Dr Chris Carter
An indigenous and historical archaeologist, actively involved in research in the Atacama region of Chile.
Biography
Dr Chris Carter is an Indigenous and historical archaeologist with over 25 years’ experience leading tours both nationally and overseas, including over 30 tours to South American countries. He has a BA (Hons), MA and PhD from the Australian National University.
His PhD research was based on excavations he carried out at coastal sites in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Chris has worked in this region since the late 1990s, working on coastal and inland sites as well as contributing to Chile's proposal to have the Inka trails (the multi-national Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System) included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
As a teacher, Chris has always declared that archaeology cannot be learned in the classroom. Such statements resulted in him taking a group to South America in 1995. He has continued to lead several tours a year ever since. The areas visited have expanded to other regions that reflect the subjects he teaches.
Get to know Chris
Hear from Chris Carter on our podcast, The Thinking Traveller, as he discusses one of the most significant archaeological sites in Australia - Lake Mungo. One of the Willandra Lakes, listed by UNESCO as a place of world heritage, it has been described as “the land frozen in time”.