Get off my land! Towards mutual understanding in archaeological field conflicts

Genuine community participation in research and conservation projects is crucial for sustainable protection, management and development of archaeological sites, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where the scientific value of such resources is less appreciated. Local people often become suspicious of and discontented with field researchers who do not inform them of what they are doing around their courtyard, just as they are displeased with government officials who impose conservation projects upon them. Their discontent often comes for good reasons: either the given research or project is not a priority to them or its objectives differ from theirs. As a result, a conflict of expectations emerges, often leading local communities into disliking the project and hence investing little or just superficial commitment to it. Such feelings may be expressed verbally in formal or informal gatherings or through indifference, resentment, or vandalism, all of which are detrimental to the proper management of the heritage resource in question. Using specific cases of researchers/administrators-villagers differences and conflicts of expectations experienced in various places in Tanzania, the paper discusses causes of such differences, critically examines the Community Participatory technique exposing its strengths and weaknesses, as well as suggests solutions and outlining potential benefits should villagers be genuinely incorporated in such undertakings

CHALLENGES FACING ACCESSIBLE TOURISM IN CULTURAL HERITAGE SITES: THE CASE OF VILLAGE MUSEUM IN TANZANIA

Serving people with disabilities is vital to fully attain equality and equity, which are pillars of sustainable tourism development. However, this is not a straightforward endeavour as sites are faced with challenges, including the dilemma of site modification versus preservation concerns of experts. By drawing largely on the Village Museum site in Tanzania, this study uses the barrier approach to examine the challenges faced by cultural tourism sites in their endeavour to cater for people with disabilities as visitors. By employing mainly a qualitative case study, the study found that, to a certain extent, the site caters for people with disabilities, although inadequate designated facilities are among the challenges that the site faces, as well as inadequate funds, and lack of personnel skilled in communicating with visitors with disabilities. The barrier approach revealed the presence of doubts about jeopardizing the heritage's authenticity when installing specially designed facilities. The paper recommends that the site and the cultural tourism sector at large takes appropriate measures to address the concerns and barriers that the disabled encounter when visiting the sites. It also provides recommendations for further research.</p

An archaeometallurgical investigation of iron smithing in Swahili contexts and its wider implications

This paper presents the most extensive archaeometallurgical study of iron-smithing debris excavated in East Africa. It presents an integrated methodology, including morphological, chemical, petrographic, and contextual analysis of iron slag excavated from secondary ironworking contexts. Iron slag from three Swahili sites was analysed—Unguja Ukuu located on the southwestern coast of Zanzibar, and Tumbe and Chwaka situated in the north-east of Pemba Island. The results suggest that Unguja Ukuu smithing is associated with oxidising hearth atmospheres and high amounts of CaO, while slag from Tumbe and Chwaka indicates reducing hearth atmospheres and high silica:alumina ratios, potentially pointing to the use of a flux. Distinct technical traditions can be seen at Unguja Ukuu when compared to Tumbe and Chwaka, suggesting a regional rather than chronological pattern. Temporal continuity is evident throughout the occupation of Unguja Ukuu and between sites of different periods in north-western Pemba. The spatial distribution of iron slag at these sites suggests that smithing was taking place across the extent of Unguja Ukuu, while slag scatters were more localised and disassociated from domestic contexts at Tumbe and Chwaka. The wealth of information on technological and organisational aspects of smithing obtained during this study indicates that an integrated methodology can yield valuable data for a variety of smithing sites, irrespective of excavation strategies

Humboldt Lab Tanzania

In den Depots des Ethnologischen Museums Berlin befinden sich bis heute zahlreiche Objekte, die von der deutschen Kolonialmacht zwischen 1885 und 1918 in Tansania erbeutet wurden. In dem Projekt „Humboldt Lab Tanzania“ setzten sich tansanische und deutsche Wissenschaftler_innen, Kurator_innen und Künstler_innen kritisch mit einer Auswahl von Objekten auseinander.Until today there are numerous objects in the storage of the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin which have been appropriated by the colonial power of former German East Africa between 1885 and 1918. The project “Humboldt Lab Tanzania” joins Tanzanian and German researchers, curators, and artists who critically discuss chosen artefacts

Get off my land! Towards mutual understanding in archaeological field conflicts

Genuine community participation in research and conservation projects is crucial for sustainable protection, management and development of archaeological sites, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where the scientific value of such resources is less appreciated. Local people often become suspicious of and discontented with field researchers who do not inform them of what they are doing around their courtyard, just as they are displeased with government officials who impose conservation projects upon them. Their discontent often comes for good reasons: either the given research or project is not a priority to them or its objectives differ from theirs. As a result, a conflict of expectations emerges, often leading local communities into disliking the project and hence investing little or just superficial commitment to it. Such feelings may be expressed verbally in formal or informal gatherings or through indifference, resentment, or vandalism, all of which are detrimental to the proper management of the heritage resource in question. Using specific cases of researchers/administrators-villagers differences and conflicts of expectations experienced in various places in Tanzania, the paper discusses causes of such differences, critically examines the Community Participatory technique exposing its strengths and weaknesses, as well as suggests solutions and outlining potential benefits should villagers be genuinely incorporated in such undertakings

An archaeometallurgical investigation of iron smithing in Swahili contexts and its wider implications

Acknowledgements: Archaeometallurgical work presented in this paper was conducted as part of the first author’s PhD and funded by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF119) as part of the Urbnet Centre of Excellence, Aarhus University. We thank Søren Sindbæk for his support and insightful comments that helped shape this research. We would also like to sincerely thank the Zanzibar Antiquities staff in Stone Town and Chake Chake, particularly Abdallah Khamis Ali, Head of Antiquities, for his support in all of the projects contributing to this study, and particularly for assistance in navigating the curated collections. Abdurrahman Juma’s excavations at Unguja Ukuu were supported by the Zanzibar Department of Antiquities and funded by the SIDA ‘Urban Origins in East Africa’ project based at Uppsala University, Sweden. Excavations at Tumbe and Chwaka were carried out as part of the Pemba Archaeological Project, co-directed by Adria LaViolette, Jeffrey Fleisher, and Bertram Mapunda and funded by the US National Science Foundation (BCS0138319) with additional support from the Universities of Virginia and Dar es Salaam. Stephanie Wynne-Jones' excavations at Unguja Ukuu were funded through grants from the Center for Urban Network Evolutions, Aarhus (DNRF119; 2017) and the Leverhulme Trust (RPG2018-414; 2019).Funder: SIDA ‘Urban Origins in East Africa’This paper presents the most extensive archaeometallurgical study of iron-smithing debris excavated in East Africa. It presents an integrated methodology, including morphological, chemical, petrographic, and contextual analysis of iron slag excavated from secondary ironworking contexts. Iron slag from three Swahili sites was analysed—Unguja Ukuu located on the southwestern coast of Zanzibar, and Tumbe and Chwaka situated in the north-east of Pemba Island. The results suggest that Unguja Ukuu smithing is associated with oxidising hearth atmospheres and high amounts of CaO, while slag from Tumbe and Chwaka indicates reducing hearth atmospheres and high silica:alumina ratios, potentially pointing to the use of a flux. Distinct technical traditions can be seen at Unguja Ukuu when compared to Tumbe and Chwaka, suggesting a regional rather than chronological pattern. Temporal continuity is evident throughout the occupation of Unguja Ukuu and between sites of different periods in north-western Pemba. The spatial distribution of iron slag at these sites suggests that smithing was taking place across the extent of Unguja Ukuu, while slag scatters were more localised and disassociated from domestic contexts at Tumbe and Chwaka. The wealth of information on technological and organisational aspects of smithing obtained during this study indicates that an integrated methodology can yield valuable data for a variety of smithing sites, irrespective of excavation strategies

An archaeometallurgical investigation of iron smithing in Swahili contexts and its wider implications

Acknowledgements: Archaeometallurgical work presented in this paper was conducted as part of the first author’s PhD and funded by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF119) as part of the Urbnet Centre of Excellence, Aarhus University. We thank Søren Sindbæk for his support and insightful comments that helped shape this research. We would also like to sincerely thank the Zanzibar Antiquities staff in Stone Town and Chake Chake, particularly Abdallah Khamis Ali, Head of Antiquities, for his support in all of the projects contributing to this study, and particularly for assistance in navigating the curated collections. Abdurrahman Juma’s excavations at Unguja Ukuu were supported by the Zanzibar Department of Antiquities and funded by the SIDA ‘Urban Origins in East Africa’ project based at Uppsala University, Sweden. Excavations at Tumbe and Chwaka were carried out as part of the Pemba Archaeological Project, co-directed by Adria LaViolette, Jeffrey Fleisher, and Bertram Mapunda and funded by the US National Science Foundation (BCS0138319) with additional support from the Universities of Virginia and Dar es Salaam. Stephanie Wynne-Jones' excavations at Unguja Ukuu were funded through grants from the Center for Urban Network Evolutions, Aarhus (DNRF119; 2017) and the Leverhulme Trust (RPG2018-414; 2019).Funder: SIDA ‘Urban Origins in East Africa’AbstractThis paper presents the most extensive archaeometallurgical study of iron-smithing debris excavated in East Africa. It presents an integrated methodology, including morphological, chemical, petrographic, and contextual analysis of iron slag excavated from secondary ironworking contexts. Iron slag from three Swahili sites was analysed—Unguja Ukuu located on the southwestern coast of Zanzibar, and Tumbe and Chwaka situated in the north-east of Pemba Island. The results suggest that Unguja Ukuu smithing is associated with oxidising hearth atmospheres and high amounts of CaO, while slag from Tumbe and Chwaka indicates reducing hearth atmospheres and high silica:alumina ratios, potentially pointing to the use of a flux. Distinct technical traditions can be seen at Unguja Ukuu when compared to Tumbe and Chwaka, suggesting a regional rather than chronological pattern. Temporal continuity is evident throughout the occupation of Unguja Ukuu and between sites of different periods in north-western Pemba. The spatial distribution of iron slag at these sites suggests that smithing was taking place across the extent of Unguja Ukuu, while slag scatters were more localised and disassociated from domestic contexts at Tumbe and Chwaka. The wealth of information on technological and organisational aspects of smithing obtained during this study indicates that an integrated methodology can yield valuable data for a variety of smithing sites, irrespective of excavation strategies.</jats:p