Nationality: South African

Institution:  University of the Witwatersrand

Department:  Geology

PAST programme support: Degree support

Project: Raw material procurement analysis at Border Cave (KwaZulu-Natal).

Dineo is a  PhD Candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa who tries to use her background and training in geology and archaeology to understand the behaviour of early humans during the Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age in Southern Africa.

To date, her research has involved the use of geochemical analyses, petrography, and geological mapping to source lithics around South African sites like Mwulu’s Cave, Olieboomspoort Rock shelter, and Border Cave. Dineo has also interned at Missouri University Research Reactor to refine her sourcing skills and learn new techniques. Outside of her academic pursuits, she likes to trace and digitally redraw rock art so that electronic copies are available for other researchers and for publication.