Dr Shanti Pappu is the director of The Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, (Chennai/Pune). A professional archaeologist, Dr. Pappu is a former Homi Bhabha fellow and has held numerous awards and fellowships, published books as well as academic and popular articles. Along with her team, she has been directing research programmes into the prehistoric archaeology of Tamilnadu, and conducting excavations at the site of Attirampakkam in this region. She has always been  passionate about involving children in the process of archaeological research. This interest evolved into a book with Tulika called The Shining Stones.