“We designed this poster to reflect and honour the cultural heritage of the Larrakia People, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which the city of Darwin stands. As Darwin is the host city for the 10th World Archaeological Congress (WAC-10), the poster’s theme is inspired by the Larrakia people’s deep connection with mangrove trees. At the heart of the design is the revered mangrove tree, a symbol of life, resilience, and continuity that holds significant meaning in Larrakia culture. Beneath its branches, a selection of archaeological antiquities is depicted. These elements are carefully placed to represent a bridge between humanity’s past and its present, reinforcing the Congress’s mission to explore archaeology’s role in understanding our shared global heritage”.
Shimon Prakash
Mohd. Zakir Khan is a PhD research scholar at the School of Studies in Ancient History and Archaeology, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. His research focuses on the prehistoric archaeology of the Hasdeo River Basin. His core interests include prehistoric archaeology, rock art, lithic technology, and the application of Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating for chronological analysis.
He has been actively involved in several collaborative research projects with institutions such as the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara; the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany; and Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur. These projects have received support from renowned organizations including the National Geographic Society, the Leakey Foundation (where he served as Project Administrator), and the Indian Council of Historical Research (as Research Assistant).
Zakir has participated in numerous exploration and excavation programs across Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha, including key excavations at Motravulapadu and Hanumanthunipadu (Andhra Pradesh), and at Rajim (Chhattisgarh). He is the author of three research books and has published several scholarly articles in reputed national and international journals.
In addition to his academic engagements, he is the founder of Purākirti, a non-governmental organization committed to promoting and disseminating knowledge of Indian archaeology to the wider public.
Shimon Prakash is an emerging scholar in the field of archaeology, currently serving as a Project Assistant in the Ādi Dṛśhya (Rock Art) Division at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi. She holds a Master’s degree in Archaeology and Ancient History from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat. Her academic interests include prehistoric archaeology, bio-anthropology and the study of rock art traditions.
Shimon has actively participated in several field explorations and excavations, including a Nehru Trust-funded exploration project in Chhattisgarh aimed at identifying prehistoric cultural remains, the excavation at the Early Historic site of Nani Rayan in Kutch, Gujarat, and the excavation at Motravulapadu in Andhra Pradesh. In her role at Ādi Dṛśhya, she has assisted in curating multiple exhibitions and has played a key role in the preparation of a research catalogue that documents the rock art heritage of the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.