Nationality: South African

Institution: Wits University/ University of Bergen

Department:Archaeology

PAST programme support: Research project support

Research title: Innovation and adaptation during the MIS 6 glacial at Klasies River main site

Sarah Wurz is Professor of Archaeology at the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand and the Centre of Excellence on Early Sapience Behaviour at the University of Bergen.

She is the director of excavations and research at Klasies River main site situated in the Eastern Cape on the Tsitsikamma coast, a key site for understanding the origins of modern humans or Homo sapiens. Her research on the Middle Stone Age and the Klasies River sequence led to new insights into the complexity of lithic technological and related behaviours from the last 120 000 years.   Her background and expertise include music science and psychology.  This provides the multidisciplinary context from which she investigates the roots of the unique aspects that underlie typically human behaviors and cognition. She is also active in archaeological heritage management, and previously filled positions at the Iziko Museums of Cape Town and the South African Heritage Resources Agency.