Christopher Stuart Henshilwood
- E-mailChristopher.Henshilwood@uib.no
- Phone+47 55 58 90 99
- Visitor AddressCentre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE)Sydnesplassen 12/13, 4th Floor5007 BergenRoom414
- Postal AddressPostboks 78055020 Bergen
Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour
SapienCE
Abstract
Homo sapiens was anatomically modern by 200 000 years ago in Africa, but there is no archaeological evidence to demonstrate that behaviour was modern at the time. Attributes of modern behaviour, perhaps inspired by changes in the human brain, are only recognizable after 100 000 years ago. Before we can study the process, we must critically define the criteria for the term ‘modern behaviour’ and then find a means to recognize such behaviour in the record. This seemingly simple research statement involves complex exploration by a team of specialists. In this highly competitive research field our centre will, for the first time, be able to rise to the challenge by combining the skills of cutting-edge scientists in archaeology, climate reconstruction and modelling, and the cognitive and social sciences. Over the next decade we will integrate knowledge and methods from different disciplines to synthesize approaches and contribute to a sophisticated understanding of early human behaviour. Our highly ambitious research program will focus explicitly on rare, well preserved archaeological sites occupied in the period between 100-50 000 years ago because these contain the ‘keys’ for unlocking the past. A major competitive edge is the SapienCE Director’s 25 years of archaeological experience and his long-term exclusive access, with permits, to a number of the best-preserved sites in the southern Cape, South Africa - a region regarded as a major locus for vital evidence that could inform on the behaviour of early humans. Our planned excavations at existing and new sites and our ground-breaking and innovative interdisciplinary approaches, including climate (Bjerknes Centre) and cognitive research, to understanding the processes that shaped human cultures will consolidate Norway’s position over the next decade as a world leader in early human origins research.
Primary and Secondary Tasks
Primarily, SapienCEwill directly address unanswered, first order questions about Homo sapiens: a) what defines the switch to ‘modern behaviour’, exactly how should this term be defined and then, when, why and how did the ‘switch’ occur; b) were there changes in the human brain at that time that accelerated behavioural variability and how can these be measured now? Secondary linked tasks address the social organization of these early humans: was social cohesion enhanced by symbolic material culture or vice-versa and did it lead to innovation; what cognitive skills had to be in place in order for other skills to develop; how adaptable were humans to environmental change and did climate act as a driver for technological innovation, social change and subsistence adaptations? An important corollary will be our collaboration with the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Evolutionary Anthropology that could determine the genetic relationship of these early H. sapiens to extant human populations.
1. INTRODUCTION
The study of the origins of human behavioural development began in Europe and focused on the Upper Palaeolithic that started at 45 ka (thousand years ago). For many decades it was accepted that these developments originated in Europe. These studies set the standard against which the behaviour of earlier non-European humans was compared. Over the past 20 years archaeological evidence from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) in Africa, especially after 100 ka, has rapidly changed perceptions of the behavioural variability and adaptive strategies of these early humans. Research led by the SapienCE Director in the southern Cape since 1991, including his ERC-funded Tracsymbols Project (2010-2015), uncovered unprecedented new evidence at Blombos Cave (BBC) and Klipdrift Shelter (KDS), the latter located in De Hoop Nature Reserve, for the behavioural evolution of early H. sapiens in southern Africa. Major discoveries, highly cited, relate to advanced technology and include the earliest evidence for the making of a pigmented compound and the use of containers (100ka) and the first known use of pressure flaking to create finely crafted stone tools (75ka). Items of symbolic material, directly linked to cognitive advances, include the earliest geometric engravings on ochre (100-75ka), personal ornaments made from marine shell (75ka), and among the earliest engraved ostrich eggshell (66ka). This research laid the foundation for the need to establish a centre of excellence in human origins research.
Through integrating the unique breadth of competence available at UiB with top international collaborators we are confident we can deliver transformative results. This can only be achieved by adopting a holistic approach (integrating Science and Humanities) that focuses on early Homo sapiens in considerably more depth than previously possible and that extends beyond previously limiting intradisciplinary boundaries. To achieve this goal the Director has attracted leading scientists from top research groups, including the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, UiB Psychosocial Sciences, U. Tubingen, CNRS Bordeaux, the Max Planck Institute and Royal Holloway. Thus in the SAPIENCEwe are able, for the first time, to co-ordinate and integrate expertise and the analytical and computational facilities available to our team of archaeologists, zoo-archaeologists, micromorphologists, palaeoclimatologists, climate dynamicists, dating experts, cognitive and neuroscientists as well as geneticists. We believe this will provide the competitive edge needed for a highly innovative, cutting-edge CoE.
2. VISION AND STRATEGIC INTENT
SAPIENCEaspires to be firmly embedded among the top three humanities oriented palaeo-science institutes by 2020. The focus of SapienCE is on key fields related to early Homo sapiens that are of international importance and interest. In this regard SapienCE is uniquely positioned as our research area in the southern Cape lays the basis for ground breaking excavations followed by globally significant interdisciplinary research to be carried out at UiB. We believe this will allow for an ideal, yet rare, marriage of the humanities and sciences. To ensure that by 2020 SapienCE will have attained top research status, visionary, determined and practical leadership is needed. This implies that SapienCE will have to embark on bold strategies that will:
- Fully exploit its competitive advantages by building on existing strengths and by nurturing new avenues for intense engagement where it can produce top quality research results
- Sustain and increase research output in high impact journals
- Pursue ambitious internationalisation to establish SapienCE as a world-class centre of intellectual engagement and a preferred destination for top-class international scholars and students.
- Increase its intake and training of postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows
- Provide a high-quality support environment and top-class infrastructure for its core functions
- Become recognised among academics globally as a gateway to human origins research and to knowledge and understanding of early H. sapiens evolution in southern Africa
Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour
SapienCE
2017 - 2026
SapienCE will communicate the results of its research in numerous ways: scientific publication in prestigious journals and at conferences; use of media outlets to make the research accessible to the general public; develop a SapienCE website, email newsletters and short videos which present recent research results and also publish and disseminate via social media; running of regular focused workshops and forums for specialists and the general public; use of outreach programmes in Norway via the Univ. Museum of Bergen and through Wits Univ. (Origins Centre Museum). The SapienCE outreach programme will benefit more than 2000 economically disadvantaged school children per annum in South Africa and will be extended, via the Univ. Museum of Bergen, to Norwegian school children in 2019 (e.g. through the existing collaboration agreements between UiB and several region secondary schools to involve school children in current research topics). Widespread popular appeal of visual representations of heritage objects (e.g. 3D renderings of material culture) means that the media will be a key element of information brokerage, and contact with national and international journalists will be actively sought. All PIs will engage in events aimed at communicating scientific results to team members and the broader public. The UiB representation in Brussels and the results of SapienCE will be used to get the attention of European policy makers through a conference planned for 2019. In co-operation with, and partly funded by, Cape Nature (agreement in place) and Wits, by late 2018 there will be an education centre and archaeology museum located in De Hoop Nature Reserve, southern Cape, relating to the various discoveries. SapienCE will also invest in professional communication training for its researchers. Courses in media contact, popular science writing and social media will be offered to all PIs, MScs, PhDs, and Postdocs. Junior scientists will be actively encouraged to disseminate research results and experiences to all interested audiences through social media such as blogs, twitter and Instagram. During the course of the SAPIENCE research (2021 and 2026) two documentaries for international dissemination will be produced by the renowned documentary makers, the Foster brothers, of SenseAfrica.com (self-financed, already agreed). A regularly updated online 3D museum featuring our research and finds will be produced by SapienCE / SenseAfrica thus ensuring the widest distribution, at lowest cost, for school pupils, students and the public. SapienCE will publish two books (2021 and 2025) for the general public featuring substantial photo-coverage.
http://www.forskningsradet.no/en/Newsarticle/Ten_new_Norwegian_Centres_o...
http://pahoyden.no/2017/03/christopher-henshilwood-skal-lede-uibs-nyeste...
https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/2017/2017-03/norwe...
http://ancient-earth.co.za/norwegian-centre-excellence-awarded-coe-pal-b...
Links to our 'Mother Africa- Welcome Home: Origins of Early Sapiens Behaviour Exhibition' now at the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town, South Africa. Funded by the University of the Witwatersrand and SapienCE (Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour) - 15.04.2019-30.03.2020
2. https://www.iziko.org.za/events/origins-early-sapiens-behaviour-exhibition-walkabout
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhM2JffTtG0
A few links to our paper published in Nature in late 2018 on the earliest known drawing dated at 73 000 years from Blombos Cave
Henshilwood, C.S., d’Errico, F., van Niekerk, K.L., Dayet, l., Queffelec, A., Pollarolo, L. 2018. An abstract drawing from the 73,000 year old levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Nature 562 , 115–118. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0514-3.
2.https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/science/oldest-drawing-ever-found.html
Link to our latest dissemination programme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5_JctzoxXA&feature=em‐upload_owner
DOCUMENTARIES 2008 -2015 (selected sample)
2018 - The Time Machine - Origins of Innovation
2015 – The Great Human Odyssey, directed by Niobe Thompson, Canadian Broadcasting Coropration http://www.cbc.ca/greathumanodyssey/episodes/episode-1-rise-of-a-species
2013 - CNN's Inside Africa documentary on Blombos Cave: http://edition.cnn.com/AFRICA/
2013 - Clearwater Documentary involving Blombos Cave: http://clearwaterdoc.ca/about/
2012 - NHK Japanese Television Special Human Series. Presenter: Tatsuya Fujiwara narration (narrator): Seiko Nakajo
2009 - TV film made with Henshilwood at Blombos Cave for the Swedish Broadcasting Society Directed by Martin Widman and presented by Lasse Berg
2010 - Film made at Cape Point Nature Reserve with Henshilwood on the ‘Origins of H. sapiens’ for Foster Brother Film Productions, South Africa.
2008 - Film made at Blombos Cave with Henshilwood in March, 2008 for display in the ‘Anne & Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins’, American Museum of Natural History, New York.
POPULAR ARTICLES (selected)
· Henshilwood, Christopher; Van Niekerk, Karen Loise. 2016. What excavated beads tell us about the when and where of human evolution. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/profiles/christopher-henshilwood-222991
· National Geographic Magazine 2015 http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/01/first-artists/walter-text
· Dybas, C.L. 2013. Ripple marks—The story behind the story. Oceanography 26(3):10–13, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2013.69
· Dybas, C.L. 2013. Article on Blombos Cave in Oceanography . http://www.tos.org/oceanography/archive/26-3_dybas.html#abstract
· Henshilwood, C. & van Niekerk, K. 2012. Middle Stone Age Chemists: A 100,000 Year Old Pigment Processing Workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa. The Digging Stick.
· Jeff Tollefson, 2012. Human evolution: Cultural roots. Nature 482, 290–292 (16 February 2012) doi:10.1038/482290a http://www.nature.com/news/human-evolution-cultural-roots-1.10025
20 POPULAR LINKS TO OUR RESEARCH: September, 2014 – July, 2019 (selected sample)
1. http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/Shows/The+Nature+of+Things/ID/2440373757/
2. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/01/first-artists/walter-text
3. http://www.cbc.ca/greathumanodyssey/episodes/episode-1-rise-of-a-species
4. https://vimeo.com/117470487
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5_JctzoxXA&feature=em-upload_owner
7. http://www.wits.ac.za/newsroom/newsitems/201507/26853/news_item_26853.html
8. http://www.uib.no/aktuelt/84984/uib-arkeolog-i-national-geographic
9. http://www.wits.ac.za/newsroom/newsitems/201501/25466/news_item_25466.html
10. http://www.uib.no/en/ahkr/90323/diachronic-change-within-still-bay-blomb...
11. http://www.wits.ac.za/newsroom/newsitems/201501/25535/news_item_25535.html
12. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SouthernSapiens/
13. http://highlycited.com/#henshilwood
14. https://uib.academia.edu/ChrisHenshilwood
15. http://www.wits.ac.za/newsroom/newsitems/201503/25965/news_item_25965.html
16. http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6050
17. http://www.uib.no/ahkr/82096/feltforsking-p%C3%A5-film
18. https://vimeo.com/108896344
19. http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/discovery/rare-sa-artefacts-go-on-d...
20. http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-archaeological-science/most-... - 2026
The SAPIENCE will communicate the results of its research in numerous ways: scientific publication in prestigious journals and at conferences; use of media outlets to make the research accessible to the general public; develop an SAPIENCE website, email newsletters and short videos which present recent research results and also publish and disseminate via social media; running of regular focused workshops and forums for specialists and the general public; use of outreach programmes in Norway via the Univ. Museum of Bergen and through Wits Univ. (Origins Centre Museum). The SAPIENCE outreach programme will benefit more than 2000 economically disadvantaged school children per annum in South Africa and will be extended, via the Univ. Museum of Bergen, to Norwegian school children in 2019 (e.g. through the existing collaboration agreements between UiB and several region secondary schools to involve school children in current research topics). Widespread popular appeal of visual representations of heritage objects (e.g. 3D renderings of material culture) means that the media will be a key element of information brokerage, and contact with national and international journalists will be actively sought. All PIs will engage in events aimed at communicating scientific results to team members and the broader public. The UiB representation in Brussels and the results of the SAPIENCE will be used to get the attention of European policy makers through a conference planned for 2019. In co-operation with, and partly funded by, Cape Nature (agreement in place) and Wits, by late 2018 there will be an education centre and archaeology museum located in De Hoop Nature Reserve, southern Cape, relating to the various discoveries. SAPIENCE will also invest in professional communication training for its researchers. Courses in media contact, popular science writing and social media will be offered to all PIs, MScs, PhDs, and Postdocs. Junior scientists will be actively encouraged to disseminate research results and experiences to all interested audiences through social media such as blogs, twitter and Instagram. During the course of the SAPIENCE research (2021 and 2026) two documentaries for international dissemination will be produced by the renowned documentary makers, the Foster brothers, of SenseAfrica.com (self-financed, already agreed). A regularly updated online 3D museum featuring our research and finds will be produced by SAPIENCE/ SenseAfrica thus ensuring the widest distribution, at lowest cost, for school pupils, students and the public. The SAPIENCE will publish two books (2021 and 2025) for the general public featuring substantial photo-coverage.
http://www.forskningsradet.no/en/Newsarticle/Ten_new_Norwegian_Centres_o...
http://pahoyden.no/2017/03/christopher-henshilwood-skal-lede-uibs-nyeste...
https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/2017/2017-03/norwe...
http://ancient-earth.co.za/norwegian-centre-excellence-awarded-coe-pal-b...
Link to our latest dissemination programme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5_JctzoxXA&feature=em‐upload_owner
DOCUMENTARIES 2008 -2018 (selected sample)
2018 - The Time Machine- Origins of Innovation (Produced and diected by Craig & Damon Foster) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5_JctzoxXA
2015 – The Great Human Odyssey, directed by Niobe Thompson, Canadian Broadcasting Coropration http://www.cbc.ca/greathumanodyssey/episodes/episode-1-rise-of-a-species
2013 - CNN's Inside Africa documentary on Blombos Cave: http://edition.cnn.com/AFRICA/
2013 - Clearwater Documentary involving Blombos Cave: http://clearwaterdoc.ca/about/
2012 - NHK Japanese Television Special Human Series. Presenter: Tatsuya Fujiwara narration (narrator): Seiko Nakajo
2009 - TV film made with Henshilwood at Blombos Cave for the Swedish Broadcasting Society Directed by Martin Widman and presented by Lasse Berg
2010 - Film made at Cape Point Nature Reserve with Henshilwood on the ‘Origins of H. sapiens’ for Foster Brother Film Productions, South Africa.
2008 - Film made at Blombos Cave with Henshilwood in March, 2008 for display in the ‘Anne & Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins’, American Museum of Natural History, New York.
POPULAR ARTICLES (selected)
· Henshilwood, Christopher; Van Niekerk, Karen Loise. 2016. What excavated beads tell us about the when and where of human evolution. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/profiles/christopher-henshilwood-222991
· National Geographic Magazine 2015 http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/01/first-artists/walter-text
· Dybas, C.L. 2013. Ripple marks—The story behind the story. Oceanography 26(3):10–13, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2013.69
· Dybas, C.L. 2013. Article on Blombos Cave in Oceanography . http://www.tos.org/oceanography/archive/26-3_dybas.html#abstract
· Henshilwood, C. & van Niekerk, K. 2012. Middle Stone Age Chemists: A 100,000 Year Old Pigment Processing Workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa. The Digging Stick.
· Jeff Tollefson, 2012. Human evolution: Cultural roots. Nature 482, 290–292 (16 February 2012) doi:10.1038/482290a http://www.nature.com/news/human-evolution-cultural-roots-1.10025
20 POPULAR LINKS TO OUR RESEARCH: September, 2014 – July, 2015 (selected sample)
1. http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/Shows/The+Nature+of+Things/ID/2440373757/
2. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/01/first-artists/walter-text
3. http://www.cbc.ca/greathumanodyssey/episodes/episode-1-rise-of-a-species
4. https://vimeo.com/117470487
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5_JctzoxXA&feature=em-upload_owner
7. http://www.wits.ac.za/newsroom/newsitems/201507/26853/news_item_26853.html
8. http://www.uib.no/aktuelt/84984/uib-arkeolog-i-national-geographic
9. http://www.wits.ac.za/newsroom/newsitems/201501/25466/news_item_25466.html
10. http://www.uib.no/en/ahkr/90323/diachronic-change-within-still-bay-blombos-cave-south-africa
11. http://www.wits.ac.za/newsroom/newsitems/201501/25535/news_item_25535.html
12. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SouthernSapiens/
13. http://highlycited.com/#henshilwood
14. https://uib.academia.edu/ChrisHenshilwood
15. http://www.wits.ac.za/newsroom/newsitems/201503/25965/news_item_25965.html
16. http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6050
17. http://www.uib.no/ahkr/82096/feltforsking-p%C3%A5-film
18. https://vimeo.com/108896344
20. http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-archaeological-science/most-downloaded-articles/
A core focus of my projects is to encourage young researchers, especially women and the previously disadvantaged, in Africa and Europe to pursue the study of our ancient African past. My postgraduate students (Masters ‐21, PhD ‐8) and post‐doctoral researchers (10) at Wits and Bergen University have been directly involved in field excavations, and many have developed independent careers with successful publication records.
SUPERVISION OF STUDENTS (Univ. of Witwatersrand & Bergen, Norway)
- Annual 3 month Field School – southern Cape ( >120 students at undergraduate and Masters level)
- Masters – 21 (11F, 10M, 3PD)
- PhD – 8 (3F, 5M, 3PD)
- Post-Doctoral – 10 (5F, 5M, 1PD)
RESEARCHER ID’S
- Thomson Reuters Web of Science: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/K-3806-2014
- ORCID ID:Link http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2818-293X
- Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christopher_Henshilwood?ev=hdr_xprf
- Academia.edu: https://uib.academia.edu/ChrisHenshilwood
- Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cHpPROcAAAAJ
PUBLICATION CITATIONS
Book Chapters: 18; Books 2
Peer Reviewed papers
- Scopus ISI: h-index 33; 5812 citations (May 2021): 69 publications; 116 co-authors.
- Web of Science: h-index 31; 5365 citations (May 2021); 69 publications; Citing articles 2245
- Google Scholar: 129 articles; h-index 43; 10661 citations (February 2021), i10=Index 72; Top 10 articles cited 4273 times; 92% of citations attributed to Wits/University of Bergen.
- Thompson Reuters Lifetime Research Award in 2014 (2002-2012) and Thompson Reuters Research Award for being in the top 1% most cited in the ‘Social Sciences and General’ Category for 2013, 2014, 2016. http://highlycited.com/#henshilwood
- (2024). Shellfish gathering during MIS 5c-d at Klasies River main site and Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa: an inter-assemblage comparison. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
- (2024). Raw material distribution in the southern Cape region and its significance for lithic procurement during the MSA at Blombos Cave, South Africa.
- (2023). rom Sea to Little Karoo: Tracking the paleo-landscape inhabited by the first modern humans.
- (2023). Peptide mass fingerprinting as a tool to assess micromammal biodiversity in Pleistocene South Africa: The case of Klipdrift Shelter. Quaternary Science Reviews.
- (2023). New Blombos Cave evidence supports a multi-step evolutionary scenario for the culturalization of the human body. Journal of Human Evolution.
- (2023). Behaviourally modern humans in coastal southern Africa experienced an increasingly continental climate during the transition from Marine Isotope Stage 5 to 4. Frontiers in Earth Science.
- (2022). Variability in hunting behaviour during the Middle Stone Age in the Eastern and Western Cape of South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 7 pages.
- (2022). Shellfish remains as proxy for human behaviour and past environments during MSA II lower at Klasies River main site and Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa.
- (2022). New insights into ochre features and their associated behaviours from the Howieson’s Poort layers at Klipdrift Shelter.
- (2022). Microstratigraphic preservation of ancient faunal and hominin DNA in Pleistocene cave sediments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
- (2022). An initial assessment of zooarchaeological assemblage sizes from South Africa. Revue de Paléobiologie. 1-10.
- (2021). The 100,000–77,000‑Year Old Middle Stone Age Micromammal Sequence from Blombos Cave, South Africa: Local Climatic Stability or a Tale of Predator Bias? African Archaeological Review. 34 pages.
- (2021). Rhinoceros from the Middle Stone Age in the Eastern and Western Cape of South Africa. Pachyderm. 53-62.
- (2021). Later Stone Age human hair from Vaalkrans Shelter, Cape Floristic Region of South Africa, reveals genetic affinity to Khoe groups. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 701-713.
- (2021). Differential accumulation of large mammal remains by carnivores and humans during the Middle Stone Age in the Eastern and Western Cape, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
- (2021). Characterizing microscopic ochre fragments at Middle Stone Age sites: implications for evaluating prehistoric ochre use and deposition.
- (2020). The Origins of Early Sapiens Behaviour 'Mother Africa - Welcome Home'.
- (2020). The First Real People.
- (2020). Large mammal exploitation during the c. 14-11 ka Oakhurst techno-complex at Klipdrift Cave, South Africa. . South African Journal of Science. 7 pages.
- (2020). Hidden in plain sight: A microanalytical study of a Middle Stone Age ochre piece trapped inside a micromorphological block sample. Geoarchaeology. 31 pages.
- (2020). Geoarchaeological investigation of occupation deposits in Blombos Cave in South Africa indicate changes in site use and settlement dynamics in the southern Cape during MIS 5b-4. Quaternary Research. 1-54.
- (2020). 230Th/U Burial Dating of Ostrich Eggshell: A New Geochronometer for Pleistocene Archaeological Sites.
- (2019). ‘Mother Africa – Welcome Home’. The behavioural origins of Homo sapiens in southern Africa 120 000 – 50 000 years .
- (2019). What's in that black layer? A report on a 85 000 year old dark sedimentary feature in Blombos Cave, South Africa .
- (2019). What processes sparked off symbolic representations? A reply to Hodgson and an alternative perspective. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 1-8.
- (2019). We all come from Africa: Origins of Modern Human Behaviour.
- (2019). The chronological, sedimentary and environmental context for the archaeological deposits at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Quaternary Science Reviews.
- (2019). The Origins of Modern Humans - Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter and Klasies River .
- (2019). The Origins of Modern Human Behaviour. .
- (2019). The Blombos Cave discovery and the origins of symbolism.
- (2019). Shellfish exploitation during the Oakhurst at Klipdrift Cave, southern Cape, South Africa. South African Journal of Science. 8 pages.
- (2019). Patterns of U uptake and implications for diagenesis and trace element records in biomineral eggshell.
- (2019). Origins of Early Sapiens Behaviour: Exhibition opening.
- (2019). Origins of Early Sapiens Behaviour.
- (2019). Mother Africa – Welcome Home: The behavioural origins of Homo sapiens in southern Africa between 120 000 – 5 000 years ago. .
- (2019). Mother Africa - Welcome Home.
- (2019). Local environmental context of the Howiesons Poort sequence at Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa .
- (2019). Evaluating the temporal range of 230Th/U burial dating of ostrich eggshell, a new chronometer for Pleistocene terrestrial strata .
- (2019). Cradle of Human Culture Route to be launched in Western Cape.
- (2019). A reassessment of the luminescence chronology for Blombos Cave, South Africa.
- (2019). A 100 000 year aquatic journey with our southern African ancestors.
- (2019). 'Origins of Early Sapiens Behaviour - Mother Africa - Welcome Home'.
- (2018). Using trampling modification to infer occupational intensity during the Still Bay at Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa. African Archaeological Review. 1-19.
- (2018). The Howiesons Poort lithic sequence of Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa. PLOS ONE. 1-24.
- (2018). The 3D-reconstruction of a modified ochre fragment trapped inside a micromorphological block sample from the Middle Stone Age levels of Blombos Cave, South Africa.
- (2018). South Africa’s Blombos cave is home to the earliest drawing by a human. The Conversation.
- (2018). Small mammals from Marine Isotope Stage 5 at Klasies River, South Africa - Reconstructing the local palaeoenvironment. Quaternary International. 6-20.
- (2018). Shellfishing at Klipdrift Cave during the Oakhurst, ca. 12–10 ka, in the southern Cape coast, South Africa: human predation pressure, dietary and climatic implications.
- (2018). Podcast: The oldest drawing and the energy of data. Nature.
- (2018). Photogrammetric mapping of complex cave chambers at Bloukrans Cave, South Africa: Structural, Morphological and Speleogenetic Information .
- (2018). Les premières utilisations du rouge en Afrique.
- (2018). Investigation of Middle Stone Age occupation deposits in Blombos Cave, South Africa: evidence for changes in site-use and settlement dynamics in the Southern Cape during the MIS 5b-4 (94 – 72 ka).
- (2018). Geoarchaeological and micro-contextual investigations of Middle Stone Age occupation deposits at Blombos Cave, South Africa.
- (2018). Environmental context of the lower Middle Stone Age sequence at Blombos Cave, South Africa.
- (2018). Environment versus behaviour: Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses of fauna from the Still Bay layers at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Quaternary International.
- (2018). Doing site-oriented depositional experiments? This is why you should consider taking a micromorphological block sample!
- (2018). Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour exhibition.
- (2018). An abstract drawing from the 73,000-year-old levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Nature. 115-118.
- (2017). U-TH BURIAL DATING OF OSTRICH EGGSHELLS: A NOVEL APPROACH TO DATING AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SEQUENCES BEYOND THE 14C LIMIT.
- (2017). The philosophy of archaeology.
- (2017). The Technology of the Early Oakhurst Lithic Techno-Complex from Klipdrift Cave, Southern Cape, South Africa. African Archaeological Review. 93-119.
- (2017). The Centre for Early Human Behaviour (EHB) at the University of Bergen: A transdisciplinary exploration into the evolution of homo sapiens behaviour .
- (2017). Subsistence strategies during the Late Pleistocene in the southern Cape of South Africa: Comparing the Still Bay of Blombos Cave with the Howiesons Poort of Klipdrift Shelter. Journal of Human Evolution. 110-130.
- (2017). Shellfish and tortoise exploitation during the Oakhurst at Klipdrift Cave, southern Cape, South Africa: human predation pressure and climatic implications.
- (2017). Middle Stone Age ochre contexts in Blombos Cave, South-Africa: a macro- and micro-contextual background.
- (2017). Investigating site formation processes in Blombos Cave, South-Africa – a geo-archaeological and micro-contextual approach.
- (2017). Investigating burnt deposits in Blombos Cave, South-Africa: a multi-proxy and multi-scale approach.
- (2017). Identifying early modern human ecological niche expansions and associated cultural dynamics in the South African Middle Stone Age. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 7869-7876.
- (2017). Heat-induced alteration of glauconitic minerals in the Middle Stone Age levels of Blombos Cave, South Africa: Implications for evaluating site structure and burning events. Journal of Archaeological Science. 81-100.
- (2017). Evaluating the nature and behavioral implications of laterally extensive occupation deposits in the Middle Stone Age levels of Blombos Cave, South Africa.
- (2017). Distribution and spatial analysis of heat in thin-sections.
- (2017). Did climate affect the early behavioural evolution of Homo sapiens in Africa?. .
- (2017). Blombos cave. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. 75-76.
- (2016). What excavated beads tell us about the when and where of human evolution. The Conversation.
- (2016). Tracing further the behavioural evolution of Homo sapiens in southern Africa.
- (2016). The habitual heat treatment of silcrete by the Howiesons Poort groups from southern Africa.
- (2016). The behavioural origins of early Homo sapiens in southern Africa.
- (2016). The Small Mammal Sequence from the c. 76 – 72 ka Still Bay Levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa – Taphonomic and Palaeoecological Implications for Human Behaviour. PLOS ONE.
- (2016). Subsistence strategies in the southern Cape during the Howiesons Poort: Taphonomic and zooarchaeological analyses of Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa. Quaternary International. 2-19.
- (2016). Occupational intensity and environmental changes during the Howiesons Poort at Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 349-364.
- (2016). Multi-scale and micro-contextual investigation of the Middle Stone Age sequence in Blombos Cave, South Africa.
- (2016). Large mammal remains from the 100 ka Middle Stone Age layers of Blombos Cave, South Africa. South African Archaeological Bulletin. 46-52.
- (2016). Homo sapiens: Blombos Cave. 4 pages.
- (2016). Geoarchaeological and micromorphological investigations of Blombos Cave, South Africa.
- (2016). Early evidence for the extensive heat treatment of silcrete in the Howiesons Poort at Klipdrift Shelter (layer PBD, 65 ka), South Africa. PLOS ONE.
- (2016). Climate, environment and early human innovation: Stable isotope and faunal proxy evidence from archaeological sites (98-59ka) in the southern Cape, South Africa. PLOS ONE.
- (2016). Characterising pigments on 30 000 year-old mobiliary art form Apollo 11 Cave, Karas Region, southern Namibia. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 336-347.
- (2016). Blombos Cave: Middle Stone Age ochre differentiation through FTIR, ICP OES, ED XRF and XRD. Quaternary International. 20-29.
- (2016). Blombos.
- (2015). Tracing the behavioural evolution of Homo sapiens in southern Africa.
- (2015). Tortoises as indicators of diet, site formation, and palaeoenvironments in the Middle Stone Age record of the Southern African coast. April 15-19.
- (2015). The still bay and howiesons poort at Sibudu and Blombos: Understanding middle stone age technologies. PLOS ONE.
- (2015). The engraved ostrich eggshell from the Howiesons Poort layers at Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa.
- (2015). The Origins of Modern Human Behaviour. Dating human occupations and reconstructing the palaeoenvironment in the Middle Stone Age, southern Cape, South Africa. National Research Foundation/Norwegian Research Council, South Africa – Norway Programme of Research Cooperation Conference, Kameeldrift, South Africa, 21st September.
- (2015). Techno-cultural characterization of the MIS 5 (c. 105 - 90 Ka) lithic industries at Blombos Cave, Southern Cape, South Africa. PLOS ONE. 29 pages.
- (2015). Symbolic Decoration.
- (2015). Single-grain OSL dating of the Howiesons Poort layers at Klipdrift Shelter, Southern Cape, South Africa. AFQUA, Inaugural Conference and Workshops, 30 Jan - 7 Feb, 2015, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
- (2015). Pleistocene figurative art mobilier from Apollo 11 Cave, Karas Region, Southern Namibia. South African Archaeological Bulletin. 113-123.
- (2015). New archaeological excavations of Later and Middle Stone Age deposits at the Klipdrift Complex, southern Cape, South Africa: 2010-2013.
- (2015). Late Pleistocene figurative art mobilier From Apollo II Cave, southern Namibia. Poster Session. and Workshops, 30 Jan - 7 Feb, 2015, , Cape Town, South Africa.
- (2015). Intra-site variability in the still bay fauna at Blombos cave: Implications for explanatory models of the middle stone age cultural and technological evolution. PLOS ONE. 21 pages.
- (2015). High-resolution 3D documentation of micromorphological block samples: bridging the gap between micro-scale and macro-scale investigation of archaeological sites.
- (2015). Heating silcrete: innovation, invention or simple opportunistic behavior for the MSA groups?
- (2015). Heat-induced alteration of glauconitic minerals in the Middle Stone Age levels of Blombos Cave, South Africa: implications for evaluating site structure and burning events.
- (2015). Elemental and technological analyses of 30 000 year-old mobiliary art form Apollo II Cave, Namibia.
- (2015). Diachronic change within the Still Bay at Blombos Cave, South Africa. PLOS ONE.
- (2015). Assessing the accidental versus deliberate color modification of shell beads. A case study on perforated Nassarius kraussianus from Blombos Cave Middle Stone Age levels. Archaeometry. 51-76.
- (2015). A human deciduous molar from the Middle Stone Age (Howiesons Poort) of Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa. Journal of Human Evolution. 190-196.
- (2014). Tortoise taphonomy and tortoise butchery patterns at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science. 214-229.
- (2014). Rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis) from Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. African Archaeological Review. 25-43.
- (2014). Origins of symbolic behaviour.
- (2014). Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa: preliminary report on the Howiesons Poort layers. Journal of Archaeological Science. 284-303.
- (2014). Il y a 100 000 ans, un atelier pour la préparation et le stockage de mélanges pigmentés. Paleo. 117-124.
- (2014). Heat treatment of silcrete in the southern African MSA: the heating procedure and its implications for the chaine operatoire.
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More information in national current research information system (CRIStin)
Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour
SapienCE
STATE OF THE ART AND KEY QUESTIONS
State of the Art
The southern Cape of South Africa has been a key locus for recovering archaeological evidence from sites occupied by early humans after 165 ka. In this region, BBC (100-72 ka), KDS (66-59 ka), and the MSA deposits at Klasies River and Pinnacle Point 13B, contain some of the best preserved evidence for the emergence of modern humans anywhere in the world. The period from 100-50 ka is an especially significant time in the development of the cultural, cognitive, and subsistence innovations that mark this transition. New evidence shows that, although modern cognitive abilities emerged slowly during the MSA, by about 100 ka H. sapiens were exhibiting some behavioural capabilities similar to us.
However, there are very few high resolution H. sapiens sites known that span the key period, and their sequences have mostly been understood at a relatively coarse scale. Part of the problem is that the MSA is currently divided into broad lithic tool ‘industries’ or ‘techno-traditions’, for example MSA II, Still Bay (SB) and Howiesons Poort (HP). These divisions are not useful for temporally examining detailed behavioural evolution as these lithic ‘types’ are not static technological entities, but display considerable variation over time and space in morphology and technology. A key line of enquiry in SapienCE will be whether these ‘techno-traditions’ are real or arbitrary divisions of the MSA.
The reliance on technological entities has direct consequences for our understanding of temporal changes in human behaviour since chronology has, at least in part, been based on lithic typology. The periods for the above lithic techno-traditions were thought to be secure and tightly constrained using single-grain optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of quartz, but are now contested on methodological grounds. If these criticisms are valid, then most OSL ages for MSA sites are likely inaccurate, though the degree of error is unclear. Dating specialists in SapienCE will be refining and applying new and existing multiple dating techniques in an attempt to resolve these chronological issues.
Focus on typological categories has also hindered understanding of the relationship between climate and human subsistence strategies and cultural responses. Correlations have tended to link only off-site records of ‘global’ scale climatic features, such as ice and marine cores, to the poorly-defined techno-traditions discussed above. However, it is clear from our preliminary analyses of the individual, high integrity strata from BBC and KDS that there can be significant material and behavioural differences, even between single layers. In SapienCE we will directly challenge these existing issues through innovative integration of a series of state-of-the-art methodologies.
Key questions in Early Human Behaviour research.
Key questions to be addressed in SapienCE are: When, why and how did humans first become ‘behaviourally modern’ and how is this defined? Did cognitive changes accelerate behavioural variability? How were these groups of hunter gatherers socially organised? Was social cohesion enhanced by the adoption of symbolic material culture and did it lead to innovation? What cognitive skills had to be in place in order for other skills to develop? How adaptable were humans to environmental change and did climate impacts act as drivers for technological innovation and subsistence adaptations? And can we determine, from our planned genetic research, the relationship of these early H. sapiens to extant human populations? Previous research on these issues has been limited by a reliance on very few archaeological sequences, chronological uncertainty, technological classification issues, and inadequate testing of the relevance of external forces, such as climatic change.
The unique location of sites dated to between 100 and 50 ka on the southern Cape coast, a region known to be particularly sensitive to regional and global climatic forces, makes them ideally placed for research into the marine and terrestrial environments utilised by H. sapiens. In SapienCE the inter-disciplinary team will carry out a macro- and micro-scale investigation of three new and two existing MSA archaeological sites by looking in detail at the evidence, layer by layer, site by site. This will permit the unprecedented integration of securely-dated, high-resolution records of early human cultural, social, technological and subsistence behaviours with global, regional and site-based palaeoenvironmental information. This holistic approach will provide ground-breaking insight into the diverse aspects of what it means to be human.
THE EARLY HUMAN BEHAVIOUR CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN
Key world-class competences exist at UiB that span the interdisciplinary requirements of our planned research. The clear advantage of SapienCE is that it will establish a unified organisational identity with latitude for independent yet focussed research projects at UiB. It will allow us to recruit a highly motivated, inter-disciplinary team that will share a research space thus promoting and facilitating the exchange of ideas, and enthusiasm, over a long enough time span that allows for innovative yet integrated insights. A shared laboratory concept allows for the constant interaction of diverse scientists, application of novel methods and the integration of diverse streams of evidence. It will provide flexibility for growth and shifts in disciplinary emphasis, while retaining the strengths of projects led by researchers who are highly competent in their specific fields. SapienCE will provide a platform for obtaining extra funding through successful bids to the RCN, ERC and other funding bodies; it will create financial controls, governance and instruments that enable us to embark on new avenues of investigation as they arise. It will minimise bureaucracy while maintaining clear lines of responsibility and accountability and thus offer a strong framework for inter-disciplinary interaction. Naturally, beneficial synergies and co-operations will be actively encouraged and planned, and it is anticipated that existing collaborative projects will continue and new ones initiated.
Drawing on the diversity of the teams’ strengths, and with the support of SapienCE, major research breakthroughs will be achieved in the examination of the links across and between innovative material culture, subsistence adaptations, the role of changes in micro- and macro- environments and climate, cognitive development, social organisation and the evolution of symbolically mediated behaviour. A cohesive research platform comprised of top scientists guided by experienced leaders can and will consolidate UiB and Norway’s position as a world leader in human origins research over the next decade. To achieve these goals will require visionary, determined and practical leadership to ensure that by 2020 SapienCE will have attained top research status.
This implies embarking on bold strategies that will: (i) pursue an ambitious internationalisation strategy that will project SapienCE as a world-class centre of intellectual engagement and a preferred destination for top-class international scholars and students; (ii) fully exploit its competitive advantages by building consistently on existing strengths and nurturing new avenues for engagement where it can produce ground breaking research; (iii) sustain and increase research output in high impact journals; (iv) increase its intake and training of postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows; (v) provide a high-quality support environment and top-class infrastructure for its core functions; (vi) become recognised among academics globally as a gateway to knowledge and understanding of early H. sapiens evolution in southern Africa. Interdisciplinarity lies at the heart of SapienCE. Data derived from each of the disciplines will be submitted to the critical thinking filters of the other groups. An ongoing process of brainstorming, discussion, re-working data and rethinking processes and methodologies within a single centre in Bergen will produce novel yet highly relevant results not ordinarily obtained from intra-discipline research. Our approach will thus facilitate an effective and creative teamwork model across and between disciplines that is specifically focussed on building scientific excellence. The results will provide ground-breaking, unique insights into the behaviours of early H. sapiens.
CURRENT POSITIONS
- Director: Research Council of Norway Centre of Excellence in Early Human Behaviour, University of Bergen
- Professor of African Prehistory – Institutt for arkeologi, historie, kulturvitenskap og religionsvitenskap, University of Bergen, Norway
- Distinguished Professor and SARChI Chair in Origins of Modern Human Behaviour – Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Executive Committee Member, NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand
- Executive Committee Member, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand
Researcher ID
- Thomson Reuters Web of Science ResearcherID: K-3806-2014. Link http://www.researcherid.com/rid/K-3806-2014
- ORCID ID:Link http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2818-293X
- Research Gate: Christopher Henshilwood: Link https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christopher_Henshilwood?ev=hdr_xprf
- Academia.edu: Christopher Henshilwood: Link https://uib.academia.edu/ChrisHenshilwood
DEGREES
B.A. (Distinction in Archaeology), University of Cape Town, 1989
B.A. Hons. (with Distinction), University of Cape Town, 1990
Ph. D. (Archaeology), University of Cambridge, U.K. 1995
CURRENT AND PREVIOUS RESEARCH GRANTS (2004 – 2017)
- Research Council of Norway Centre of Excellence in Early Human Behaviour 2017-2026
- South African Research Council Chair Initiative: Chair in ‘Origins of modern human behaviour’ at University of the Witwatersrand funded by National Research Foundation/ Department of Science and Technology, South Africa (2008-2017; renewable)
- Principal Investigator for European Research Council, FP7 Advanced Grant - TRACSYMBOLS Project Grant 2010 - 2015
- Franco/South Africa (National Research Foundation grant (2008 – 2010).
- Leakey Foundation, (1997, 1998, 1999, 2008)
- Norwegian Research Council /National Research Foundation – South Africa (2007-2010)
- Wenner Gren (1998,1999, 2007/2008)
- National Geographic Research and Exploration Grants (2006-2007, 2012-2014)
- University of Bergen Research Grant (2008-2015)
- National Science Foundation Grant, Stony Brook University, USA (1997-2000)
CREDITS & AWARDS
National (South Africa)
- Dr. Nelson Mandela: accepts patronage of the Blombos Cave Project, 2000.
- President Thabo Mbeki: Honourable mention in the ‘The State of the Nation’ address to the joint sitting of the Houses of Parliament, Cape Town, South Africa, February 8, 2002 and presentation by PI of Blombos Cave artefacts to Members of the Houses of Parliament.
- Academy of Science of South Africa – admitted in 2009
- The 75 000 year old engraved ochre and beads from Blombos Cave officially recognised as ‘Symbols of South Africa Culture’. In honour of this recognition a set of stamps featuring these artefacts was issued by the South Africa Post Office in 2013.
- A-rated Scientist by National Research Foundation, South Africa, 2015-2020.
- Vice-Chancellors Research Award, 2015. University of the Witwatersrand. Listed as the pinnacle of recognition in the realm of research achievement at the University.
- Ranked in Top 10 of South Africa’s most influential scientific minds for 2002–2012. Award published in 2014, South African Journal of Science http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2015/a0121
International
·Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques medal and order awarded by the French Prime Minister in 2004 for distinguished contributions to French education and culture; conferred, June, 2005.
- Colenso Invited Visiting Fellow, St. John’s College, Cambridge, 2013
- Academia Europaea - Elected Member in 2013.
- Thompson Reuters Lifetime Research Award in 2014 for being among the top 1% most cited for their subject field and year of publication for the period 2002 - 2012.
- Thompson Reuters Research Award for being in the top 1% most cited in the ‘Social Sciences and General’ Category for 2013 and 2014.
- Thompson Reuters Award for inclusion in ‘The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds’ in 2014
- Thompson Reuters Research Award for being in the top 1% most cited in the ‘Social Sciences and General’ Category for 2016
- Elected as Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, April 2020
- Awarded the Hjernekraftprisen (Brain Power Award) 2020 from the The Norwegian Association of Researchers (Forskerforbundet) for research, development and outreach
- Awarded Univ. Witwatersrand Vice Chancellors Impact and Innovation Award – 6th October 2022
SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS
Association of Heritage Assessment Practitioners, Society for Africanist Archaeologists, Association of South African Professional Archaeologists.
REFEREE: JOURNALS & FUNDING APPLICATIONS (sample)
Journal referee
Antiquity, Current Anthropology, Journal of Human Evolution, Journal of Archaeological Science, Journal of African Archaeology, Science, Nature, PNAS, PLOSONE, South African Journal of Science, South African Archaeological Bulletin
Funding reviewer
European Science Foundation, Leakey Foundation, European Research Council, National Science Foundation, USA, National Research Foundation, South Africa, Leakey Foundation, National Geographic Research Committee, National Research Council Canada, Australian Research Council