The Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, Chennai
The Sharma Center for Heritage Education, Chennai (SCHE)(est. 1999) is an Institute dedicated to
the promotion of research in the field of archaeology and public outreach for generating an
awareness of the subject in the wider community (http://www.sharmaheritage.com). A special
focus lies in educational programs on archaeology for children, teachers, college/university
students and early career researchers.
The SCHE has focused on multidisciplinary research in the field of prehistoric archaeology, with
cutting-edge long-term investigations at sites such as Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu (1999-
ongoing). This research pushed back the antiquity of prehistoric occupation in this part of India to
more than a million years ago. Ongoing research at neighbouring prehistoric sites (e,g,
Sendrayanpalayam) and explorations across Tamil Nadu, are contributing to generating new
knowledge on early prehistoric populations and their environments, aiding in situating the region
within global debates on population migrations.
The SCHE coordinates a team of leading scientists uniting diverse disciplines to build an
understanding of past populations, chronology and environments. The use of new theoretical
approaches and scientific techniques to investigate prehistoric sites has led to the development
of novel perspectives on India’s prehistoric past, several of which has challenged traditional
paradigms and are of global significance. A special focus of the SCHE is on experimental
archaeologyin the field of prehistory, where a long term research program studying and
replicating strategies for making and using stone tools is currently underway.
Research results have thus been published in peer-reviewed high-impact journals such as Nature
and Science, as also in prestigious publications such as Journal of Human Evolution, Journal of
Archaeological Science, Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports, Current Anthropology,
Antiquity, Current Science, and in numerous Indian and foreign edited volumes. The Centre has
entered into collaborations with the Department of Archaeology, State Government of Tamil
Nadu to investigate the spread of early agro-pastoralism in SE India, and in conducting
educational programs and workshops on archaeology in Tamil Nadu.
They have collaborated with scientists from the French Institute of Pondicherry, University of
Pondicherry, Mangalore University, Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, Centre for Ecological
Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad.
Regional Remote Sensing Centre-South, CENIEH, Burgos, Spain, Université Lumière-Lyon 2, CNRS-
UMR 5600, France, CEREGE Aix-en-Provence, France, Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology,
University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, amongst other Institutes; and have signed Memorandums of
Understanding with several leading universities and research institutes.
Members of the Centre have received prestigious national and international recognition such as
the ‘HomiBhabha Fellowship’, ‘Earthwatch Young Scientist Award’, and grants from the Leakey
Foundation, National Geographic, Earthwatch Institute among others. In addition to publications,
the members of the SCHE have presented their work at conferences in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal,
China, S. Korea, Australia, Vietnam, USA, UK, France, Spain, Germany and Israel, and have
participated in international field research in Tanzania.
A major focus of the SCHE is creating alternate educational models for teaching archaeology to
children, college/university students, teachers, local stakeholders and the interested public. A
children’s museum/outreach centre was established in 1999, and since then in-house and
travelling workshops have been held in India, Sri Lanka and S. Korea. In addition, short and long-
term courses and workshops on South Asian prehistory are held.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a new initiative Down Ancient Trails virtual archaeology
forum was started and 100 lectures by eminent scholars from India and abroad were held online;
along with a conference and workshops for children and students. The Centre has an ongoing
program for developing its library, labs and other facilities to train students, young faculty and
others in the field of prehistoric archaeology; and other displays and activities for generating
public awareness of archaeology.
The SCHE is run under the direction of Dr. Kumar Akhilesh and Professor Shanti Pappu, with a
board comprising eminent citizens.
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