Chai Stories | The Beginning

We launch a five-part series about the story of chai through the centuries. How did a beloved drink with ancient roots in India catapult to world prominence, carried by every Starbucks across the globe? Learn how this drink originated as Dr. Mary Davis and Dr. Namita Sugandhi serve as your culinary, archaeological, and cultural guides. Just click on the video link at the bottom of the page to begin your journey.

We include a recipe for chai for you to create at home. Curl up with a hot cup as you listen to the series!

ABOUT MARY DAVIS

Mary Davis is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Her research focuses upon technologies and social communities of the Indus Civilization, comparative urbanism, the use of stone tools in the Bronze Age, and computational archaeology. She has conducted archaeological research in North America, Syria, and South Asia. Her dissertation research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison focused upon identifying craft based neighborhoods at the site of Harappa, Pakistan circa 3200-1800 BCE through patterns in stone tools.

ABOUT DR. NAMITA SAGUNDHI

Dr. Namita Sugandhi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY. Her research focuses on long-term ritual developments in South India and on the emergence of transformative technologies in small-scale complex societies. Dr. Sugandhi has been conducting archaeological research in South India for two decades and has also worked at sites in Rajasthan, the northeastern United States, and Hawai’i. In addition to fieldwork at the site Tekkalakota in Karnataka, Dr. Sugandhi is also a director of the Pine Lake Archaeological Field School in upstate New York. She enjoys drinking chai on both projects.