About the Speakers:
Dr. Mayank Vahia is a retired professor from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. He has been working on issues related to the history and philosophy of astronomy and science. He has a special interest in the Harappan Civilisation and Harappan writing.
Dr Cameron Petrie is a member of the faculty in the Department of Archaeology in Cambridge since 2005, when he became the Research Councils UK Fellow in South Asian and Iranian Archaeology, He conducts research on the archaeology of India, Pakistan and Iran. He received his PhD from the University of Sydney. His research primarily focuses on the rise of complexity, the social and economic aspects of state formation, the impact that the growth of states and empires has on subjugated regions, and the relationships between humans and the environment. He has extensive field and research experience at archaeological sites dating from the Neolithic up to the medieval period in India, Pakistan and Iran, and co-direct projects in each of these countries.