Benjamin Smith

Region of Interest

Africa

Primary Country of Residence

Australia

Title

Professor

Affiliation

University of Western Australia

Email

benjamin.smith@uwa.edu.au

Mailing Address

Archaeology, M257, UWA, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, 6009, WA, Australia

Countries of Specialization

South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia

Research Interests

Rock art, archaeology, heritage studies

Teaching Interests

Rock art, archaeology, heritage studies

Publications

Publications in ISI/IBSS listed journals

1998(a) Ancient Art in a New South Africa: history and national resolve in a period of change (with J.D. Lewis-Williams). CSD Bulletin 5 (1): 13-16.
2000(a) Visions of Dynamic power: archaic rock-paintings, Altered States of Consciousness and ‘clever men’ in western Arnhem Land (NT), Australia (with C. Chippindale & P.S.C. Taçon). Cambridge Archaeological Journal 10 (1): 63-101.
2000(b) Archaeology and symbolism in the new South African coat of arms (with J.D. Lewis-Williams, G. Blundell & C. Chippindale). Antiquity 74: 467-468.
2000(c) Empowering places: rock shelters and ritual control in farmer - forager interactions in the Northern Province, South Africa (with S. Hall). South African Archaeological Society Goodwin Series 8: 30-46.
2001(a) Wits rock art archive to go online. South African Journal of Science 97: 420.
2001(b) Forbidden images: rock paintings and the nyau secret society of Central Malaŵi and Eastern Zambia. African Archaeological Review 18 (4): 187-211.
2002(a) After Hallström: new directions in the study of Northern rock-art (with E. Walderhaug, L. Forsberg & C. Chippindale). Antiquity 76: 25-26.
2002(b) The White Camel of the Makgabeng (with J.A. van Schalkwyk). Journal of African History 43 (2): 235-254.
2004(a) Taking Stock: identifying Khoekhoen herder rock art in southern Africa (with S. Ouzman). Current Anthropology 45 (4): 499-526.
2005 (a) Fingerprints of the Khoekhoen: geometric and handprinted rock art in the central Limpopo Basin, southern Africa (with E. Eastwood). South African Archaeological Society Goodwin Series 9: 63-76.
2005 (b) Sixty Years of the South African Archaeological Bulletin. South African Archaeological Bulletin 60: 49-50.
2008 (a) Captain Howison’s Poort. South African Archaeological Bulletin 63: 1-2.
2008 (b) A PanAfrican Journal. South African Archaeological Bulletin 63: 93-94.
2009 (a) A transformation charter for South African Archaeology. South African Archaeological Bulletin 64: 87-89.
2010(a) Envisioning San History: Problems in the Reading of History in the Rock Art of the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa. African Studies 69 (2): 345-359.
2010(b) The Bulletin matters. South African Archaeological Bulletin 65: 121-122.
2011(a) The first in situ Raman spectroscopic study of San rock art in South Africa: procedures and preliminary results (with Tournié, A., Prinsloo, L.C., Paris, C. & Colomban, P.). Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 42: 399-406.
2012 (a) Helping to defend Africa's heritage: the African Archaeological Conservation Advisory Committee of the PanAfrican Archaeological Association. Azania 47(3): 379-380.
2013 (a) Rock art tourism in the uKhahlamba/Drakensberg World Heritage Site: obstacles to the development of sustainable tourism (with Duval, M.). Journal of Sustainable Tourism 21(1): 134-153.
2014 (a) Ethics in African Archaeology. Azania 49(2): 136-147.
2014 (b) Seeking sustainable rock art tourism: the example of the Maloti-Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site (with Duval, M.). South African Archaeological Bulletin 69(199): 34-48.
2014 (c) De-centring ethical assumptions by re-centring ethical debate in African archaeology (with Giblin, J. & King, R.). Azania 49(2): 131-135.
2014 (d) Inscription au patrimoine mondial et dynamiques touristiques: le massif de l’uKhahlamba-Drakensberg (Afrique du Sud) (with Duval, M.). Annales de Géographie 697: 912-934.

Publications in non-refereed journals

2001(c) Presenting South African rock art to the world: two major new public rock art site developments for 2002 (with T. Turkington & G. Laue). The Digging Stick 18 (3): 5-7.
2002(c) Archaeological and rock art survey of the Makgabeng plateau, central Limpopo Basin (with E. Eastwood & J. van Schalkwyk). The Digging Stick 19 (1): 1-3.
2004 (b) Southern Africa’s Khoekhoen herder rock art (with S. Ouzman). The Digging Stick 21 (1): 1-4.
2009 (b) Lascaux Cave – Do we have cause for concern? The Digging Stick 26 (1): 1-4.

Books and chapters in books

1997 Zambia’s Ancient Rock Art: the Paintings of Kasama. Livingstone: National Heritage Conservation Commission. ISBN 9982-34-000-X.
1998(b) The Tale of the Chameleon and the Platypus: limited and likely choices in making pictures. In: Chippindale, C. & Taçon, P. (eds) The Archaeology of Rock-Art: 212-228. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2000(d) Image texts and annotations. In: Charteris, P. (ed.) Selected Southern African Rock Art. Johannesburg: South African Archaeological Society.
2004(c) Insiders and outsiders: sources for reinterpreting an historical event (with J.A. van Schalkwyk). In: Reid, A.M. & Lane, P.J. (eds) African Historical Archaeologies: 325-346. London: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
2004(d) Dangerous ground: a critique of landscape in rock-art studies (with G. Blundell). In: Chippindale, C. & Nash, G. (eds) Figured Landscapes of Rock-Art: 239-262. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2005(c) Malawi: Colonization and Wars of Resistance, 1889-1904. In: Shillington, K. (ed.) Encyclopedia of African History: 908-910. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. 3 vols.
2005(d) Rock Art – Hadzabe/Sandawe (eastern Africa). In: Taylor, B.R. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature: 1394. London: Thoemmes Continuum. 2 vols.
2005(e) Rock Art – Northern Sotho (southern Africa). In: Taylor, B.R. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature: 1395. London: Thoemmes Continuum. 2 vols.
2005(f) Rock Art – Chewa (central Africa). In: Taylor, B.R. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature: 1393-1394. London: Thoemmes Continuum. 2 vols.
2005(g) Kaphirintiwa – The Place of Creation (central Africa). In: Taylor, B.R. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature: 951-952. London: Thoemmes Continuum. 2 vols.
2005(h) The Kasama spirit sites (northern Zambia). In: Taylor, B.R. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature: 954-955. London: Thoemmes Continuum. 2 vols.
2005(i) Makewana the Rainmaker (central Malawi). In: Taylor, B.R. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature: 1028-1030. London: Thoemmes Continuum. 2 vols.
2005(j) Mbiriwiri – The Sacred Rainmaking Drum. In: Taylor, B.R. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature: 1029. London: Thoemmes Continuum. 2 vols.
2005(k) Nyau – A Closed Association (central Africa). In: Taylor, B.R. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature: 1216-1217. London: Thoemmes Continuum. 2 vols.
2005(l) Rock Art – Batwa/Pygmies (central Africa). In: Taylor, B.R. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature: 1392-1393. London: Thoemmes Continuum. 2 vols.
2006(a) Reading rock art and writing genetic history: Regionalism, ethnicity and the rock art of southern Africa. In: Soodyal, H. (ed.) The Prehistory of Africa: 76-96; 176-181. Cape Town: Jonathan Ball.
2006(b) Rock Art Tourism in Southern Africa: Problems, Possibilities and Poverty Relief. In: Agnew, N. & Bridgland, J. (eds) Of the Past, for the Future: Integrating Archaeology and Conservation: 322-330. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute.
2006(c) The rock arts of sub-Saharan Africa. In: G. Blundell (ed.) Origins: the Story of the Emergence of Humans and Humanity in Africa: 92-115. Cape Town: Double Storey.
2007(a) The power of ancient art (with L. Zubieta). In: Delius, P. (ed.) Mpumalanga: History and Heritage: 69-89. Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
2008(c) Reservoirs of Potency: the Documentary Paintings of Stephen Townley Bassett (with J.D. Lewis-Williams). Rock Art Research Institute Monograph 1. Johannesburg: Rock Art Research Institute. ISBN 978-0-620-42074-7.
2009(c) The Eland’s People: New Perspectives in the Rock Art of the Maloti-Drakensberg Bushmen (with P. Mitchell). Rock Art Research Institute Monograph 2. Johannesburg: Wits University Press. ISBN 978-1-86814-498-3.
2009(d) Introducing The Eland’s People (with P. Mitchell). In: Mitchell, P. & Smith, B.W. (eds) 2009. The Eland’s People: New Perspectives in the Rock art of the Maloti-Drakensberg Bushmen: 1-12. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.
2009(e) Foreword (with P. Mitchell). In: Vinnicombe, P. 2009. People of the Eland: vii-viii. 2nd Edition. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.
2010(c) Seeing and Knowing: Understanding Rock Art With and Without Ethnography (with G. Blundell & C. Chippindale). Johannesburg: Wits University Press. ISBN 978-1-86814-513-3
2010(d) Rock art with and without ethnography (with Blundell, G., Chippindale, C.). In: Blundell, G., Chippindale, C. & Smith, B.W. (eds) 2010. Seeing and Knowing: Understanding Rock Art With and Without Ethnography: 1-9. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.
2010(e) Art and authorship in southern African rock-art: examining the Limpopo-Shashe Confluence Area (with E. Eastwood & G. Blundell). In: Blundell, G., Chippindale, C. & Smith, B.W. (eds) 2010. Seeing and Knowing: Understanding Rock Art With and Without Ethnography: 75-97. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.
2011 (b) Débat avec les experts et discussion générale. In: Coye, N. (ed.) Lascaux et la Conservation en Milieu Souterrain. Actes du Symposium International, Paris, 26 et 27 Février 2009: 324-327. Paris: Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme.
2012 (b) Working with Rock Art: recording, presenting and understanding rock art using indigenous knowledge (with K. Helskog & D. Morris). Johannesburg: Wits University Press. ISBN 978-1-86814-545-4.
2012 (c) Foreword (with K. Helskog & D. Morris). In: Smith, B.W., Helskog, K. & Morris, D. (eds) Working with Rock Art: recording, presenting and understanding rock art using indigenous knowledge: xi-xii. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.
2013 (b) Rock art research in Africa. In: Lane, P. & Mitchell, P. (eds) Handbook of African Archaeology: 145-162. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2014 (e) Chongoni rock art area. In Smith, C. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology: 1448-1452. New York: Springer.