Biography
My PhD is funded by the ERC-funded ‘TwoRains Project’, Winter Rain, Summer Rain: Adaptation, Climate Change, Resilience and the Indus Civilisation.
Education:
2016-present: PhD Candidate, University of Cambridge
Thesis Title: Human-Environment Interactions in the Indus Civilisation: The Role of Rivers, Rain and Climate Change in northwest India
2011-2015: MSci (Hons) Physical Geography, Class I, Durham University
Research
My research interests derive from a varied background, and mostly focus on human-environment interactions throughout time.
I am currently using geoarchaeological methods to reconstruct changes in the palaeolandscape surrounding Indus settlement sites in northwest India. I am trying to look beyond the coincidence of climate change and the onset of Indus decline to understand how humans have responded to variable rainfall and hydrological regimes. As part of this I am analysing sediment from both within and around settlements to better understand the geomorphology of the landscape, and assess change over time.
I have experience working in semi-arid environments, glaciated basins, reconstructing palaeoriver systems, GIS modelling, as well as with a range of sedimentological analyses.
I am interested in future research opportunities that provide the chance to investigate Quaternary environmental change, and better understand past, present and future human-environment interactions.
Publications
Petrie, C.A., Orengo, H.A., Green, A.S., Walker, J.R., Garcia, A., Conesa, F., Knox, J.R., Singh, R.N.. (2019) Mapping Archaeology While Mapping an Empire: Using Historical Maps to Reconstruct Ancient Settlement Landscapes in Modern India and Pakistan. Geosciences. 9(1):11
Singh, R.N., Petrie, C.A., Alam, A., Bates, J., Ceccarelli, A., Chakraborty, S., Chakradhari, S., Chowdhary, A., Dixit, Y., French, C.A.I., Gieshe, A., Green, A.S., Green, L.M., Jones, P.J., Lightfoot, E., Pandey, A.K., Pawar, V., Ranjan, A., Redhouse, D.I., Singh, D.P., Suryanarayan, A., Ustunkaya, M.C., & Walker, J.R. (2018) Living in the hinterland I: survey and excavations at Lohari Ragho 2015-2017. Purātattva, 48, 130-141
Ayala, G., Wainwright, J., Walker, J., Hodara, R., Lloyd, J.M., Leng, M., Doherty, C. (2017) Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the alluvial landscape of Neolithic Çatalhöyük, central southern Turkey: the implications for early agriculture and responses to environmental change. Journal of Archaeological Science. 87:30-43
Teaching and Supervisions
I am the Teaching Assistant for A2: 'Archaeology in Action' and also supervise students taking this paper.
Other Professional Activities
- Member of Lucy Cavendish College
- Postgraduate Fellow of Royal Geographical Society with IBG
- Member of British Society for Geomorphology
- Student Member of Chartered Institute for Archaeologists
