Philip Riris awarded British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship
13 November 2018
Congratulations to Philip Riris who has been awarded a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship, hosted by the UCL Institute of Archaeology, to pursue his research on rock art in lowland South America.
![British Academy logo British Academy logo](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/sites/archaeology/files/styles/large_image/public/BA-logo-strap-white_on_blue320px.jpg?itok=GIyWa_4X)
Despite the evidence for widespread prehistoric rock art traditions across South America, isolated site-based studies remain the norm. Breaking from traditional focuses, Philip's project aims to map connectivity between rock art sites on an unprecedented scale. Through the comparative analysis of hundreds of sites, combining spatial, iconographic, and archaeological data with cutting-edge computational methods, this project will close a critical gap in our understanding of how indigenous communities of artistic practice formed and interacted.
![South American rock art South American rock art](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/sites/archaeology/files/styles/small_image/public/Riris_rockart5-320px.jpg?itok=1PpQTRSz)
Philip is among 54 distinguished academics to receive funding from the Academy, the national voice of the humanities and the social sciences. The Postdoctoral Fellowships Scheme is the Academy's flagship programme for early career academics, based at universities around the UK.
These three-year Fellowships enable outstanding early career scholars to strengthen their experience of research and teaching in a university environment. The primary emphasis is on completing a significant piece of publishable research, giving award holders a base on which to build a successful academic career.
Chief Executive of the British Academy, Alun Evans, said:
- "Supporting early career academics has always been a priority for the British Academy. We are delighted to welcome this new cohort of Postdoctoral Fellows, all of whom are at the cutting edge of research in the humanities and social sciences."