Curriculum Vitae: Shanti Pappu                                                                                         also see: Kumar Akhilesh

 Shanti Pappu is the founder/secretary of the Sharma Centre for Heritage Education. She has conducted extensive research on the prehistoric archaeology of Tamil Nadu since 1991. Since 1999, her team has been excavating the Palaeolithic site of Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu. She has published books and numerous research and popular articles on the prehistory of Tamil Nadu. She is interested and involved in popularising archaeology and conducts workshops for children and teachers. Dr. Pappu is also interested in computer applications in archaeology and is also doing a degree in law, with special emphasis on laws governing India's cultural heritage.

Educational Qualifications

School education at La  Martiniere for Girls, Kolkata, B.A. at Stella Maris college, Chennai; M.A. at Deccan College Post-graduate and Research

Institute, Pune; Ph.D. Archaeology, 1997, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, University of  Pune. Ph.D

Research Topic: Pleistocene Environments and Stone Age Adaptations in the Kortallayar Basin, Tamil Nadu. Research Guide:Prof. K. Paddayya.

Teaching Experience

Delivered professional academic lectures at a number of universities, colleges and institutes in India, U.K. and USA at the level of national and international conferences. Experience in organising workshops, taking classes for children, post-graduate students and adults in the fields of  archaeology, anthropology, and Quaternary environments.

 Positions Held

 

  • Founder/Director: Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, c/o The Sharma Children's Museum (current).

  • Homi Bhabha Fellow for conducting research into the prehistoric archaeology of Northern Tamil Nadu (2000-2002).

  • Charles Wallace Fellow, for conducting research into the life and work of Robert Bruce Foote at the University of Cambridge           (U.K.), under the Ancient India and Iran Trust (Sept.-Jan.2000).

  • Member of joint editorial board of the journal Man and Environment published by the Indian Society for Prehistoric and          Quaternary Studies, Pune (as of December 2003).

 

 Professional Membership

 

  • Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies

  • Indian Archaeological Society

  • Rock Art Society of India

  • The Sontheimer Cultural Association, Pune

  • The Tamil Nadu Archaeological Society

  • Fellow, Geological Society of India

 

Ongoing Projects

 

  • Development of the Sharma Children’s Museum, Chennai, India.

  • Director, excavations at the Palaeolithic site of Attirampakkam, Tiruvallur district, Northern Tamil Nadu (1999-2004) Funded by Homi Bhabha Fellowship (2000-2002), Leakey Foundation (2002), Earthwatch Institute (2003-2004). This forms a part of the Palar Basin Research Project investigating prehistory and palaeoenvironments of Northern Tamil Nadu.

  • Project on 'Community Education in South India', supported by the Earthwatch Institute and the Vodafone Group (2005)

  • Project on Satellite Remote Sensing in Archaeology: Case Study in the Palar River Basin, Tamil Nadu, funded by ISRO-GBP (Indian Space Research Institue-Global Biosphere Project);  and in association with Regional Institute of Remote Sensing, Bangalore (2005- ongoing). 

  • 'Children’s Museums and Indian Heritage: New Approaches towards teaching the Past'. (2004-2005); Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

  • Community Education in Southern India : a program to create an awareness of India's natural and cultural heritage amongst school children and teachers in urban and rural areas; funded by the Earthwatch Institute and Vodafone group (2005).

  • Co-organiser of an exhibition on Sacred Groves, in association with the Children's Garden Higher Secondary School, Chennai and Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahlaya (Museum of Mankind) Bhopal, August 6th-12th, 2005, at the Children's Garden Higher Secondary School, Chennai; with the aim of addressing children from rural and urban areas in and around Chennai (Total no. of participants were around 5000 children and teachers).

  • Other year-round on-site workshops on archaeology conducted for rural and urban children, teachers and college students and teachers; while excavations were ongoing at the site of Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu.

 

 Funding for Ongoing Excavation Projects

  • Homi Bhabha Fellowships Council: 2000-2002

  • Leakey Foundation (USA): 2002,  for the project ‘Pleistocene Archaeology and Palaeonvironments in the Palar Basin, India: Excavations at             Attirampakkam’.

  • Earthwatch Institute, (USA): 2003 –2004 for the project 'Early Man in India'- Excavations at Attirampakkam.

  • Earthwatch Institute, (USA), 2005 for the project 'Community Education in South India'.

  • Communications Technology and Conservation grant funded by Vodafone Group Foundation; for the Earthwatch Institute project-'Community Education in South India'.

  • Ministry of Culture, Government of India: 'Children’s Museums and Indian Heritage: New Approaches towards teaching the Past'. (2004-ongoing).

  • Project on Satellite Remote Sensing in Archaeology: Case Study in the Palar River Basin, Tamil Nadu in association with ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation (2005- ongoing). 

 

Popular Articles and Books

 

1.      New Light on Prehistoric Man in Tamil Nadu, The Hindu, Sunday, April 30th, 1995.

2.      Introducing Indian Archaeology, and other articles on http://www.com/picatype/dig/dig.htm

3.      Down Ancient Trails: The Irulas of Placepalayam: The India Magazine, in press.

4.      The Shining Stones,  (a childrens book on prehistory) in press, Tulika publishers, Chennai

5.      Articles on the website http://www.sharmaheritage.com.

Books

2001

A Re-examination of the Palaeolithic Archaeological  Record of Northern Tamil Nadu, South India. Oxford: BAR-International Series 1003.

2003

Stories in Stone: The Prehistory of Tamil Nadu, (IWA Endowment Lecture), Bulletin of the Government Museum, Chennai Madras Museum, New Series-General Section XVI-3. Chennai: Commissioner of Agriculture and Museums, Government Museum, Egmore. 

2005

Community Education and Archaeology, monograph, in preparation based on lecture series delivered at Centre for Centre for Archaeological Studies and Training, Eastern India; Kolkata.  

Papers Published and In Press 

2005

(Y. Gunnell, C. Rajshekar, S. Pappu, A. Kumar) On the Depositional Environment of Lower Palaeolithic Horizons at the Prehistoric Site of Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu, Current Science, in press.

2005

Archaeological Research and the Community: An example from Tamil Nadu, in Professor A. Sundara Felicitation Volume, in press.   

2005

(with Kumar Akhilesh) Prehistoric Archaeology and Community Education: earning from Excavations at Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu, Humankind, 1:131-145.

2005

(with K. Akhilesh). Preliminary Observations on the Acheulian Assemblages from Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu, paper presented at the Workshop on Acheulian, Large Cutting Tools, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, to be published  by Equinox. 

2004

 Down ancient trails: hunter-gatherers in Indian archaeology, in Hunter-gatherers in history, archaeology and anthropology. (Alan Barnard Ed.), New York:Berg, 129-142.

2004

(with Yanni Gunnell, Maurice Taieb and Kumar Akhilesh) Preliminary Report on Excavations at the Palaeolithic Site of Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu (1999-2004),  Man and Environment, Volume XXIX (2):1-17. 

2004

Robert Bruce Foote and the Kortallayar Basin in Indian Prehistory: Old Problems and New Approaches, in Proceedings of the R.B. Foote Memorial National Seminar (1995) on Indian Prehistory and Protohistory (Recent Advances), (A. Sundara Ed.), pp. 45-67  . Directoriate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Karnataka.

2003

 (with K. Akhilesh), 2003. The Palaeolithic Archaeology of the  Kortallayar river basin,  Tamil Nadu Kalvettu (Publication of the State Department of Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu) :16-23.          

2003

 (with Yanni Gunnell, Maurice Taieb, Jean-Philippe Brugal, Yannick    Touchard) Ongoing Excavations at the Palaeolithic Site of Attirampakkam, South India: Preliminary Findings  Current Anthropology, volume 44, number 4: 591-597.           

2003

(with, Yanni Gunnell, Maurice Taieb, Jean-Philippe Brugal, K. Anupama, Raman Sukumar and Kumar Akhilesh). Excavations at the Palaeolithic Site of Attirampakkam, South India, Antiquity, Vol 77 No 297 September 2003.

2002

 Excavations at the Palaeolithic Site of Attirampakkam, 2002, Avanam

2001

Middle Palaeolithic Stone Tool Technology in the Kortallayar Basin, South India, Antiquity 75(2001), No. 287:107-117

2001

The Environment in Prehistoric Research: A Case Study from the Kortallayar Basin, Tamil Nadu, in People and Environment in India: Essays in Environmental Anthropology (K.K. Misra and M.L.K. Murty Ed.); pp.24-38. New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House.

2001

Recent Research Into the Palaeolithic Archaeology of Tamil Nadu,South India, Praehistoria Vol.2:85-96.

2000

Archaeology in Schools: An Indian Example, Antiquity 74(2000): 485-6

1999

A Study of Natural Site Formation Processes in the Kortallayar Basin, Tamil Nadu, South India, Geoarchaeology: An International Journal. Vol.14, Number 2: 127-150.

1998

Discover India Gallery: The First Internet Site on Indian Archaeology, Archaeological Computing Newsletter, 50: 21 

1997

(with Hema Achyutan). Observations on the Geomorphology and Archaeology of Erumaivettipalayam, Red Hills, Tamil Nadu, Man and Environment XXII(1):87-90. 

1996

Geoarchaeological Investigations in the Kortallayar Basin, paper presented at the First Regional GEOSAS Workshop at Anna University, Chennai (Madras) in February 1996, in press

1994

(with A. Kshirsagar and Vijay Sathe). Discovery of a Middle Holocene Sub-Fossil Bone from Tiruvallur Taluk, Chingleput District, Tamil Nadu, Current Science, 67(6):431-433.

1991-92

Robert Bruce Foote and the Formation Processes of the Archaeological Record,  Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Prof. S.M. Khatre Felicitation Volume, 51-52:647-654. 

 

Pleistocene Landforms and Artefact Contexts in the Kortallayar Basin, Tamil Nadu, Draft Papers: Neogene and Quaternary. Settlement and Technology. World Archaeology Congress-3. New Delhi.

 

Reinvestigation of the Prehistoric Archaeological Record in the Kortallayar Basin, Tamil Nadu, Man and Environment, XXI (1):1-23

 

Submitted two short notes on Birbhanpur Prehistoric Site and on the Madras Industry for publication in the Encyclopaedia of South Asian Archaeology, Ed. Gregory Possehl.

 

(with K.V. Raman and N.C. Ghosh). Archaeology for Children: A Note on the Sharma Children's Museum, Man and Environment  XXIV(2):91-92.

 

 

                  

Interview

 Interview with Dr. Bridget Allchin and Dr. F.R. Allchin, conducted in September 1998, at Garhwal, Srinagar; published on the Discover India Gallery internet site: http://www.picatype.com/dig/dig.htm and in  Man and Environment  Vol. XXIII (2): 127-130.

 Book Reviews

 

  1. Review of the book “Model for Land Use in Late Acheulian Tradition, Satna District, Madhya Pradesh” by Prakash Sinha, 1991, Allahabad: Prayag Pustak Sadan, in Eastern Anthropologist,1991: 424-427.

Seminars and Workshops Attended

 

1.     

The XX Annual Meeting of the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Research, Dharwar, 6-8 November, 1991.

2.     

The XXII Annual Meeting of the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Research, Gorakhpur, 4-7 November, 1995 and presented a paper.

3.     

The World Archaeology Congress-3, New Delhi, 1994 and presented a paper.

4.     

The First Regional GEOSAS Workshop at Anna University, Chennai (Madras) in February 1996 and presented a paper (in press).

5.     

Workshop on  ‘Late Quaternary Climatic and Coastal Changes’ conducted at the Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, 20-29th January, 1997.

6.     

National Symposium on GIS and Geological Remote Sensing (NAGRES -97)  at the Centre for Remote Sensing, Bharatidasan University, Tiruchirapalli from the 5-7th February, 1997 and presented a paper. ‘Application of Satellite Image Studies in Prehistoric Archaeology, with Special Reference to the Kortallayar Basin, Tamil Nadu’.

7.     

The XXIII Annual Meeting of the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Research, New Delhi,  November, 1996 and presented a paper.

8.     

The XXIV Annual Meeting of the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Research, Srinagar, Garhwal, October 1997 and presented a paper.

9.     

The XXIV Annual Meeting of the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Research, Srinagar, Garhwal, October 1997. Presented a paper entitled: The Discover India Gallery: Internet Site for Indian Heritage.

10.   

Workshop on Pastoralism and Reconstructing Identities organized by the Sontheimer Cultural Association; Pune 7-9 December1998. Presented a paper entitled: Hunter-Gatherers and Indian Prehistory

11.   

IGCP (349-413) Workshop on Palaeoclimatic Records on Arid and Semi-Arid Regions During the Late Quaternary, held at the Deccan College Post-graduate and Research Institute, Pune; 8-11 December 1998.

12.   

Workshop on Lithic Technology, Sophia-Antipolis, Valbonne, October 2nd-17th, 2001, France.

13.   

International conference on hunter-gatherers: CHAGS9, at Edinburgh, from Sep.8-12th and presented two papers.

14.   

Lecture delivered at C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation on Prehistory of Tamil Nadu

15.   

EILQUEC & POLTRAN (Late Quaternary Environment Change: Emerging Issues) held at the Anna University, Chennai and the French Institute, Pondicherry (Feb 10th-15th 2003). Delivered lectures.

16.   

Earthwatch Annual Conference, November 2003, Boston, USA.

17.   

Indian Monsoon and Climate Variability during Holocene 17-18 May, 2004.

18.   

The XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, Annual Meetings of the Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies, held respectively at Baroda, Cochin, Tirupati and Lucknow.

19.   

Earthwatch Annual Conference, November 2004, Boston, USA.

20.   

Negotiations with the Past: Classical Tamil in Contemporary Tamil, jointly organized by the Indology Department, French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) and the Tamil Chair, Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies (SSEAS), University of California, Berkeley on Friday 30th  July 2004; and presented a paper ':"Archaeology in South India  The  need  for links and communication".

21.   

Workshop on Acheulian Large Cutting Tools, conducted at the Institute for Advanced Studies, Institute for Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2nd-9th July 2005.

 Awards Obtained and Grants Received

 

1.      The Prof. H.D Sankalia Memorial Gold Medal for standing first in the M.A. Examinations conducted at the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, in 1991.

2.      The Justice Kashinath Trimbak Telang Prize for standing first in the M.A Examinations, in Archaeology, from the University of Pune, in 1991.

3.      The Prof. H.D. Sankalia Young Archaeologist Award for the paper presented at the XXII Annual Conference of the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Research, held at Gorakhpur, 4-7 November 1995.

4.      Obtained the Junior Research Fellowship and Lectureship of the University Grants Commission (UGC) in 1991; and obtained the UGC Senior Research Fellowship in 1993.

5.      The Homi Bhabha Fellowship for research into prehistoric archaeology in Tamil Nadu (2000-2002).

6.      The Charles Wallace Fellowship (Ancient India and Iran Trust) for research at the University of Cambridge, U.K. (Sept-Jan. 2000).

7.      The Earthwatch Institute, Young Scientist Award, 2003, of an amount of US $ 1200, a citation and features in the Earthwatch journals/web pages. 

Media coverage: The excavations at Attirampakkam have been covered by the press including newspapers The Hindu, the Indian Express, Dinamani, Dinathanti, and by T.V. channels, :-Star T.V., Vijay, NDTV, T.V., Raj T.V.,etc. Community education work, and activities of the Sharma Children's Museum were covered by the Hindu, the Indian Express and Dinamani.

Lectures Delivered

  • 1.One lecture was delivered to the M.A-II students of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune, in 1992, on prehistoric sites in Tamil Nadu.

  • 2. A series of 8 lectures on Indian Prehistory were delivered to the M.A and research students of the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, University of Madras on Indian Prehistory, in February 1995.

  • 3.Lecture on Prehistoric Archaeology of Tamil Nadu at the Government Museum, Chennai, March 2002.

  • 4.Lecture on Excavations at Attirampakkam, C.P. Ramasamy Foundation, Chennai, March 2002.

  • 5.Lecture to Delegates of the PAGES and IGPC delegates, held at the Anna University, Chennai on Recent Excavations at Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu (with Y. Gunnell, M. Taieb, J-P Brugal and Kumar Akhilesh)

  • 6.Lectured students at a workshop conducted by the IGPC, at the Anna University, Chennai, on Soils and Archaeology.

  • 7.Various lectures delivered to school children in Chennai and Pune.

  • 8.Convenor of Discussion Groups organised by the Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, which meet every Saturday in Pune.

  • 9.Organise lectures and field schools for students at our ongoing excavations at Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu, South India.

  • 10. Lectures at the C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar Foundation, Chennai (2002)

  • 11. Lectures at the University of Chennai  (2002), conference on South Indian Archaeology.

  • 12. EILQUEC & POLTRAN (Late Quaternary Environment Change: Emerging Issues) held at the Anna University, Chennai and the French Institute, Pondicherry (Feb 10th-15th 2003).

  • 13. A series of three lectures on Indian prehistory and community education was delivered at the Centre for Archaeological Studies, Eastern India, Kolkata (March 20th-26th, 2005).

  • 14. One lecture on excavations at Attirampakkam was delivered at the Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, March 24th, 2005.

  • 15. Series of  lectures and one field trip delivered to adult students at the Hayagriva Study Circle, Chennai, August 8th-13th 2005 on the topic: Digging Deep:Archaeology And Past Environments.

  • 16. Lectures to students of the MTDC (Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, Pune), on archaeology, tribes of India and Indian Constitution, May 26th and 31st, 2006.   

               

Experience in Explorations/Excavations 

  • Director of excavations at the prehistoric site of Attirampakkam, Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu, since 1999.

  • Conducted extensive surveys of prehistoric sites in the Palar river basin, Tamil Nadu, since 1991.

  • Quaternary sediments (teris) and microlithic sites in the Tirunelvelli and Tuticorin districts, Tamil Nadu- survey-1998.

  • The Harappan site of Kuntasi, district Maliya, Gujarat, 1989(volunteer).

  • The Middle Palaeolithic site of Samnapur, district Narsinghpur, Madhya Pradesh 1989-90 (volunteer)

  • The Upper Palaeolithic site of Mehtakhedi, district West Nimad, Madhya Pradesh, 1991-92 and 1992-93 and 1993-94. (volunteer)

  • The Neolithic Ash Mound site of Budihal, district Gulbarga, Karnataka, 1993 and 1994 (volunteer).

  • Consultant for the Department of Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu, for excavations at Perur and Mangudi.

  • Quaternary deposits and Mesolithic sites around Visakhapatnam region, Andhra Pradesh (workshop).

  • Quaternary formations and Upper Palaeolithic and other sites around Maheshwar, Navdatoli and Mehtakhedi  (West Nimad district), Madhya Pradesh (volunteer).

  • Archaeology in the Kurnool basin, Andhra Pradesh (visiting scholar).

  • Upper Palaeolithic sites in Jharkhand (visiting scholar for consultation only).

 

Other Qualifications

  •  Established the Sharma Children's Museum (February 19th, 1999) the first children's museum for archaeology in India. This was set up under the Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, a non-profit public educational body aimed at promoting an awareness of Indian heritage among youth and in conducting independent research. This is located at the Ellen Sharma Matriculation School, Sholinganallore, 30 km outside Chennai.

  • Interest in generating creative products to teach archaeology to school children, and for purposes of reference for teachers (primarily for  underpriviledged children) who do not have access to expensive teaching aids.

  • Interest in the use of computers in archaeological research and in popularizing Indian Archaeology. Knowledge of COBOL, dbase, ORACLE, among other languages and packages. Participated in a National Workshop on Application of Computer Techniques in Archaeology, from June 1st to 28th, 1993 conducted by Sebastian Rahtz and Luca Bondioli at the Deccan College, Pune.

  • Languages Known: English, German, Hindi, Bengali, (read, written and spoken), Tamil (spoken, minimal reading and writing) Telugu (spoken only). Marathi (read and spoken), French (basic reading text only for research purposes).  

  • Developed the web site Discover India Gallery, and SERINDIAN  (currently defunct); and now hosts http://www.sharmaheritage.com  

  • Interest in issues related to ecology, anthropology, and is currently doing a degree in law (LLB) from Pune, with a dissertation on Archaeology and the Law in India: Problems and Perspectives.