Dr. Anja Meyer

Anja Meyer is a South African bioarchaeologist and forensic anthropologist whose research bridges human skeletal biology, archaeology, and population history. Affiliated with institutions connected to the Raymond A. Dart Archaeological Human Remains Collection, her work centers on southern African past populations, integrating osteology, radiocarbon dating, isotopic analysis, and advanced imaging to reconstruct lifeways and biological variation.

Her publications explore Later Stone Age and farming communities, reassess curated skeletal collections, and examine cranial variation such as frontal sinus morphology among Khoe-San groups. She has contributed to major interdisciplinary genomic research on the expansion of Bantu-speaking peoples, linking biological, linguistic, and archaeological evidence to broader debates on African population movements.

Meyer also engages in applied medical and forensic research, including taphonomy in the South African Highveld and healthcare disparities in pediatric transplantation. This combination of archaeological science and contemporary clinical collaboration highlights a distinctive strength in connecting deep human history with present-day biological and social challenges.