Timpoko Helène Kienon-Kabore is an

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

from

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

, who is Professor at the Research of Human Society and Science Unit at the

Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (UFHB), formerly known as Université de Cocody or Université de Cocody-Abidjan, is a public university located in the Cocody section of Abidjan and the largest in Côte d'Ivoire. With over 50,000 student ...

. A specialist in historical metallurgy, she is an advisor on archaeological heritage at the Ministry of Culture and Francophonie of Côte d'Ivoire and was president of the Association of Archaeologists of West Africa from 2010-2014.

Career

Kienon-Kabore is Professor at the Research of Human Society and Science Unit at the University Felix Houphouet-Boigny of Cocody in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

. She was appointed Head of the Archaeology Department of ISAD (Institute of Anthropological Sciences for Development in 2015. Her doctoral thesis entitled 'La métallurgie ancienne du fer au Burkina Faso, province du Bulkiemdé: approche ethnologique, historique, archéologique et métallographique' was awarded by Université de Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne in 1998. Her research focuses on metallurgical analysis. She has published on the origins and development of metalwork in Burkina Faso and in Côte d'Ivoire. Her particular expertise lies in the analysis of the history of technology of African societies south of the Sahara. She has explored how important it is to take indigenous knowledge of metal-production is for understanding the past. In addition she has studied and published on population and palaeoenvironment in Senegal. Kienon-Kabore is an advisor on Archaeological Heritage at the Ministry of Culture and Francophonie of Côte d'Ivoire. As part of her work there she organised ‘A celebration of 100 years of Ivorian archeology’, which was held in 2016, and‘Ivorian Archaeology Week’, held for the first time in 2019. She is also a Committee Member for the Association of Archaeologists of West Africa, and was president from 2010 to 2014. As of 2020 she was also a member of the steering committee of Scientific Advisors to Governments of the INSA ( International Network for Government Science Advice), which works across francophone Africa. She was a member of the Scientific Committee for the Symposium on Modern Heritage of Africa – MoHoA, which was held in Cape Town in 2021. She is also a member of the Advisory for the journal ''Revue de l’Environnement et de la Biodiversité-Programme d’Appui Stratégique à la Recherche Scientifique'' (REB-PASRES).

Impact

Writing for the ''

TrowelBlazers TrowelBlazers is a project aimed at increasing the representation of women in the fields of archaeology, geology and Paleontology, palaeontology. The project is run by Brenna Hassett, Victoria Herridge, Suzanne Pilaar Birch and Rebecca Wragg Sykes ...

'' website, archaeologist

Stephanie Wynne-Jones Stephanie Wynne-Jones is an Africanist archaeologist, whose research focuses on East African material culture, society and urbanism. She is Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of York. She previously worked ...

described how: "Professor Kiénon-Kaboré's dynamism cannot be overstated. As well as using her position to train and promote Ivorian students and archaeology, she pursues an international research agenda. Her work on iron-working in Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast has added significantly to our understanding of the development of specialist iron-working centers across West Africa in the second millennium AD. She remains a pioneer in her field, admired by her students for her commitment to the archaeology of the region."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kienon-Kabore, Timpoko Helene Living people Ivorian women archaeologists Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century archaeologists 21st-century archaeologists 20th-century women scientists 21st-century women scientists Ivorian archaeologists Ivorian metallurgists Ivorian women scientists