Current methods include use of hyperspectral imaging and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to preserve and scan images to digital format. However, current technologies lack the capability to convert a manuscript to a digital artifact due to improper character identification methodology. As such, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) can be used for classification as well as pattern recognition functions. Therefore, this research paper introduces use of an ANN to identify sections of manuscripts obtained from the Assam region.Item Depictions of Elephants in Ancient Indian Manuscripts(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) More, T.D.Knowledge about the elephant is provided in several Indian manuscripts and treatises since ancient times. The role played by elephants in war made their management very essential for the kings and a lot of literature on various aspects such as elephant capturing, training and husbandry came into existence. Notable amongst these are the Hastyayurveda by Palakapya, the Hastividyarnava by Sukumar Barkaith, the Matanga Lila by Nilkantha, the Kautilya’s Arthashastra, the Brihat Samhita by Varahamihira, the Manasollasa by Someshwara, the Gaja Sastram and Gajalaksana Chikitsa by Vyasa (Vaisampayan), the Gajayurveda by Bhattakrishnadasa, Feelnama and Kursinamah by Sayyid Ahmed al – Kabir, the Hati Puthi, and the Lava-Kushar Yuddha of Haribara Bipra etc. All these texts are rich sources of information on the elephants, sometimes supplemented by illustrations and paintings. These ancient sources deal with the status of distribution of elephants, their behavior, ecology, diet, genealogy, anatomy and physiology, growth and development, psychology, conflicts with people, diseases and their treatments, medicines and surgery, capturing, keeping, taming, management, care and training of elephants in royal captivity, and deployment in war. One can get knowledge about the changes in elephant habitat from comparisons of texts from different historical time periods. Much of the ancient knowledge about elephants is centered around the need to maintain them in captivity, and train and organize them in large numbers in the battlefields. Such aspects are covered in depth in the above cited ancient Indian manuscript texts. The paper gives brief summaries of these texts.