About Dr. Chris Low –

Chris Low DPhil (Oxon), MSc, BA, DO, LicAc,FRGS is Founding Director !Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre, Western Cape, South Africa and an Affiliate Researcher, Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.

An intra-disciplinary scholar whose interests span human origins, human/environment relations,  Indigenous social and development issues, museology, digital education, history of science and colonisation.

Since 2005 he has Directed Thinking Threads – a portal to connect scholars and the wider public on KhoeSan research and development, and an enterprise to undertake curatorial and research based initiatives.

In 2014 he was commissioned to envision and lead the establishment of a new heritage centre for the San (Bushmen) of southern Africa, at !Khwa ttu. The centre opened in 2018.

Following family traditions I started life as an osteopath and acupuncturist. After working as a health practitioner in the UK and NZ and subsequently running a successful osteopathic partnership in the UK, I headed off for a university training in archaeology, history of medicine and anthropology / African history (Bangor University /Durham University / Imperial College / UCL / Oxford University). Then came a series of research fellowships, teaching posts and NGO initiatives. I am currently Museum Director of !Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre and a Research Affiliate, Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.

Despite searching for a new career in my later 20s , the great wheel always drew me round to healing. So healing and how it relates to human environmental relationships among hunter gatherers is my thing. As we are all essentially hunter-gatherers this gives my work a broad relevance. And as healing relates to biology, medicine and spirit, this leads down such diverse avenues as shamanism, consciousness, muscle memory, tracking, embodiment, relationships with nature….

To keep me embedded in the sensory world I sometimes stop writing, resist ‘the field’ and amuse myself on various instruments or head off barefoot running or telemark skiing. All great ways to WAKE UP.