Professor Lyn Wadley is a world-leading scholar on Southern African Stone Age archaeology, having driven Middle Stone Age archaeology in new and exciting directions through her meticulous excavations and thoughtful presentation of the results. Her work has transformed the field and she is described by her peers as the ‘leading MSA scholar in the world’ and a ‘global leader in African Stone Age research’.
Professor Wadley’s career is most closely associated with the University of the Witwatersrand, where she taught from 1982 – 2004 in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies and in the Evolutionary Studies Institute. She graduated with a Masters from the University of Cape Town in 1977 and then went on to obtain her PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1986. Wadley began her career researching social and ecological issues in the Later Stone Age in South Africa. She directed excavations at multiple Holocene sites in Magaliesberg and then began working on older, Pleistocene sites. Professor Wadley spent eleven years excavating the Rose Cottage Cave in the Eastern Free State. From 1998-2011, her excavations at Sibudu Rock Shelter in KwaZulu-Natal led to incredible results that have transformed the ways archaeologists think about early human’s cognitive ability. Wadley has claimed that the relationship between the use of compound adhesives and compound paints is clear evidence for modern thought processes, including multi-tasking, found in South Africa 100,000 years ago.
Lyn Wadley at the entrance to Sibudu Cave, 2008.
Professor Wadley’s groundbreaking research in the African Stone Age has led to many accolades. She is the Director of the research unit ACACIAA (Ancient Cognition and Culture in Africa) at the University of the Witwatersrand. There they examine issues of cognition and culture in the Middle Stone Age. Lynn Wadley has an A-1 rating as a professor with the National Research Foundation and has a Thomas-Reuters certificate for exceptional impact 2014/15.
The nominations for Professor Wadley also highlighted her work as a teacher and mentor for students, including many from disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition to her work at Witwatersrand, she has provided adult basic education to rural people in the Waterberg area. She also does voluntary teaching of disadvantaged students from the University of Limpopo and the University of Venda. Professor Wadley would be a Trowelblazer even without this work, but it is a further testament to her commitment to research, teaching and the power of education.
Post by Cassiane Stevens
Images provided by Dr Christine Sievers and used with permission.
