Africa, the Cradle of Humanity: A Brief History Through Inventiveness and Creativity
Holder of a doctorate in archaeology from the University of Frankfurt since 1985, Éric Huysecom is an honorary professor at the University of Geneva. From 1988 to 2022, he led research and teaching in African archaeology and ethnoarchaeology. Between 1979 and 1987, he conducted archaeological research in Mali for the German Archaeological Institute and the University of Frankfurt in the Boucle du Baoulé National Park. In 1988, he co-founded the “Swiss Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Mission in West Africa” with Professor Alain Gallay. In 1994, Éric Huysecom discovered the site of Ounjougou in Mali and established the international and interdisciplinary research program “Human Settlement and Paleoclimatic Variations in West Africa,” which brought together European and African laboratories working on archaeology, ethnography, ethnohistory, geology, botany, linguistics, and other scientific disciplines applied to the still poorly understood field of Sub-Saharan Africa’s prehistory. In 1997, he founded the Laboratory of Archaeology and Settlement of Africa (APA), which he led until his retirement in 2022. Éric Huysecom is also the author of over two hundred publications. Among many other activities, he has presided over the Geneva Archaeological Circle since 2001.
