Robyn Humphreys

Biographie

Robyn Humphreys is a co-investigator on the HERA project. She is an Associate Lecturer in the Department of Historical Studies at the University of the Western Cape. She recently completed her PhD in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cape Town. Her PhD research explored how recent histories of contract and historical archaeology shaped heritage practice when a 18^th century burial ground, with enslaved human remains, was discovered in Green Point, South Africa. This project led to research  focused on heritage policies related to the dead from archaeological sites and the avenues communities can use to make claims to ancestral remains in South Africa. She is also currently conducting provenance research for ancestral remains currently at the Institute of Anatomy at Leipzig University. Her recent publications include : Bam-Hutchison, J. & Humphreys, R.A., “Recalling Indigenous Knowledge in Cape Town”, in Being and Becoming Indigenous Archaeologists, Volume II., edited by Nicholas, G. and Watkins, J., 2025, Routledge and “Mourning the Dead: Connecting People, Places and Remains. Prestwich Street Burial Ground: Memory Contestations in Cape Town”, podcast produced by Schasiepen, S. and Burnett, A.: https://open.spotify.com/episode/28j504hqdTe0YZFGB495ww. R.A. Humphreys appears in UnRest, a documentary directed by Professor Siona O’Connell of the University of Pretoria: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne_pAk6Y_yU. Her presentation at the Webinar “The Taung Child Turns 100: Reflecting on a Century of South African Palaeoanthropology”, hosted by the Human Evolutionary Research Institute at the University of Cape Town, is available here: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/9pa2gi0byrmh.