International Conference on Saraswathi Valley civilisation

An international conference on the The Sindhu- Sarasvati Valley Civilization will be held on 21 and 22 February, 2009 in Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, California. Dr Nalini Rao, Professor of World Art, Soka University of America and Dr Christopher Key Chapple, Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology, Loyola Marymount University have teamed up together to organize this important conference. Prominent scholars particularly archaeologists, linguists, anthropologists, historians, religious specialists and geneticists would be participating in this conference in order to debate and understand the nature of the interrelation between the Indus or Sindhu and the Sarasvati or Vedic culture(s) from about 3000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. They would also be attempting to bridge the chronological, linguistic and racial gap between the material and literary cultures of the Indus civilization and Vedic civilization. It is understood that the main focus of this International conference will be on the issues raised by the following questions:

1)Who were the people of Ancient India Civilizations?
2)Were they Vedic Aryan or Indo- Aryan, Indo- Iranian or Dravidians?
3)Has archaeological evidence confirmed the existence of common features of Vedic and Indus culture(s)?
4)Is there an indigenous continuity of the culture in India and Pakistan or did the people come from outside the subcontinent?
5)How does the scientific evidence of the drying of the River Sarasvati play a role in the interpretation of the history and chronology of the civilization?
6)How is the genetic evidence corroborated with archaeological evidences especially regarding the antiquity of the Indian gene?

The prominent scholars who would be participating in the International conference include Jonathan Mark Kenoyer (University of Wisconsin), Carl C. Lamberg-Karlovsky), Dr B B Lal (Archaeological Survey of India) R S Bisht (Archaeological Survey of India), Louis Flam (City University of NY), S R Rao (Archaeological Survey of India, National Institute of Oceanography), Edwin Bryant (Rutgers University), Shiva Bajpai (CSUN) , Vijendra Kumar Kashyap (India’s National Institute of Biologicals), Subhash Kak (Oklahama State University), Ashok Aklujkar (University of British Columbia), Jim G Shaffer (Case Western Reserve University, Dennis Frenez (University of Bologna) and Nicholas Kazanas (Omilos Meleton Cultural Institute, Athens). The aim of the International Conference is to discuss, reconsider and reconstruct a shared identity of the Sindhu (Indus) and Saraswati cultures, using archaeological and other scientific evidence as well as Vedic literature.