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Shalini Sharma

Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Pt. DDU Institute of Archaeology, Archaeological Survey of India, Noida, India, Kumaun University, Aligarh Muslim University, University of Delhi

ORCID iD 0000-0002-2179-6306
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About

I am a paleobotanist and environmental archaeologist specializing in ancient plant use and human–environment interactions in South Asia, with a focus on one of the world’s oldest and advanced Indus (Harappan) Civilization. My research explores how ancient societies adapted their agricultural systems, land use, and subsistence strategies to Holocene climate variability.
Using an interdisciplinary approach that integrates archaeobotany, biomolecular analysis, stable isotope geochemistry, and geochronology, I reconstruct patterns of agricultural change, foodways, agro-ecology, crop dispersal, and vegetation dynamics from plant fossils, sediments, and organic residues. My work examines how prehistoric communities responded to environmental stress, including the impacts of the ~4,200-year aridification event on Indus agriculture.
My postdoctoral research at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, traced the dispersal of Southwest Asian crops into highland Asia (Tibetan Plateau), linking Indus agricultural networks with trans-Himalayan exchange systems along with the organic lipid residue analysis of prehistoric vessels to investigate Indus food choices and animal exploitation. I combine extensive fieldwork across archaeological sites in India (South Asia) with multidisciplinary laboratory analyses to develop integrated perspectives on past human–environment relationships.

Employment

  • Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    2023 - 2025
  • Pt. DDU Institute of Archaeology, Archaeological Survey of India, Noida, India Invited Lecturer
    2022 - 2022
  • Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences Senior Research Fellow
    2018 - 2019
  • Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences Junior Research Fellow
    2016 - 2018
  • Council of Scientific and Industrial Research National Institute for Science Communication and Information Resources Research Intern (Botany)
    2014 - 2015
  • CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute Research Assistant - II
    2013 - 2013

Education

  • Kumaun University Ph.D.
    2015 - 2021
  • Aligarh Muslim University Master of Science
    2010 - 2012
  • University of Delhi Bachelors of Science
    2006 - 2009

Projects & Funding

Projects & funding information is unavailable.

Publications (23)