Dr Tim Forssman

Tim has returned to his alma mater, Wits University, to be part of the MARA team after beginning his studies here and eventually receiving his Masters in 2010. Between then and now Tim has completed his doctorate at Oxford University under the tutelage of Prof Peter Mitchell and served as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pretoria for two years.

Tim is primarily interested in the interactions between hunter-gatherer and farmer communities and has conducted most of his research in the middle Limpopo Valley around the site of Mapungubwe. His methods of analysis are fairly expansive in order to track the outcome of social interactions.

Tim will be bringing this perspective to Matatiele with the aim of exploring the local Later Stone Age sequence, craft activities, landscape patterns and social interactions. Tim has published locally and internationally in scientific journals and has co-authored a guide book to interpreting Bushman rock art.