Hendri A. F. Kaharudin
Current position
PhD Candidate at the Australian National University
Where did you study?
Bachelor of Archaeology at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
Master of Archaeological and Evolutionary Science (Advanced) at the Australian National University
How did you become interested in archaeology?
After watching Brendan Fraser in The Mummy when I was in junior high school, the next day I am set to be archaeologist!
What archaeological projects are you working on at the moment?
I am looking into subsistence strategies by coastal and island people in Wallacea and surrounding islands during the Pleistocene and Holocene.
Tell us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries.
Forty-thousand-year-old sea urchin harvesting in Alor Island, Indonesia.
Tell us about a funny / disastrous / amazing experience that you have had while doing archaeology.
We were on this ferry for three days going to a small island called Kisar, north of Timor-Leste. On the last day, we made friends with a dozen people who were returning home to Kisar. A few hours before we reached Kisar, they decided to open a sopi (local spirit) bottle (or two!). So we found ourselves joining their sopi circle on the deck, taking shots and eating smoked fish snacks... it would have been rude to refuse our future hosts!
What’s your favourite part of being an archaeologist?
Fieldwork.. fieldwork.. fieldwork.. into the remote islands and deep in the jungle!
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