Sam Challis
Sam Challis | |
|---|---|
 Sam Challis (2024) | |
| Born | William Robert Challis December 12, 1973 |
| Education | Durham University (BA) University of Oxford (MSt, DPhil) |
| Notable work | Deciphering Ancient Minds: The Mystery of San Bushman Rock Art (2011) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Archaeology |
| Workplaces | University of the Witwatersrand |
| Thesis | The impact of the horse on the AmaTola ‘bushmen’: new identity in the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains of Southern Africa (2008) |
| Peter Mitchell | |
William Robert (Sam) Challis FRAI FSA (born 12 December 1973) is a British archaeologist. He is Head of the Rock Art Research Institute (RARI) at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.[1]
Early life and education
Challis graduated with a BA in Archaeology from the University of Durham in 1996, and later earned an MSt (2003) and a DPhil at the University of Oxford (2008).[1] He wrote his DPhil thesis on the impact of horses on AmaTola 'bushmen' in Southern Africa.[2]
Career and research
Challis describes his main research interest as the expression of 'the interaction between hunter-gatherers, pastoralists and farmers, as well as Europeans' in global rock art.[3] He studies 'both historical and modern indigenous ontologies as well as cultural creolization following contact', largely from a rock art perspective.[4] His research programme in the Matatiele trains locals as field technicians.[5]
He is a Research Affiliate of the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology at the University of Michigan, and also an Honorary Research Fellow of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen.[3][6]
He co-authored Deciphering Ancient Minds: The Mystery of San Bushman Rock Art with David Lewis-Williams.[7][8][9]
Selected publications
Books
- Lewis-Williams, David; Challis, Sam (2011). Deciphering Ancient Minds: The Mystery of San Bushman Rock Art. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 9780500051696.
- Hampson, J.; Challis, Sam; Goldhahn, J., eds. (2022). Powerful Pictures: Rock Art Research Histories Around the World. Oxford: Archaeopress. ISBN 9781803273884.
Articles
- Challis, Sam (2012). "Creolisation on the nineteenth-century frontiers of southern Africa: a case study of the AmaTola 'Bushmen' in the Maloti-Drakensberg". Journal of Southern African Studies. 38 (2): 265–280. doi:10.1080/03057070.2012.666905.
- McGranaghan, Mark; Challis, Sam (2016). "Reconfiguring hunting magic: Southern Bushman (San) perspectives on taming and their implications for understanding rock art" (PDF). Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 26 (2): 245–269. doi:10.1017/S0959774316000408.
- Challis, Sam; Sinclair-Thomson, Brent (2022). "The Impact of Contact and Colonization on Indigenous Worldviews, Rock Art, and the History of Southern Africa: "The Disconnect"". Current Anthropology. 63 (5): 525–544. doi:10.1086/722260.
References
- 1 2 "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). University of Michigan. 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
- ↑ Challis, Sam (2008). The impact of the horse on the AmaTola ‘bushmen’: new identity in the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains of Southern Africa (DPhil thesis). University ofOxford.
- 1 2 "Sam Challis". Museum of Anthropological Archaeology. University of Michigan. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
- ↑ "Sam Challis Biography". University of the Witwatersrand. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
- ↑ "Rock Art Network - Sam Challis". Bradshaw Foundation. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
his research programme in the mountains of Matatiele in the Eastern Cape, aims to redress the imbalance of this neglected former-apartheid region while training local community Field Technicians
- ↑ "Honorary Staff & Researchers". School of Geosciences. University of Aberdeen. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
- ↑ Kohn, Marek (10 June 2011). "Deciphering Ancient Minds: The Mystery of San Bushman Rock Art, by David Lewis-Williams & Sam Challis". The Independent. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
- ↑ Helvenston, Patricia A. (November 2012). "Deciphering ancient minds: the mystery of San Bushman rock art. A critical book review". Rock Art Research. 29 (2): 247–256.
- ↑ Deacon, Janette (December 2011). "Review: (Untitled)". The South African Archaeological Bulletin. 66 (194). South African Archaeological Society: 189–190.
External links
- Sam Challis publications indexed by Google Scholar