The UCT Department of Archaeology is proud of its student body, which represents the diversity of researchers from South Africa and Africa.

Meet our students in the following cohorts:

Honours students

Akira Banwari
Human remains of two individuals from the Holocene to determine whether or not they suffered from Paget's disease of bone
Supervisor: Professor Rebecca Rogers Ackermann & Dr Tessa Campbell

Amber Wilson
Faunal remains from Lesotho Highlands Water Project
Supervisor: Associate Professor Deano Stynder & Professor John Parkington

Henry Keyter
Tip cross-sectional and other significant geometries of projectile points using experimental techniques.
Supervisors: Dr Yonatan Sahle

Juliette Rabie
Paintings of bags in the Rock Art of the Cederberg, Western Cape, South Africa
Supervisor: Professor Judith Sealy & Dawn Green

Keane Wanza
A paleoproteomic study on bovid material from Omo, Ethiopia
Supervisor: Professor Rebecca Rogers Ackermann & Palesa Madupe

Kelly-Anne Shaw
Skeletal signatures of hybridization in the hands and feet of Rhesus macaques
Supervisor: Professor Rebecca Rogers Ackermann & Associate Professor Lauren Schroeder

Refiloe Moliea
Archaeological investigation of a juvenile burial from a Type V Settlement near Heibron 
Supervisor: Dr Vuyiswa Lupuwana & Associate Professor Simon Hall

Saffron Meltzer
A comparative archaeology of slavery with a focus on South Africa and North America 
Supervisor: Associate Professor Simon HalI & Dr Vuyiswa Lupuwana

Master’s students

Lauren Powell
Admixture and shifting morphological variation in pre- and post- 2000 Khoesan crania.
Supervisor: Professor Rebecca Rogers Ackermann

Ruan Brand
Shell middens and coastal prehistory
Supervisors: Associate Professor Deano Stynder, & Professor John Parkington

Tarryn Sasha Fullerton
A survey of academic field experiences in South Africa: an assessment of sexual and racial harassment, and assault
Supervisor: Professor Rebecca Rogers Ackermann

Drake Yarian
Developing a novel method for using infrared spectroscopy to measure high-precision triple oxygen isotopes of CO2
Supervisors: Dr Vincent Hare, & Professor Chris Harris

Annelize Kotze
Physical attributes influencing the formation of cultural identity in Coloured women of the Western and Northern Cape
Supervisors: Professor Rebecca Rogers Ackermann, & Dr W Black.

Hope Chakanetsa
Stable isotopic study of humans from the greater Cape Town area.
Supervisor: Professor Judith Sealy

Malefeu Lethuba
Stable isotopic study of fauna from Mmabolela
Supervisor: Professor Judith Sealy

Doctoral students

Bedone Mugabe
Use and circulation of copper in Iron Age southern Africa
Supervisors: Dr Vincent Hare & Dr Petrus Le Roux

Dawn Green
Archaeology of personhood and identity marking in the San rock paintings of the southern Maloti-Drakensberg, South Africa
Supervisors: Professor Judith Sealy & Dr Sven Ouzman

Patricia Groenewald
Bone collagen turnover rates in modern humans and their application to archaeology and forensics
Supervisors: Prof. Judith Sealy, & Dr Vincent Hare

Nomawethu Hlazo
Niche differentiation through adaptation and proteomics in the genus Paranthropus.
Supervisors: Professor Rebecca Rogers Ackermann, & Dr L Schroeder

Robyn Angelique Humphreys
Engaged archaeology in contemporary South Africa: Prestwich Street Memorial and Ossuary as a case study
Supervisors: Professor Rebecca Rogers Ackermann, Dr J Bam, & Dr W Black.

Precious Maenzanise
Early human social transmission during MIS 5: A perspective from the Kalahari Basin.
Supervisors: Dr Yonatan Sahle & Dr Jayne Wilkins

Nandi Masemula
Traditional agricultural practices in southern Africa: combining isotope and IKS approaches.
Supervisor: Professor Judith Sealy

Joseph Matembo
A technological analysis of the post-Howiesons Poort MSA stone tool assemblages from Diepkloof Rock Shelter.
Supervisor: Professor John Parkington

Xavier Middleton
Morphological and dietary adaptation analysis of the postcranial remains of the Mio-Pliocene Leporidae (Lagomorpha) from the Langebaanweg fossil site (West Coast Fossil Park, South Africa)
Supervisors: Associate Professor Deano Stynder and Dr. Romala Govender

Leesha Richardson
Interpreting coastal hunter-gatherer Middle to Later - Stone Age seal and bird exploitation at Klasies River
Supervisor: Professor Judith Sealy

Stephen Wessels
Turning digital space into meaningful place in 3D digital replicas of archaeological sites
Supervisor: Professor John Parkington

Postdoctoral students

Dr Stella Basinyi
Human origins in Southern Africa: Reflections on the influence of scientistic narratives on society
Supervisor: Professor Rebecca Rogers Ackermann