Bio

Daniela De Simone is Assistant Professor of Indian Studies in the Department of Languages and Cultures at Ghent University and Principal Investigator of the Nilgiri Archaeological Project, which she conducts in collaboration with the researchers of IFP’s Department of Ecology. Previously, she was Curator of the South Asian Archaeological Collections at the British Museum, where she curated the current displays of South Asian archaeological materials, Assistant Programme Specialist at UNESCO New Delhi, where she worked on the sustainable conservation of Indian old city areas, and Excavation Supervisor at the site of Gotihawa, an important early Buddhist stupa site in the Nepalese Terai, for the Italian Archaeological Mission to Nepal. She studied Indian Languages and Cultures at the University of Naples “L’Orientale”, where she earned her PhD in South Asian Studies (Archaeology) in 2012.



Research

Daniela’s research focuses on the pre-colonial history of Indian forest communities, through the study of their built and natural landscapes, archaeological remains and artefacts.

She is the PI of the Nilgiri Archaeological Project