Catherine Namono

Catherine Namono is an archaeologist that specializes in the study of Rock art in Uganda

Early life

Catherine Namono was born in Uganda to parents Joyce Apaku and Martin Wambwa. During the early part of her education, Namono attended Fairway Primary school in Mbale. She later enrolled into Mt. St. Mary’s Namagunga which is an all-girl boarding school for secondary education (O level) located in Lugazi, Uganda. To complete her A level education, Namono attended Trinity College, an all-girls boarding school located in Nabbingo, Uganda.

Extended education

Upon completing her education at Trinity College, Namono was accepted into Makerere University Kampala. The Makerere University Kampala is Uganda’s largest and third-oldest establishment of higher education. She received a Bachelor's degree in art history from Makerere University and went on to pursue her master’s degree in South Africa. In her master’s program, she analyzed a distinct rock art tradition practiced by Bantu speakers. Namono explored the rock art produced by the Bantu and noticed that there was a rock art theme associated with boys' and girls' initiation. When Namono went to examine the boys’ art, she noted that the art was covered by previous archaeologist which caused her to study the girls’ art instead, also known as the virgin area located in the Limpopo region of South Africa. Namono soon after discovered her passion for art history which then prompted her to pursue a second master’s degree in art history. Namono states, "The market was flooded with art historians. I wanted to generate new information on a virgin area, so I enrolled for another master’s degree in rock art studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. That degree marked my shift from art history to archaeology”. Uganda’s rock art has not been thoroughly examined along with the fact that source and date of this art remains unidentified because of the unclear geometric symbols. Once she received her second master’s degree, Namono pursued a PhD in archaeology. Namono expressed her shift in her educational direction in which she stated, "When I was studying art history, I did not know that rock paintings were part of archaeology. The urge to explore more made me go for archaeology”. Once she received her PhD, she made history as Uganda’s first female archaeologist to acquire a PhD. Another great achievement obtained by Catherine Namono was the fact that she also became the second archaeologist in Uganda after the late Professor David Mulindwa Kiyaga.

Career

Namono specializes in rock art research, particularly the rock art of Uganda. She is also a Ugandan rock art specialist working at the Rock Art Research Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. She is also currently conducting another study on the pygmy rock art tradition and rock art in Kondowa in Tanzania. Her contributions to this fairly understudied field has increased the data base on rock art in the Lake Vitoria basin as well as shed light on the understandings of this rock art with her interpretations.