Christopher Stuart Henshilwood, director of the African Heritage Research Institute in Cape Town and professor of archaeology at the University of Bergen, Norway, has been named Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the Government of France.

Henshilwood is a graduate of the University of Cape Town and read for his PhD at Cambridge University. For the past five years he has been a research member of a Centre National de la Rescherche Scientifique (CNRS) human origins research programme, based in Bordeaux. He directs the Blombos Cave Project, a major archaeological research initiative at the southern tip of Africa, one that is contributing significantly to the international debate on the origins of "modern" human behaviour.

The honour is the highest distinction in France for academics and is given to "those who have contributed to the development of arts, letters and sciences or those who have distinguished themselves within the university". The award recognizes his contribution towards fostering joint South African/French initiatives researching the origins of language and symbolism.