For our third Talkin’ Tropics episode, Yoshi Maezumi and Robert Patalano chat with Dr. Makarius Itambu, Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Management at University in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Mak’s research focuses on the plant landscapes and paleo-habitats that were occupied by early humans in eastern Africa in the Early Pleistocene. He mainly uses phytoliths to reconstruct past environmental types and has over ten years of archaeological field experience working across Tanzania at sites dating to the Early Pleistocene up until the Iron Age. Since returning to Tanzania after completing his PhD at the University of Calgary in Canada, Mak began a new research initiative that aims to link the Middle Stone Age human and environmental histories of northern, central, and southern Tanzania, and is leading a field school of Tanzanian undergraduates interested in archaeology and paleoanthropology.
Listen here on Spotify!
Dr. Itambu received his Bachelor of Arts in History and Archaeology and a Master of Arts in Archaeology and Prehistory from the University of Dar es Salaam, and a Phd in Archaeology and from the University of Calgary, Canada. Follow Mak on Twitter here @MakariusItambu