After John’s early years at Cambridge and a PhD thesis entitled: “Follow the San’’, it does follow that his lifelong research interest in southern African has been in hunters and gatherers.
An emeritus professor of archaeology and a Fellow of the University of Cape Town, his distinguished research has been directed at understanding patterns of cultural variation and evolution of hunter gatherer settlements.
This has involved mapping, sampling, and excavation of sites across the landscape to reconstruct life histories and social relations, settlement choices, image making and resource use by our ancestors.
From engraved ostrich eggshells and bone tools to shell beads and the first evidence of drawing, you’ll hear about some of humanity’s earliest use of symbols, art and technological innovation, to say nothing of branding.
John’s distinguished research is directed at understanding patterns of cultural variation and evolution of hunter gatherer settlement in the Fynbos Biome of the Western Cape.
It involves mapping, sampling and excavation of sites across the landscape to reconstruct life histories and social relations, settlement choices, image making and resource use through the later Pleistocene and Holocene.
He’s a man of many causes, such as the Living Landscape Project in Clanwilliam. As to another cause, in an address to the opening of South Africa’s Parliament, former president Mbeki referenced the letter he’d received from Parkington, regarding the need for protection of archaeological heritage sites!