Sam Challis

William Robert (Sam) Challis (born 12 December 1973) is a British archaeologist. He is head of the Rock Art Research Institute (RARI) at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

He wrote his DPhil thesis on the impact of horses on AmaTola 'bushmen' in Southern Africa.

Career and research Challis describes his main research interest as the expression of "the interaction between hunter-gatherers, pastoralists and farmers, as well as Europeans" in global rock art.

His research programme in the Matatiele trains locals as field technicians.

From January to April 2022, Challis was an African Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh. During the fellowship, he collaborated with the Scotland Rock Art Project on methods for enabling community field technicians to record and preserve rock art in the Eastern Cape.

He is also Research Affiliate of the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology at the University of Michigan, and an Honorary Research Fellow of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen.

He co-authored Deciphering Ancient Minds: The Mystery of San Bushman Rock Art with David Lewis-Williams.

Selected publications Books

Articles