HOW I GOT HERE

National Geographic explorer Ella Al-shamahi charts her unique career journey as a palaeoanthropologist

Explorer Ella Al-shamahi, the real-life Lara Croft

‘MY AIM WAS TO DESTROY DARWIN’S THEORY’

Ella Al-shamahi has been called the British Lara Croft as she often works in unstable or disputed territories such as Yemen and Iraq. Specialising in the study of Neanderthals, she has her own TV shows, including BBC2’S Neanderthals: Meet Your Ancestors. ‘I didn’t even know exploring was a job,’ she says. ‘When you think “explorer”, you think of a man from the 18th century or Indiana Jones. You don’t think of a girl who grew up in Birmingham.’

I WAS ALWAYS FASCINATED TO KNOW WHERE WE CAME FROM,

SO I STUDIED GENETICS AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON. Some Muslims don’t believe in evolution, so my aim was to destroy Darwin’s theory, but I realised his findings were solid. Inspired, I did a masters in taxonomy and biodiversity, before starting a PHD in palaeoanthropology – studying human fossils.

WHILE DOING MY PHD, I RECEIVED A LIFE-CHANGING EMAIL FROM NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ASKING ME TO BE ONE OF ITS EXPLORERS. A TV producer who’d heard of me put my name forward. It meant they’d fund a few of my future expeditions.

MY FIRST ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG WAS SO DIFFERENT TO WHAT I DO NOW.

As fresh-faced uni students, we were excavating a cave in Spain and found some Neanderthal cooking tools. I got the bug and couldn’t wait to do more.

WORKING IN DANGEROUS REGIONS IS IMPORTANT FOR SCIENCE.

Amazing discoveries are still being made in Britain, so imagine what could be found in places that few have excavated before? I do worry about terrorist groups, but knowing there’s a potentially important discovery excites me and makes the danger worthwhile.

I’M FAMILIAR WITH HOSTILE TERRITORIES BECAUSE MY FAMILY ARE FROM YEMEN.

We’d go there for holidays and you’d regularly see guns or hear news of kidnappings, so I’m quite used to it.

EXPEDITIONS ARE NOT GLAMOROUS.

I took a cargo ship to the Yemeni island Socotra. It was covered in cockroaches; the floor was a carpet of black. I had to talk myself into going.

MY MOST EXCITING DISCOVERY WAS WHILE FILMING VIKING WARRIOR

QUEENS. I was looking at a skull in a museum and noticed a scar on its forehead that nobody had spotted before. I’m not sure why it hadn’t been noticed, but it was possibly the first example of a battle injury on a female Viking warrior. It was a complete fluke and ended up making global news.

BEING A STAND-UP COMEDIAN HELPS ME SWITCH OFF.

My job can get very dark and I’ve seen some terrible things, so it’s important to find something to help me to relax and laugh. Seeing a therapist has also helped, as does immersing myself in nature and being around friends and family.

I’D REALLY LIKE TO GO BACK TO AFRICA.

I was due to look for fossils in Somaliland in March last year, but it was called off due to the pandemic. Instead, I wrote a book about the history of the handshake. I was sick of hearing everyone say we’d never shake hands again, which I don’t believe.

THERE ARE MANY FEMALE EXPLORERS OUT THERE,

but not enough on TV. Doing stand-up has helped me get TV work and I’m so grateful. But we need more women in the spotlight.

RESEARCH IS SO IMPORTANT.

You can’t expect to find things in an area you know nothing about. You have to do a lot of research first, not just into history and science, but also into the culture of the country you’re planning a dig in.

I HAVE BEFRIENDED A LOT OF SHEPHERDS!

They keep sheep in caves where Neanderthal remains are found, so their knowledge can be more useful than books when it comes to finding caves.

The Handshake: A Gripping History by Ella Al-shamahi (Profile Books, £9.99) is out 25th March