Prof. Amanda Esterhuysen

Biography

Amanda Esterhuysen is currently working as Associate Professor of Archaeology at University of Witwatersrand

Research Interest

Have a particular interest in the history of the last 500 years, and with contemporary issues in Archaeology. Working within the historical period provides the opportunity to work with a wide range of sources, from material remains, to oral and recorded histories. It also brings global forces, capitalism and colonialism to the fore. He is also interested in the role that archaeology has come to play in the present, and how archaeologists are perceived by different sectors of society, particularly when the political and economic stakes are high. Between 2001 and 2007 he excavated Historic Cave in the Makapan Valley, South Africa. This project was carried out with permission of the Kekana who are the living descendants of the group besieged by the Boers in Historic Cave in 1854. He have a long association with the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, and continue to research and write up popular material on the fossil hominids, fauna and flora of the area. Lastly he have worked with and published on charcoal and palaeoenvironments.