ON Friday, June 20 the City of Swan’s The Sacred India Gallery will be hosting a free event exploring the work of American author Michael Cremo who wrote Forbidden Archaeology.

Mr Cremo already planned to be in Australia for the 10th World Archaeological Congress which was being held in Darwin from June 22 to June 27, when he was invited by Sacred India volunteer Soumya Gupta to visit Perth before the event.

“If he’s already coming all the way, then why not bring him to Perth as well?” Ms Gupta said.

Ms Gupta who has a PhD in life sciences said she was always curious about the origin of humans from a young age.

“Now I work more on the realm of understanding the bigger picture of sciences and asking questions – more philosophical and scientific questions of what is life, what is consciousness, what is the nature of our being,” she said.

Because of her interests, Ms Gupta said she was sent a video of Mr Cremo by a friend.

“Initially I watched some videos of his and later I went on to get a copy of the book.

“When I read the book, I was amazed that there is evidence from the archaeology field itself which questions the theories that we are taught in our life classes.”

Mr Cremo’s book Forbidden Archaeology was considered controversial by some critics because he questioned the point at which humans existed on Earth.

“When I was doing the research and writing the book, the mainstream scientific conception was that humans like us first appeared 100,000 years ago,” he said.

Since it was published, Mr Cremo said he noticed a shift in attitudes.

“Ten years later, they were saying 200,000 years.

“Now they’re saying 300,000 and it’s going back further and further.”

As someone who worked alongside scientists and was also a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Mr Cremo said he didn’t want to label himself as either a religious or scientific person.

“I see myself as a human being interested in the truth and I’m willing to consider all sources of evidence, be it called science, be it called religion.

“If it answers the questions that I have as a human being in a satisfying way, then I’m satisfied.”

Mr Cremo said in order to learn from others and develop ideas, the first step was to listen.

The event at Sacred India starts at 6.30pm and ends at 8.30pm.

For more information, contact Ms Gupta on 0452 134 065.