Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE)

Abstract

Homo sapiens was anatomically modern by c. 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, inspired by changes in the human brain, are only recognisable 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 recognise 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 is rising rise to the challenge by combining the skills of cutting-edge scientists in archaeology, climate reconstruction and modelling, and the cognitive and social sciences. Currently we are synthesising approaches from different disciplines to contribute to a sophisticated understanding of early human behaviour. Our highly ambitious research programme focuses on rare, well-preserved archaeological sites occupied between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago, as these contain the 'keys' for unlocking the past. A major competitive edge is the SapienCE Director’s 30 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 interdisciplinary approaches, including climate and cognitive research, to understanding the processes that shaped human cultures is consolidating Norway’s position as a world leader in early human origins research.

Primary and Secondary Tasks

Primarily, SapienCE is directly addressing 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 organisation 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? 

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 25 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 (100 ka) and the first known use of pressure flaking to create finely crafted stone tools (75 ka). Items of symbolic material, directly linked to cognitive advances, include the earliest geometric engravings on ochre (100-75 ka), personal ornaments made from marine shell (75 ka), and among the earliest engraved ostrich eggshell (66 ka). 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 delivering transformative results. This is being achieved by adopting a holistic approach (integrating Science and Humanities) that focuses on early Homo sapiens in more depth than previously possible and that extends beyond previously limiting intradisciplinary boundaries. To achieve this goal, we have 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 SapienCE we are able to co-ordinate and integrate expertise and the analytical and computational facilities available to our team of archaeologists, zooarchaeologists, micromorphologists, palaeoclimatologists, climate dynamicists, dating experts, cognitive and neuroscientists as well as geneticists. We believe this is providing the competitive edge that for our highly innovative CoE.

Vision and Strategic Intent

SapienCE continues to be firmly embedded among the top three humanities-oriented palaeo-science institutes globally. 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 groundbreaking excavations followed by globally significant interdisciplinary research we are carrying out at UiB, in South Africa and with our partners. We believe this is allowing for an ideal, yet rare, marriage of the humanities and sciences. To ensure that SapienCE continues to have top research status, visionary, determined and practical leadership is needed. Hence we have just appointed Dr Karen van Niekerk (UiB/Wits) as Deputy Director and Prof. Simon Armitage (Royal Holloway) as Deputy Director. SapienCE will continue to embark on bold strategies that will:

• Fully exploit its competitive advantages by continuing to build 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
• Continue to pursue ambitious internationalisation to embed SapienCE as a world-class centre of intellectual engagement and a preferred destination for top-class international scholars and students
• Encourage our ECRs to continue with or initiate groundbreaking research that will lead to publications in top journals.
• Continue to provide a high-quality support environment and top-class infrastructure for our core functions
• Build on our recognition among academics globally that SapienCE offers 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 is communicating 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 University. The SapienCE outreach programme is benefitting thousands of economically disadvantaged school children in South Africa and has been extended, via the Univ. Museum of Bergen, to Norwegian school children(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. 

Exhibitions

1. The SapienCE ‘Early Human Behaviour’ Exhibition: University Museum of Bergen

This exhibition, developed in collaboration with the University Museum of Bergen, has been on display since May 2023. It offers insights into scientific processes, showcasing rare artefacts, interactive displays, and multimedia installations. Visitors explore the evolution of Homo sapiens from over 200,000 years ago to the present, examining cultural, social, and technological developments. The museum has received approximately 22,500 visitors since the opening of the "Early Human Behaviour" exhibition in May. There have been dedicated tours focusing on Early Human Behaviour and tours covering all exhibitions. Particularly significant are the school educational programmes centred on the SapienCE exhibition that were developed by UMB and that have been the ones most sought after by Bergen schools (see below).  https://www.uib.no/en/sapience/162829/showcasing-fascinating-discoveries-about-early-modern-human-behaviour

1. ‘Origins of Early Southern Sapiens Behaviour’ Exhibition: SANParks Cape Point Nature Reserve, Cape Town

 

The Wits/SapienCE exhibition that was on display at the Origins Centre at Wits University in 2021/2022 opened at the South Africa National Parks (SAN Parks) Table Mountain National Park’s Buffelsfontein visitor centre in the spring of 2023. The exhibition, based on Wits/SapienCE research, has been expanded with environmental content from the Sea Change Project and is curated by Craig Foster and Petro Keene. The exhibition has been popular with the more than 1 million people who visit Cape Point Nature Reserve annually. Our exhibition will be on display until 2026.

https://www.uib.no/en/sapience/163121/lives-our-early-ancestors-display-cape-point

 

1. Origins of Modern Human Behaviour Exhibition- De Hoop Nature Reserve, Overberg Region, South Africa

On January 18, 2024, a third SapienCE-related exhibition opened at De Hoop Collection Nature Reserve in South Africa. The exhibition, based on SapienCE and pre-SapienCE research by Professor Christopher Henshilwood, Dr Karen van Niekerk, Professor Sarah Wurz and their team, and expanded with content from the Sea Change Project, is curated by Craig Foster and Petro Keene. The exhibition was officially inaugurated by Premier Alan Winde of Western Cape in the presence of the Ambassador of Norway to South Africa H.E. Mr Gjermund Sæther. Multiple national and international educational programmes will be centred on this exhibition in the future. https://www.dehoopcollection.com/origins-of-early-southern-sapiens-behaviour-exhibition/

https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/2024/2024-01/origins-of-early-southern-sapiens-behaviour-exhibition-opens-in-the-western-cape.html

 

Origins of Modern Human Behaviour Exhibition- De Hoop Nature Reserve, Overberg Region, South Africa, 

opened 18^th January 2024 by Premier Alan Winde of Western Cape in the presence of the Ambassador of Norway to South Africa H.E. Mr Gjermund Sæther

Other Outreach

University Museum of Bergen Educational Programme based on “Early Human Behaviour” Exhibition

An educational programme based on Early Human Behaviour (EHB) was launched at the University Museum in Bergen in Q3 of 2023. The programme was developed by the Museum’s pedagogical team in consultation with SapienCE Project Manager Žarko Tankosić. Its aim is to give school students in Years 5-7 in the Norwegian school system practical and theoretical insight into research matters focused on within the SapienCE project. Classes are split into two groups alternating between two exercises. The first comprises performing a simulated excavation in dig boxes. In the second, students engage in drama pedagogical exercises designed to encourage and stimulate reflections on our shared human past, human behaviour, and cognitive development. At the end, the class reunites, and they collectively share their observations and experiences.

The custom dig boxes used in the archaeological activity were developed specifically for this educational programme. Each box simulates an ideal archaeological scenario that reflects various relevant findings in either the African MSA or the Nordic Stone Age. These scenarios are carefully excavated by the students, who plot, register, and clean each object. Subsequently, they analyse and discuss their findings, viewing each object and their placement relationally. The practical, tangible excavation is designed to connect with the more introspective drama pedagogical exercises to form a greater context. This is aimed to reflect the project’s interdisciplinary and holistic approach. It is especially fruitful to see how conclusions vary between groups who start with the drama pedagogical activities and groups who start with the practical excavation.

 

 

 

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

6.      www.tracsymbols.eu

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

19.  http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/discovery/rare-sa-artefacts-go-on-display-1.1755974#.VcijZfnzoQ9

 20.  http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-archaeological-science/most-downloaded-articles/

 

 

Our team leaders for Early Career Researchers (ECR's) ie PhDs and Postdoctoral fellows are Dr Karen van Niekerk, Deputy Director with responsibility for Archaeology and Psychology/Cognition and Prof Simon Armitage, Royal Holloway University of London, Deputy Director with responsibility for our early career researchers and leading our GEO and NORCE climate sections. Dr Zarko Tankosic, project (admin) manager, is a key member of our team.

In 2024 our SapienCE team included 19 active researchers (3 retired), of whom 10 form the Leader Group. Additionally, we have 6 PhDs, 11 Postdocs, and 13 administrative staff. We have several new Postdocs who staeted in 2024: Katrina Nilsson-Kerr (GEO), Kurt Wogau (GEO/SEAS), Ella Walsh (AHKR), Marzena Cendrowska (AHKR), Jeremy Beller (AHKR/SEAS), Samuel Pereira (GEO), Dr Ellie Pryor (GEO). 

 

2014

• Christopher Henshilwood; Marlize Lombard (2014). Becoming human: Archaeology of the sub-Saharan Middle Stone Age. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; Karen Loise Van Niekerk (2014). Blombos Cave: The Middle Stone Age Levels. (external link)
• Francesco d'Errico; Christopher Henshilwood; Renata Garcia-Moreno et al. (2014). Il y a 100 000 ans, un atelier pour la préparation et le stockage de mélanges pigmentés. (external link)
• Jessica Thompson; Christopher Henshilwood (2014). Tortoise taphonomy and tortoise butchery patterns at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Shaw Badenhorst; Karen Loise Van Niekerk; Christopher Henshilwood (2014). Rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis) from Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Jerome Reynard; Shaw Badenhorst; Christopher Henshilwood (2014). Inferring animal size from the unidentified long bones from the Middle Stone Age layers at Blombos Cave, South Africa.. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2014). Homo sapiens in southern Africa: Tracing the behaviour of our common ancestors from 100 000 years ago. (external link)
• Shaw Badenhorst; Karen Loise Van Niekerk; Christopher Henshilwood (2014). Middle Stone Age fauna from Blombos Cave. (external link)

2006

• Christopher Henshilwood; Curtis Marean (2006). Remodelling the origins of modern human behaviour. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2006). Modern humans and symbolic behaviour: Evidence from Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)

2011

• Francesco d'Errico; Christopher Henshilwood (2011). Introduction. (external link)
• Francesco d'Errico; Christopher Henshilwood (2011). Middle Stone Age engravings and their significance to the debate on the emergence of symbolic material culture. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; Benoit Dubreuil (2011). The Still Bay and Howiesons Poort, 77 - 59 ka: Perspective-taking and the evolution of the modern human mind during the African Middle Stone Age. (external link)
• Jessica Thompson; Christopher Henshilwood (2011). Taphonomic analysis of the Middle Stone Age larger mammal faunal assemblage from Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)

2008

• Christopher Henshilwood (2008). Holocene Prehistory of the Southern Cape, South Africa Excavations at Blombos Cave and the Blombosfontein Nature Reserve. Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 75. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2008). Winds of change: palaeoenvironments, material culture and human behaviour in the Late Pleistocene (c. 77 – 48 ka) in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2008). Holocene prehistory of the southern Cape, South Africa: excavations at Blombos Cave and the Blombosfontein Nature Reserve. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2008). The >100 ka levels at Blombos Cave, southern Cape: early pointers to modern human cognition?. (external link)

2022

• Shaw Badenhorst; Nomaswazi Mthombothi; Karen Loise van Niekerk et al. (2022). An initial assessment of zooarchaeological assemblage sizes from South Africa. (external link)
• Kokeli Peter Ryano; Karen Loise van Niekerk; Sarah Jacoba Deborah Wurz et al. (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. (external link)
• Diyendo Massilani; Mike W. Morley; Susan M. Mentzer et al. (2022). Microstratigraphic preservation of ancient faunal and hominin DNA in Pleistocene cave sediments. (external link)
• Elizabeth Catherine Velliky; Magnus Mathisen Haaland; Susan M. Mentzer et al. (2022). New insights into ochre features and their associated behaviours from the Howieson’s Poort layers at Klipdrift Shelter. (external link)

2007

• Francesco d'Errico; Christopher Henshilwood (2007). Additional evidence for bone technology in the southern African middle stone age. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2007). Knowledge & politics: a report on an african archaeology initiative Norway – South Africa : 2002 – 2007. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; Ingrid Vibe (2007). San Personal Ornaments from the Later Stone Age at Blombos Cave and Blomboschfontein, southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)

2010

• Christopher Henshilwood; Benoit Dubreuil (2010). Language and Material Culture : Relating the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa to the origins of language. held at the Montréal, 21st - 30th June 2010.. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2010). Continuity or discontinuity? Symbolically mediated behaviours in the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort Industries of southern Africa - and beyond. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2010). Attracting Global talent – A South African Perspective. , , 17th November.. (external link)
• Vincent Mourre; Paola Villa; Christopher Henshilwood (2010). Early use of pressure flaking on lithic artifacts at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2010). The Origins of Modern Human Behaviour. Dating human occupations and reconstructing the palaeoenvironment in the Middle Stone Age, southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• A Daniau; Maria Fernanda Sanchez-Goni; Francesco d'Errico et al. (2010). The use of fire for ecosystem management: tracking the emergence of the modernity in Southern Africa. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2010). Attracting Global talent – A South African Perspective. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; Benoit Dubreuil (2010). Language and Material Culture : Relating the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa to the origins of language. (external link)

2015

• Sylvain Soriano; Paola Villa; Anne Delagnes et al. (2015). The still bay and howiesons poort at Sibudu and Blombos: Understanding middle stone age technologies. (external link)
• Magnus Mathisen Haaland; Riaan F. Rifkin; Christopher Henshilwood (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.. (external link)
• Will Archer; Philipp Gunz; Karen Loise Van Niekerk et al. (2015). Diachronic change within the Still Bay at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Karen Loise Van Niekerk; Christopher Henshilwood (2015). The engraved ostrich eggshell from the Howiesons Poort layers at Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa.. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; Stein-Erik Lauritzen (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.. (external link)
• Riaan Rifkin; Christopher Henshilwood; Magnus Mathisen Haaland (2015). Pleistocene figurative art mobilier from Apollo 11 Cave, Karas Region, Southern Namibia. (external link)
• Katerina Harvati; Catherine C. Bauer; Frederick E. Grine et al. (2015). A human deciduous molar from the Middle Stone Age (Howiesons Poort) of Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa. (external link)
• Magnus Mathisen Haaland; David Friesem; Christopher Miller et al. (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.. (external link)
• Katja Douze; Sarah Jacoba Deborah Wurz; Christopher Henshilwood (2015). Techno-cultural characterization of the MIS 5 (c. 105 - 90 Ka) lithic industries at Blombos Cave, Southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; Karen Loise Van Niekerk (2015). New archaeological excavations of Later and Middle Stone Age deposits at the Klipdrift Complex, southern Cape, South Africa: 2010-2013. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2015). Symbolic Decoration. (external link)
• Magnus Mathisen Haaland; Christopher Miller; Matthias Czechowski et al. (2015). High-resolution 3D documentation of micromorphological block samples: bridging the gap between micro-scale and macro-scale investigation of archaeological sites.. (external link)

2013

• Christopher Henshilwood (2013). Behaviourally modern Homo sapiens in southern Africa. , , 30th May.. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2013). Henshilwood, C.S. 2013. The evolution of modern human behaviour , , , 21st May.. (external link)
• Zenobia Jacobs; Elspeth H. Hayes; Richard G. Roberts et al. (2013). An improved OSL chronology for the Still Bay layers at Blombos Cave, South Africa: further tests of single-grain dating procedures and a re-evaluation of the timing of the Still Bay industry across southern Africa. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2013). The evolution of modern human behaviour. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2013). Behaviourally modern Homo sapiens in southern Africa. (external link)

1994

• Christopher Henshilwood; Peter Nilssen; John Parkington (1994). Mussel drying and food storage in the Late Holocene, SW Cape, South Africa. (external link)

2017

• Elizabeth Niespolo; Warren Sharp; Nicholas Fylstra et al. (2017). U-TH BURIAL DATING OF OSTRICH EGGSHELLS: A NOVEL APPROACH TO DATING AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SEQUENCES BEYOND THE 14C LIMIT. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2017). The philosophy of archaeology. (external link)

2002

• Fred Grine; Christopher Henshilwood (2002). Additional Human Remains from Blombos Cave, South Africa: (1999-2000 excavations). (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; Francesco d'Errico (2002). Emergence of Modern Human Behaviour: Middle Stone Age engravings from South Africa. (external link)

2000

• Fred Grine; Christopher Henshilwood (2000). Human remains from Blombos Cave, South Africa: (1997-1998 excavations). (external link)

2016

• Jerome Reynard; Emmanuel Discamps; Shaw Badenhorst et al. (2016). Subsistence strategies in the southern Cape during the Howiesons Poort: Taphonomic and zooarchaeological analyses of Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa. (external link)
• Riaan Rifkin; Prinsloo Linda C.; Dayet Laure et al. (2016). Characterising pigments on 30 000 year-old mobiliary art form Apollo 11 Cave, Karas Region, southern Namibia.. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2016). Tracing further the behavioural evolution of Homo sapiens in southern Africa. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2016). The behavioural origins of early Homo sapiens in southern Africa. (external link)
• Patrick Roberts; Christopher Henshilwood; Karen Loise Van Niekerk et al. (2016). Climate, environment and early human innovation: Stable isotope and faunal proxy evidence from archaeological sites (98-59ka) in the southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)

2018

• Christopher Henshilwood; Karen Loise Van Niekerk (2018). South Africa’s Blombos cave is home to the earliest drawing by a human. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; Karen Loise Van Niekerk; Petro Keene et al. (2018). Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour exhibition. (external link)
• Jerome P. Reynard; Christopher Henshilwood (2018). Using trampling modification to infer occupational intensity during the Still Bay at Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Francesco d'Errico; Christopher Henshilwood; Karen Loise Van Niekerk (2018). Les premières utilisations du rouge en Afrique. (external link)
• Turid Hillestad Nel; Sarah Jacoba Deborah Wurz; Christopher Henshilwood (2018). Small mammals from Marine Isotope Stage 5 at Klasies River, South Africa - Reconstructing the local palaeoenvironment. (external link)
• Magnus Mathisen Haaland; Christopher Henshilwood; Christopher E. Miller (2018). Geoarchaeological and micro-contextual investigations of Middle Stone Age occupation deposits at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Magnus Mathisen Haaland; Christopher E. Miller; Ole Fredrik Unhammer et al. (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). (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; Francesco d'Errico; Karen Loise Van Niekerk et al. (2018). An abstract drawing from the 73,000-year-old levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Magnus Mathisen Haaland; Christopher E. Miller; Christopher Henshilwood (2018). Doing site-oriented depositional experiments? This is why you should consider taking a micromorphological block sample!. (external link)
• Jerome Reynard; Christopher Henshilwood (2018). Environment versus behaviour: Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses of fauna from the Still Bay layers at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Magnus Mathisen Haaland; André Strauss; Christopher E. Miller et al. (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. (external link)

2004

• Francesco d'Errico; Christopher Henshilwood; Graeme Lawson et al. (2004). Archaeological evidence for the emergence of language, symbolism, and music - An alternative multidisciplinary perspective. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2004). The Origins of Modern Human Behaviour – Exploring the African evidence. (external link)

2005

• Christopher Henshilwood (2005). Stratigraphic integrity of the Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave. (external link)
• Francesco d'Errico; Christopher Henshilwood; Marian Vanhaeren et al. (2005). Nassarius kraussianus shell beads from Blombos Cave: evidence for symbolic behaviour in the Middle Stone Age. (external link)

2024

• Christopher Stuart Henshilwood; Karen Loise van Niekerk (2024). Origins of Early Southern Sapiens Behaviour Exhibition. Archaeological results from Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter and Klasies River. (external link)
• Ella Victoria Walsh; Simon James Armitage; Christopher Miller et al. (2024). Palaeolandscape evolution during the period of Middle Stone Age occupation of Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Kurt Heinrich Wogau Chong; Margit Hildegard Simon; Karen Loise van Niekerk et al. (2024). From sea to Little Karoo: tracking the paleo-landscape inhabited by the first modern humans. (external link)
• Christopher Stuart Henshilwood (2024). Origins of Early Southern Sapiens Behaviour: Evidence from Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter, Klasies River.. (external link)
• Margit Hildegard Simon; Willem Godert Maria van der Bilt; Pål Tore Morkved et al. (2024). Investigation of biomarkers from Blombos Cave, South Africa and from Rabat-Temara Caves in Morocco: Insights into Middle Stone Age sites. (external link)
• Jeremy Beller; Karen Loise van Niekerk; Pieter-Jan Grabe et al. (2024). Raw material distribution in the southern Cape region and its significance for lithic procurement during the MSA at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Kokeli Peter Ryano; Karen Loise van Niekerk; Christopher Stuart Henshilwood et al. (2024). Shellfish gathering during MIS 5c-d at Klasies River main site and Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa: An inter-assemblage comparison. (external link)

2023

• Christopher Stuart Henshilwood; Karen Van niekerk (2023). Origins of Early Southern Sapiens Behaviour Exhibition, De Hoop Collection. Archaeological results from Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter and Klasies River. (external link)
• Christopher Stuart Henshilwood (2023). Origins of Early Southern Sapiens Behaviour Exhibition. (external link)

2019

• Christopher Henshilwood (2019). We all come from Africa: Origins of Modern Human Behaviour. (external link)
• Magnus Mathisen Haaland; Christopher E. Miller; Ole Fredrik Unhammer et al. (2019). What's in that black layer? A report on a 85 000 year old dark sedimentary feature in Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Elizabeth Niespolo; Warren Sharp; Christian A Tryon et al. (2019). Evaluating the temporal range of 230Th/U burial dating of ostrich eggshell, a new chronometer for Pleistocene terrestrial strata. (external link)
• Kokeli Peter Ryano; Karen Loise Van Niekerk; Sarah Jacoba Deborah Wurz et al. (2019). Shellfish exploitation during the Oakhurst at Klipdrift Cave, southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2019). ‘Mother Africa – Welcome Home’. The behavioural origins of Homo sapiens in southern Africa 120 000 – 50 000 years. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; John Maytham (2019). The Blombos Cave discovery and the origins of symbolism. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2019). The Origins of Modern Humans - Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter and Klasies River. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2019). Mother Africa - Welcome Home. (external link)
• Craig Foster; Christopher Henshilwood; Jarl Giske (2019). A 100 000 year aquatic journey with our southern African ancestors. (external link)

2009

• Francesco d'Errico; Marian Vanhaeren; Christopher Henshilwood et al. (2009). From the origin of language to the diversification of languages: What can archaeology and palaeoanthropology say?. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; Francesco d'Errico; Ian Watts (2009). Engraved ochres from the Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2009). Continuity or discontinuity? Symbolically mediated behaviours in the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort Industries of southern Africa - and beyond. Invited lecture at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, 19th May, 2009.. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; Francesco d'Errico (2009). Ochre as a media for symbolic expression during the Southern Africa Middle Stone Age: examining the evidence from the Western Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Francesco d'Errico; Christopher Henshilwood (2009). Origins of symbolically mediated behavior. From antagonistic scenarios to a unified research strategy. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2009). The origins of symbolism, spirituality and shamans: exploring Middle Stone Age material culture in South Africa. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2009). The Origins of Modern Human Behaviour The Howiesons Poort, Still Bay and beyond. (external link)

2012

• Christopher Henshilwood; Karen Loise Van Niekerk (2012). Middle Stone Age Chemists - a 100 000-year-old pigment processing workshop at Blombos Cave. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2012). Late pleistocene techno-traditions in Southern Africa: a review of the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort, c. 75-59 ka. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2012). Symbols and Climate: Tracing the origins of behaviourally modern Homo sapiens in southern Africa. Invited lecture for the , , 25th May.. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; Karen Loise Van Niekerk; Riaan F. Rifkin et al. (2012). Analytical techniques: Deciphering a 100,000 Year Old Ochre Processing Workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)

2001

• Christopher Henshilwood; Judy Sealy; Royden Yates et al. (2001). Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa: Preliminary report on the 1992 – 1999 excavations of the Middle Stone Age levels. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood; Francesco d'Errico (2001). An early bone tool industry from the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave, South Africa: implications for the origins of modern human behaviour, symbolism and language. (external link)

2003

• Christopher Henshilwood; Curtis Marean (2003). The origin of modern human behaviour: A review and critique of models and test implications. (external link)

1995

• Christopher Henshilwood (1995). HOLOCENE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE COASTAL GARCIA STATE FOREST, SOUTHERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA. (external link)

2025

• Elizabeth Catherine Velliky; Francesco d'Errico; Karen Loise van Niekerk et al. (2025). Unveiling the multifunctional use of ochre in the Middle Stone Age: Specialized ochre retouchers from Blombos Cave. (external link)
• Neemias Santos da Rosa; Francesco d'Errico; M. Maguregui et al. (2025). Modelling the taphonomic effects of wind erosion and marine aerosol degradation on paintedages through accelerated ageing experiments: implications for the origins of rock art and the evolution of human symbolic behaviour. (external link)

2020

• Emmanuel Discamps; Christopher Henshilwood; Karen Loise Van Niekerk (2020). Large mammal exploitation during the c. 14-11 ka Oakhurst techno-complex at Klipdrift Cave, South Africa.. (external link)
• Christopher Henshilwood (2020). The First Real People. (external link)

2021

• Shaw Badenhorst; Rialivhuwa Ratshinanga; Francesca Parrini et al. (2021). Rhinoceros from the Middle Stone Age in the Eastern and Western Cape of South Africa. (external link)

1992

• John Parkington; Peter Nilssen; Clair Reeler et al. (1992). Making sense of space at Dunefield Midden campsite, Western Cape, South Africa. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

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: 20; Books 2: Peer reviewed papers 81

Peer Reviewed papers

• Scopus ISI: h-index 41; 12,136 citations (March 2023): 74 publications; 130 co-authors: Top 10 articles cited 3924 times.  
• Google Scholar: 129 articles; h-index 46; 12 600 citations (March 2023), Since 2018 - 4512 citations. Top 10 articles cited 7500 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

Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE)

Abstract

Homo sapiens was anatomically modern by c. 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, inspired by changes in the human brain, are only recognisable 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 recognise 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 is rising rise to the challenge by combining the skills of cutting-edge scientists in archaeology, climate reconstruction and modelling, and the cognitive and social sciences. Currently we are synthesising approaches from different disciplines to contribute to a sophisticated understanding of early human behaviour. Our highly ambitious research programme focuses on rare, well-preserved archaeological sites occupied between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago, as these contain the 'keys' for unlocking the past. A major competitive edge is the SapienCE Director’s 30 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 interdisciplinary approaches, including climate and cognitive research, to understanding the processes that shaped human cultures is consolidating Norway’s position as a world leader in early human origins research.

Primary and Secondary Tasks

Primarily, SapienCE is directly addressing 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 organisation 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? 

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 25 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 (100 ka) and the first known use of pressure flaking to create finely crafted stone tools (75 ka). Items of symbolic material, directly linked to cognitive advances, include the earliest geometric engravings on ochre (100-75 ka), personal ornaments made from marine shell (75 ka), and among the earliest engraved ostrich eggshell (66 ka). 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 delivering transformative results. This is being achieved by adopting a holistic approach (integrating Science and Humanities) that focuses on early Homo sapiens in more depth than previously possible and that extends beyond previously limiting intradisciplinary boundaries. To achieve this goal, we have 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 SapienCE we are able to co-ordinate and integrate expertise and the analytical and computational facilities available to our team of archaeologists, zooarchaeologists, micromorphologists, palaeoclimatologists, climate dynamicists, dating experts, cognitive and neuroscientists as well as geneticists. We believe this is providing the competitive edge that for our highly innovative CoE.

Vision and Strategic Intent

SapienCE continues to be firmly embedded among the top three humanities-oriented palaeo-science institutes globally. 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 groundbreaking excavations followed by globally significant interdisciplinary research we are carrying out at UiB, in South Africa and with our partners. We believe this is allowing for an ideal, yet rare, marriage of the humanities and sciences. To ensure that SapienCE continues to have top research status, visionary, determined and practical leadership is needed. Hence we have just appointed Dr Karen van Niekerk (UiB/Wits) as Deputy Director and Prof. Simon Armitage (Royal Holloway) as Deputy Director. SapienCE will continue to embark on bold strategies that will:

• Fully exploit its competitive advantages by continuing to build 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
• Continue to pursue ambitious internationalisation to embed SapienCE as a world-class centre of intellectual engagement and a preferred destination for top-class international scholars and students
• Encourage our ECRs to continue with or initiate groundbreaking research that will lead to publications in top journals.
• Continue to provide a high-quality support environment and top-class infrastructure for our core functions
• Build on our recognition among academics globally that SapienCE offers a gateway to human origins research and to knowledge and understanding of early H. sapiens evolution in southern Africa