The ‘Rewriting World Archaeology’ (RWA) programme was developed in 2021 by a team of academic and professional experts working across the Global South, staff from Durham University’s Department of Archaeology, and Antiquity, a world-leading archaeology journal. It is a mentoring and capacity-building initiative for early career researchers (ECRs) in the field of archaeology. The aim of the programme is for world archaeology to be rewritten more equitably, with a greater contribution from the Global South, whose archaeology is some of the richest in the world, yet whose archaeologists are often underrepresented in international publishing, research agendas, funding and networks.
Following the original programme of events, sponsored by the British Academy, we have run two further rounds of workshops: RWA: South Asia 2023-24 supported by the Antiquity Trust, and RWA: Africa.
RWA: Africa is generously funded by British Academy Writing Workshops (WWAF\100023) and led by Dr Rob Witcher. The programme provides mentoring, online seminars, access to publishing expertise and an in-person writing workshop in Nairobi.
Following a competitive application process, a group of eight ECRs from across Africa were invited to join the programme.
Our hope is that by building equitable partnerships and working with ECRs from under-represented regions to demystify the publication process, develop research and writing skills, to expand professional networks and to grow confidence, these researchers will see their work published in high-profile journals and read by global audiences. But beyond that, we hope that these individuals have the potential to become future leaders within the discipline and to reshape the archaeological agenda.
I am a PhD student in archaeology with a multidisciplinary background (social and cultural anthropology and archaeogenetic), at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Senegal. My doctoral research focuses on the biocultural study of griots, a group of endogamous musicians who are buried in the hollows of baobab trees in Wolof and Sereer speaking societies of Senegal. My research on the history and identity of the griots follows a multidisciplinary approach that combines ethnohistorical and archaeogenetic data to understand how the identity of griots was formed in the northwest of Senegal.
I am an assistant professor of archaeology at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. My interest is in the study of settlement patterns and ancient urbanisation as a key method for understanding past human activities, the adaptation of societies to the environment, and cultural, economic and political relationships within societies and between cultures. In particular, my research focuses on the Kingdom of Kush (c. 1000 BC - 350 AD) in present-day Sudan as an example of early Iron Age state societies in Africa.
I am a lecturer in archaeology at the University of Nigeria. My research interests include environmental archaeology, landscape archaeology, foraging and farming, ceramic studies, feminism in archaeology, conservation of archaeological remains, sedimentological studies of cave sediments and indigenous knowledge. In particular, my research centers on revitalizing the roles of women in archaeology and heritage preservation in southeast Nigeria.
I am an assistant lecturer at the University of Ghana and a PhD year 3 student at the University of South Africa. My research interests include settlement archaeology, indigenous knowledge systems, community archaeology, museums, and heritage studies. I am currently researching the Indigenous knowledge of archaeological heritage resources in Lawra in the Upper West Region of Ghana.
I am an archaeologist and heritage professional from Mauritius, with a PhD in History and Civilisations. I studied history, archaeology, quaternary, heritage and other related fields and have acquired experience from several research and heritage projects at both national and international level, including research and writing of UNESCO nomination files on tangible and intangible heritage. My main research interest is the archaeology of labour, including ‘Archaeology of Slavery’. I also specialise in the study of bone tools and archaeometry. I am a UNESCO Global Facilitator for Intangible Cultural Heritage and a UNESCO expert for the Convention of Illicit Trafficking.
I have a PhD in social archaeology and work at Kenyatta University, Kenya. My area of interest is how social identities, especially gender and social hierarchies, were formed, negotiated/re-negotiated and maintained in the past and the subsequent implications on material records. As such, I am interested in pre-colonial and colonial archaeology of the East Africa region, specifically the history of societies associated with Swahili civilization. To that end, I concentrate on how factors such as cultural diffusion, intensification of trade and diversification of subsistence patterns influenced gender identities and hierarchies during Swahili Civilization.
I am a maritime and underwater archaeologist who has worked in coastal and underwater environments around Mozambique and the USA, in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. In 2015, I extended my interests in inter-tidal research on Mozambique Island and then became a collaborator on the Slave Wreck Project, participating in underwater and maritime environmental research using marine geophysics equipment to identify archaeological sites. I have also worked in the archaeological sites of Mozambique Island and Saint Croix to document or survey submerged sites. I obtained my undergraduate degree at Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique, studying archaeological material collected in the inter-tidal areas for commercial and touristic purposes on Mozambique Island.
I am a PhD student in archaeology and cultural heritage management at the University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon. My research deals with human adaptation in upper and middle Mbam (central Cameroon) during the Holocene. I am interested in understanding the factors that shaped the adaptations in that region, a zone of contact between forest and savannah which might have been occupied by many ethnic groups. My Masters research was on archaeological and ethnographical pottery technical systems in the same region.
Learn more about our Mentors below.
The programme began with a series of online workshops and individual mentoring meetings to develop knowledge about the publication process (e.g. peer review), to connect with journal editors, and to develop key skills. By August, all the ECRs had submitted their draft manuscripts ready for internal peer review.
In September 2024, the whole group met for an in-person workshop in Nairobi hosted at the British Institute in Eastern Africa. Over three days, the ECRs worked intensively on their draft manuscripts with their mentors to prepare them for submission. The opportunity to spend time together cemented the relationships that had already been developing and gave participants invaluable face-to-face time to ask questions and explore a wide range of topics more deeply. The feedback from all participants was overwhelmingly positive, and the time devoted to writing and critically reviewing together was highly valued by all.
Early career researchers and mentors at the Rewriting World Archaeology: Africa workshop held at the British Institute in Eastern Africa in Nairobi in September 2024. Photograph by C. Mwaniki.
Heritage Partnerships Research Group
British Academy
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