David lewis-williams biography
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The Order of the Baobab in Gold
Professor Emeritus James David Lewis-Williams Awarded for:
His exceptional and distinguished contribution to the scientific field of archaeology. His research on the rock art of ancient people in southern Africa has contributed valuable information about the life of the San people in the region.
Profile of Professor Emeritus James David Lewis-Williams
Professor Emeritus James David Lewis-Williams was born on 5 August in Cape Town. After completing his basic education he went on to obtain a BA degree in , BA Honours in and PhD in in the fields of geography and social anthropology. He taught archaeology at the University of the Witwatersrand from to He has published 19 ground-breaking books and over articles on the subject of rock art. He is recognised as the father of rock-art archaeology the world over.
Prof Lewis-Williams focused his research efforts on the areas of rock art, cultural heritage and the rights of the San people of southern Afr
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Basic Biographical Information
David Lewis-Williams was born in in Cape Town, South Africa. He undertook his undergraduate studies at the University of Cape Town, graduating in He began teaching English and Geography at Selborne College in , moving to Kearsney College in In , he completed an honors degree at the University of South Africa. While at Kearsney College, he was active in running the student archaeology club. It was with students from this club that Lewis-Williams began exploring the Drakensberg mountains for San rock art. It was also during this time that he met John Argyle, an anthropologist at the University of Natal (now, the University of KwaZulu-Natal). Argyle encouraged Lewis-Williams to pursue his interest in San rock art by writing a Ph.D thesis. The thesis was completed in at the University of Natal and was then published in Entitled Believing and Seeing: Symbolic Meanings in Southern San Rock Paintings, the published thesis has
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Principally, Professor David Lewis-Williams’s research has concerned San rock art, but he has also published books on the Upper Palaeolithic cave art of western europe and the megalithic tombs of the Near East and europe. Both books, published bygd Thames & Hudson, have been translated into numerous languages. In he was awarded the James Henry Breasted Prize by the American Historical Association, and in the Society for American Archaeology gave him an award for ‘excellence in archaeological analysis’. He is an elected Honorary Overseas Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute. From to he served on the executive of the Comite International pour l’art rupestre of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (UNESCO), and from to he served on the International Advisory Committee on the Chauvet Cave, France. He has been awarded honorary doctorates bygd the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Cape Town. He is an elected member of the Royal kultur of South Afr