Andy Herries
Current position
Head of Department of Archaeology and History at La Trobe University
Where did you study?
I studied Archaeological Science (BSc), Geoarchaeology (MSc) and Palaeoanthropology/Archaeomagnetism (PhD) at the University of Liverpool in the UK.
How did you become interested in archaeology?
I don't remember not wanting to be an archaeologist. My Nan told me a story about how I asked for her toffee hammer when I was 3 to go break rocks open in the back yard to look for fossils. I did my first excavation at 16 at Beddingham Roman Villa in the UK. I got into Human Origins in my first year at University and after my first trip to Africa for fieldwork in 1997 I was hooked.
What archaeological projects are you working on at the moment?
I run field projects at the early human fossil site of Drimolen in South Africa as well as the archaeological site of Amanzi Springs. At Drimolen we are looking at the transition from the earlier more-apelike human ancestor Australopithecus africanus to the first occurrence of Homo erectus, or direct ancestor, on the South African landscape, as well as the first occurrence of an interesting high specialized side-branch in our evolution, Paranthropus. Paranthropus has massive teeth compared to us that are specially adapted to eating hard object foods. At Amanzi Springs we are trying to understand a change in technology (the Acheulian to Middle Stone Age stone tool traditions) that occurred around half a million to 300,000 years ago in Africa at the beginning of the origins of our own species, Homo sapiens. Large multi-use handaxes (like the Swiss army knife of the time) were replaced by smaller stone tools like points and blades that were used in conjunction with wood to make spears and knives. Amanzi also preserves wood from this time period, which is helping us understand the environmental background to these changes.
Tell us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries.
The most interesting discovery we have made at Drimolen was our recent publication of the world's oldest Homo erectus fossil, at 2 million years old. The DNH 134 cranium is a child of only 1.5 to 3 years old but the shape of the cranium still shows characteristics of Homo erectus. While Drimolen is now the oldest evidence for fossils that look like later Homo erectus we don't think that the species first occurred in South Africa, but likely migrated into the region from somewhere else in Africa. Soon after this Homo erectus becomes the first species to leave Africa being found in Georgia by 1.8 million years ago. In fact, stone tools from China suggested to be around 2 million years old may suggest this species left even earlier than that, at about the same time as the DNH 134 cranium from Drimolen. This work was widely covered in the media recently.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/science/skulls-africa-caves.html
Tell us about a funny / disastrous / amazing experience that you have had while doing archaeology.
While some field work is a lot of fun, like at Drimolen, other field work is pretty hard work. Because we want to know why the human fossils at Drimolen occur in the cave, i.e were they living there, being brought in by carnivores who were eating them, such as the false sabre tooth cat Dinofelis, or falling in, we often study modern caves in the region. I have been a caver since I was 17 years old so I love this aspect of the work, exploring caves that we are the first people to be in. Many years ago I rock climbed up a sea cliff face on the South coast of South Africa and climbed into a cave about 30m up. There lying all around me were stone tools from about 60,000 years ago. There is nothing quite like that feeling of discovery and being the first person to set eyes on stone tools that someone 1000s of years ago left behind, perhaps even someone that could be the ancestor of a large number of the people alive today. However, it is not always glamorous or go according to plan. Several years ago we decided to study a site called Misgrot, it is a cave used by baboons as a sleeping site. Because caves have a constant temperature the baboons use them during winter to get out of the very cold higher altitude temperatures outside the caves. Many baboons die in the caves and their bodies become mummified. So we went to the cave, camped out in the area nearby, and 3D scanned the cave and the location of all the baboon skeletons so we could compare it to what we see at Drimolen. It's a very pretty cave in many ways but to get around it you also often have to wade up to your knees in dry baboon poo, so we had lots of masks and protective gear on. When we went to leave the cave on the last day, which requires climbing back up a rope down the only entrance shaft, it seems that a snake who had been hibernating in a crack in the rock at the base of the shaft decided to wake up. We had to attempt to keep the snake in the crack while everyone got up the ropes as quickly as possible. I remember my colleague standing there with a large piece of wood we had brought down that looked like a shield and a surveying pole that looked like a spear trying to keep the snake at bay looking somewhat like a Roman Centurion with his added helmet and face mask. Ultimately we all got out safe and left the snake to his cave.
What’s your favourite part of being an archaeologist?
I love running our field school at Drimolen. During June and July each year researchers and students from all over the world come to excavate with us at Drimolen, just outside Johannesburg in South Africa. We teach them all about excavation and Human Origins, take them to see all the original human fossils from South Africa and then on safari. I love this aspect of my work because many students have never been on excavation before, or been overseas and so it often has a big influence on their future lives and careers. During many field seasons these students find new hominin fossils, just like the DNH 134 cranium, which was found by a second year undergraduate student from La Trobe University, who is now doing his PhD. Many other students have come to Drimolen and have now completed their PhD or other research such as honours.
Follow up reading.
https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2020/release/fossil-discoveries-rewrite-our-history