SA archaeologist 'knighted'
2004-03-31 14:33
Cape Town - Professor Christopher Stuart Henshilwood, Director of the African Heritage Research Institute in Cape Town and Professor of Archaeology at the University of Bergen, Norway has knighted by the French government.
Henshilwood is a graduate of the University of Cape Town and read for his PhD at Cambridge University. For the past five years he has been a research member at a national scientific centre in Bordeaux that does research into human origins.
He directs the Blombos cave project, a major archaeological research initiative near Still Bay about 300km from Cape Town. His research has contributed significantly to the international debate on the origins of "modern" human behaviour.
The honour is the highest distinction in France for academics and is given to "those who have contributed to the development of arts, letters and sciences or those who have distinguished themselves within the university", according to the knighthood manifesto.
The award recognises Henshilwood's contribution towards the fostering of joint South African/French initiatives researching the origins of language and symbolism.
The order was created in 1808 and since 1921 has been conferred by the prime minister and the minister of education of France. It is the French equivalent of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The modern equivalent of "knighthood", the award is to be conferred in April by the French ambassador to South Africa, M Jean Felix-Paganon.
- News24