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Indigenous Knowledge and Archaeoinformatics

Dr. Oliver Vogels M.A.

Email: oliver.vogels(at)uni-koeln(dot)de

ORCID: 0000-0001-8133-0631

Research Interests

  • Prehistoric Music Cultures
  • Media Theorie in Musicology and Archaeology
  • Hunter-Gatherer Demography and Sociology
  • Hunter-Gatherer Subsistence strategies
  • GIS (Geographic Information Systems) based Landscape Archaeology

Oliver Vogels is an Africanist archaeologist specialising in prehistoric rock art, hunter-gatherer lifeways, indigenous knowledge, landscape archaeology, and prehistoric musical cultures. He holds an MSc in Musicology and a PhD in Prehistoric Archaeology from the University of Cologne. His doctoral research developed novel interdisciplinary approaches that combine digital and ethnographic methods to investigate the environmental and social contexts of Later Stone Age hunter-gatherer rock art in Namibia.

His postdoctoral research examines how indigenous knowledge can refine computational approaches to modelling hunter-gatherer mobility, including least-cost path analysis and Lévy walk models, by drawing on the expertise of present-day Ju/’hoansi hunting specialists. He is currently affiliated with the Heinrich-Barth-Institute and the African Research Centre at the University of Cologne, where his research integrates archaeological theory, digital methods, and Indigenous knowledge systems to investigate human-environment interactions and the long-term development of cultural landscapes.

Detailed information

Own projects

This project combined Archaeoinformatics and Indigenous Knowledge (IK) for a better understanding of hunter (gatherer) mobility in an uninhabited archaeological landscape in western Central Namibia. It takes advantage of a rare opportunity to trace the movements of indigenous tracking experts while hunting with traditional means (i.e. on foot without firearms, optical aides or hunting dogs) in a landscape rich of archaeological evidence.

The data collected on the field (GPS recorded tracks, velocity and caloric expenditure data, as well as qualitative information on decision-making) will be used to obtain unique insights into the wayfinding process a

Curriculum Vitae
Education:
  • Since 2013: Ph.D. student at the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne.
  • 2010 – 2013: Ph.D. student at the Institute of Musicology, University of Cologne.
  • 2010: M.A. in Ethnomusicology, African Studies and Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne.
  • 2002 – 2010: Studies in Musicology, African Studies and Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne.
Professional Experience:
  • Since 2010: Scientific research assistant at CRC 806 "Our Way to Europe", Projekt Z1.
  • 2009 – 2010: Student research assistant at CRC 806 "Our Way to Europe", Projekt Z1.
  • 2009: Student research assistent with Dr. H.C. Strien (principal investigator Prof. A. Zimmermann), for digitisation and processing of published linear pottery ornament styles from Rhineland (Germany) for an online database.
  • 2008: Student research assistant at REITIA research unit, Insitute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne.
  • 2006 – 2007: Student research assistant within the CRC 389 "Arid Climate Adaptation and Cultural Innovation in Africa" (ACACIA), Project A6, Institute for Prehistoric Archaeology, Africa Research Unit, University of Cologne.
Publications
Monographs 
  • Vogels, O. in press. Dâureb. Studies on the environmental and social context of Later Stone Age rock an in a mountainous landscape in Namibia. Africa Praehistorica 33. Köln: Heinrich-Barth-Institut. 
Articles and contributions
  • Vogels, O., 2026. Dâureb. Studies on the environmental and social context of Later Stone Age rock an in a mountainous landscape in Namibia, Africa Praehistorica. Heinrich-Barth-Institut, Cologne. https://doi.org/10.18716/hbi/ap33
  • Vogels, O., Fäder, E., Pastoors, A., Hans-Peter, W., Kuper, R., 2023. In memoriam Tilman-Lenssen-Erz. South African Archaeological Bulletin 78, 122.
  • Vogels, O., Fader, E., Pastoors, A., Wotzka, H.-P., Kuper, R., 2024. Dr Tilman Lenssen-Erz (1955-2023). Rock Art Research 41, 234.
  • Paliou, E., Angourakis, A., Vogels, O., 2025. Schlussbericht: BMBF01UG2132 - Modellierung prähistorischen Jagdverhaltens: Erweiterung der Jäger-Sammler Archäologie durch indigene Experten (MPJ). https://doi.org/10.34657/18526
  • Kumbani, J., Vogels, O., 2022. Musical bows in the rock art of southern Africa, in: Oxford Research Encyclopedia. Oxford University Press, Oxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.561
  • Vogels, O., Fäder, E., Lenssen-Erz, T., 2021. A matter of diversity? Identifying past hunter-gatherer aggregation camps through data driven analyses of rock art sites. Quaternary International 572, 151–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.05.057
  • Lenssen-Erz, T., Fäder, E., Vogels, O., Mathiak, B., 2021. Scenic narratives of humans and animals in Namibian rock art – a methodological restart with data mining, in: Davidson, I., Nowell, A. (Eds.), Making Scenes: Global Perspectives on Scenes in Rock Art. Berghahn Books, New York.
  • Schmidt, I., Hilpert, J., Kretschmer, I., Peters, R., Broich, M., Schiesberg, S., Vogels, O., Wendt, K.P., Zimmermann, A., Maier, A., 2021. Approaching prehistoric demography: proxies, scales and scope of the Cologne Protocol in European contexts. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 376. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0714
  • Lenssen-Erz T., Vogels, O. and Fäder, E. 2018: Die „Kölner Schule“: Felsbildforschung am Kölner Institut für Ur- Und Frühgeschichte. In. Richter, J. (ed.), 111 Jahre Prähistorische Archäologie in Köln. Kölner Studien zur Prähistorischen Archäologie 9, 2018, 319–329. Download
  • Lenssen-Erz T. and Vogels, O. 2017: Eine Musiklektion vom Daureb (Brandberg): Musibkögen in der Felskunst Namibias und des südlichen Afrika. In: Rupp, N., Beck, G., Franke, G. and Wendt, K.-P. (eds.), Winds of change: Archaeological contributions in honour of Peter Breunig. Frankfurter Archäologische Schriften 35, 2017, 61–72.
  • Vogels, O. and Lenssen-Erz T. 2017: Beyond Individual Pleasure and rituality: social aspects of the musical bow in southern Africa's rock art. Rockt Art Research 34(1), 2017, 9–24. Download
  • Hauck, Th., Rethemeyer, J., Rentzel, P., Schulte, P., Heinze, St., Ringer, A., Richter, J. Chu, W., Lehmkuhl, F. and Vogels, O. 2016: Neanderthals or Early Modern Humans? A revised 14C chronology and geoarchaeological study of the Szeletian sequence in Szeleta Cave (Kom. Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén) in Hungary. Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 46, 2016, 271–290. Download
  • Vogels, O. and Lenssen-Erz T. 2016: Musical bows in southern Arican rock art: music-archaeological and ethnohistorical observations. In: Gutierrez, M., Honoré, E. (eds.) L'art rupestre d'Afrique: Actes du congrès – Paris le 15-16-17 janvier 2014. Centre Panthéon & musée du quai Branly; Nanterre: 217–231.
  • Hauck, Th., Ruka, R., Gjipali, I., Richter, J. and Vogels, O. 2015: Recent discoveries of Aurignacian and Epigravettian sites in Albania. Journal of Field Archaeology 41(2): 148–161. DOI:10.1080/00934690.2016.1156463
  • Vogels, O. 2015: Musikbogenspieler in der prähistorischen Felskunst am Daureb/Brandberg in Namibia. Die Tonkunst 4/2015, 2015, 425–429.
  • Richter, J., Gjipali, I., Hauck, T., Ruka, R., Vogels, O. and Metalla, A. 2014: The Early Prehistory of Albania: First results of the ”German-Albanian Palaeolithic“ (GAP) programme. In: Përzhita, L., Gjipali, I., Hoxha, G. and Muka, B. (eds.) Proceedings of the International Congress of Albanian Archaeological Studies. Tiranë 2014, 65–82. Download
  • Alvermann, J. and Vogels, O. 2012: Das Römisch-Germanische Museum. Eine Grande Dame in neuem Glanz. Null22eins Kölner Kulturen Magazin 3, Frühling 2012, 40–42
  • Vogels, O. 2012: Rock Art as Musical Artefact: Prehistoric Representations of Musical Bows in Southern Africa. In: Ricardo Eichmann, Fang Jianjun and Lars-Christian Koch (eds.) Studien zur Musikarchäologie VIII. Rahden/Westf. 2012, 177–194. Download
  • Vogels, O. (accepted): Musikbogenspieler-Darstellungen in der Felskunst am Brandberg/Daureb – Über schriftlose Medien einer prähistorsichen Kultur in Namibia. In: Media: Material Conditions and Cultural Practice. Exzellenzcluster-Initiative der Universität zu Köln (accepted)
  • Vogels, O. 2009: Musikethnologische Untersuchungen urgeschichtlicher Musikbogenspieler-Darstellungen in der Felskunst am Brandberg/Daureb (Namibia) – Ein Beitrag zur südwestafrikansichen Musikgeschichtsschreibung. Unpubl. Magisterarbeit, Universität zu Köln 2009.
Conference Papers
Public presentations
  • Vogels, O. 2010: Aktuelle Forschungen (Frühjahr 2010) im Wadi Sura ("Cave of Beasts") und die Erkundung des Umfelds im Gilf Kebir, Ägypten. Paper presented at the Sahara Club Foundation Spring Meeting. Westhoven, Germany, 06/2010.
Editorial Work
  • Vogelsang, R. and Eichhorn, B. 2011: Under the Mopane Tree – Holocene Settlement in Northern Namibia. Africa Praehistorica 24, Köln 2011.
  • Meffert, J. 2009: Die paläovenetische Votivkeramik aus dem Reitia-Heiligtum von Este (Ausgrabungen 1880-1916 und 1987-1991). Santuario di Reitia a Este 4. Mainz 2009.
Scientific memberships