Introducing the project
Introducing the project

The MAEASaM project is working with national institutions and stakeholders in eight African countries to help protect archaeological heritage at risk.

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Where we are today
Where we are today

Archaeological and built heritage on the African continent is facing a range of existential threats, both human and natural.

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Confronting the challenges
Confronting the challenges

Mapping, documenting and sharing open access information can support heritage professionals in preventing loss and damage to irreplaceable legacy.

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Going digital
Going digital

The team is collaborating on the development of an Arches open access database designed to be a reliable source of information on many thousands of sites and monuments in danger.

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About

The MAEASaM project is working to identify and document endangered archaeological heritage sites across eight African countries, dated from the Palaeolithic/Early Stone Age to the 20th century, then share this information to help protect them....

African Heritage

Innovation and change occur best in already complex systems. Once memories, knowledge, skills, variety and intricacy disappear – once the old complexities are lost – they are hard to replicate or replace. What we want...

Team

Mapping Africa’s Endangered Archaeological Sites and Monuments is hosted by the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, which acts as the coordinating body and grant holder under the Principal Investigator, Professor Paul Lane....

Newsletter

The MAEASaM Newsletter is a biannual production featuring a range of topics on African heritage, archaeology, digitisation, spatial technologies, and database design. It is a platform to showcase up to date developments from the MAEASaM...

Home

Welcome to MAEASaM. Supported by Arcadia – a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin – the project aims to help document and protect archaeological sites and monuments in Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, in collaboration with government bodies and cultural institutions in these countries.  

Knowledge should belong to all, and today’s digital technology can help us all free it from the constraints of distance or cost. At the heart of MAEASaM is an open access Arches geospatial database, which is being developed with project partners and collaborators in Africa and beyond.

This shared repository will be designed as a sustainable tool to serve government bodies, cultural institutions and stakeholders in Africa with reliable, up-to-date information about sites and monuments: information that could prove critical in monitoring and protecting archaeological heritage over time.