Dominic Stratford

Research Coordinator, Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa

Lecturer in Geoarchaeology, University of the Witwatersrand

Email: Dominic.Stratford@wits.ac.za

Bio

Since my first year as an undergraduate student of Egyptology, I was particularly interested in the context of the artefacts we studied and the role of the landscape in shaping the archaeological record. These interests would steer my career as I started my post-graduate work analyzing Earlier Stone Age technology at the Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa. The fossiliferous deposits that have accumulated inside the caves over the last 3.5 million years are famous for their large assemblages of hominins, stone tools and associated fauna that document the evolution of our hominin ancestors, their lithic technology and the changing local ecology. The deposits are equally renowned for their stratigraphic complexity. The challenges related to interpreting the fossil and artefactual records at the site inspired me to focus my PhD entirely on stratigraphy and formation processes of some of the deepest, unexplored deposits. Deciphering the complex underground sedimentary sequence requires the application of a suite of analytical approaches that draws on traditional palaeoanthropological approaches, like taxonomy and taphonomy; archaeological approaches, like high-resolution piece plotting and spatial analyses; and earth science approaches, including karstology, multiscale sedimentology, fabric analysis and geochemistry. The goal of these studies is twofold. First, we want to understand the depositional histories of the accumulated evidence, i.e., how was it deposited and how has it been changed through time. Second, we want to develop cohesive stratigraphic frameworks that allow researchers to associate fossils and artefacts across space and track changes in assemblages through time. These goals are never simply achieved. In my capacity as a geoarchaeologist, I apply these analyses to the Sterkfontein deposits and numerous other rockshelters and caves in southern Africa. In my capacity as director of research at the Sterkfontein Caves, I coordinate many projects that aim to facilitate new and innovative research on all available evidence, from ongoing exploratory excavations and multi-disciplinary analyses of StW 573, to augmented reality applications in science education.    

Research Interests