The MAEASaM project is delighted to have been awarded a grant by its funders Arcadia for a further five years from 30 June 2024, enabling us to build on all the work completed during Phase 1.
Before we review Phase 1 and look ahead to Phase 2, a reminder of the project’s purpose.
Our purpose
Create a digital database of archaeological sites and monuments to enhance opportunities and abilities to map, manage and monitor the continent’s exceptionally diverse archaeological resources.
Why it matters
Archaeological sites and monuments across the African continent and around the world are increasingly threatened by human activities and the impacts of climate change. Digital information enhances the ability to document, monitor and manage endangered heritage.
What we do
Working with the project’s Co-Investigators, researchers and collaborating institutions, we are documenting and digitising paper records of previously reported sites and monuments, as well as locating additional sites (many of them hitherto unknown) through the use of remote sensing and fieldwork.
Some of the sites we are working to document.
Aerial view of cairns near Rage Primary School in Kalacha, Chalbi Desert (Kenya). Photograph: John Kanyingi
View from a central cattle pattern settlement site identified via remote sensing in the Central District (Botswana). Photograph: Thabo Kgosietsile
A distant view of a shellfish heap near the village of Sokouta (Senegal). Photograph: URICA/IFAN
The Apedemak Temple at the Royal City of Meroe (Sudan). Extensive cultivation on the banks of the Nile is visible. Photograph: Frank Stremke
Matendera dry-stone walled palace (Zimbabwe). Photograph: Russell Kapumha
Enguruka stone enclosure identified via remote sensing (United Republic of Tanzania) Photograph: UDSM
Bandiagara (Mali) Photograph: United Nations (CC-by-NC-ND 2.0)
How it all began: the early days
With the COVID-19 pandemic taking hold as MAEASaM kicked off in late 2020, much ‘normal business’ was suspended across the globe. Health and wellbeing was of course our foremost concern. Digital technology – already at the heart of the MAEASaM project – reminded us of its value in a different way as our team of Co-Investigators and researchers and collaborating institutions across eight African countries in Phase 1 Zoomed and Teamed to stay connected.
The pandemic caused far-reaching delays that the project has only recently managed to recoup, but not entirely even now. Conflicts and geopolitical events also had significant impacts early on and were, and are, clearly most deeply felt by people in the countries concerned. In terms of the project, they interrupted or curtailed the full programme of fieldwork that had been planned for Phase 1.
Where we are now
Despite the challenges, we can celebrate what our partners and project team have achieved over the last three-and-a-half years:
Well over one million square kilometres (1,024,656 km2) assessed for archaeological sites and monuments across eight African nation-states, using a combination of historical maps, Google Earth and medium-resolution satellite imagery… resulting in digital documentation of some 67,748 sites and monuments.
Concurrent with this work, and in collaboration with national partners, the project team has digitised 31,461 sites identified from paper-based ‘legacy’ records, helping create security copies of these unique information sets spanning almost a century of archaeological fieldwork on the continent.
The accuracy of a sample of these records has been assessed via 11 field verification campaigns, helping establish the current status of these sites and levels of endangerment from anthropogenic and natural processes, while also locating many previously undocumented sites. Read more about footsteps in the field.
Training, skills enhancement and knowledge transfer activities have been delivered via both in-person and online events, especially aimed at benefiting Africa-based archaeologists, students and heritage professionals. These activities have also served as important steps toward ensuring the long-term sustainability of the database and its integration into heritage management and research activities at transnational, national and regional levels.
Additionally, the work of the project and some of its initial results have been routinely communicated through the project’s newsletter, website and social media accounts, as well as at public talks, seminars, workshops and international conferences, generating widespread interest in the project across the African continent and beyond. Follow @maeasamproject.
This has been a huge effort on the part of all involved, and has not been without its challenges. One critical impact of these has been a delay to making the database live. This is a key priority for the first two months of Phase 2.
The project has achieved a great deal, but there is more work to be done, not least to make our instance of the Arches database live as we work with national authorities on how to best make it accessible to various stakeholders, including the general public. I am delighted to report that Arcadia recently confirmed their willingness to support the project for another five years, allowing us to expand its reach to include other African countries. I’d like to acknowledge here the generous support provided by Arcadia and the faith Arcadia’s Board have put in the project. At the same time, our funding success is also due to the hard work and dedication of all the MAEASaM project team members, partners and collaborators – all of whom I’d like to thank.
Professor Paul Lane, MAEASaM Principal Investigator
A peek at some of our activities.
Systematic transect fieldwalking at the site of Sibale, Kenya. Photograph: Angela Kabiru (BIEA)
Dr Adama Athie prospecting a megalithic site in Senegal. Photograph: URICA/IFAN
The University of Dar es Salaam team inspecting and documenting a possible cairn, Tanzania. Photograph: UDSM
Documenting the Late Stone Age site of Ruchera Cave, Mutoko Region, Zimbabwe. Photograph: NMMZ
Team from the DBNMM conducting ground verification of a central cattle pattern site, Botswana. Photograph: Thabo Kgosietsile
The DoMA team with Dr Akinbowale Akintayo (UoY) taking GPS readings of the Great Mosque in Tumbatu Island, Zanzibar. Photograph: Mohamed Mbaraka
Looking forward to the next five years
The continuation of support from Arcadia will enable the project to:
Continue and complete documentation (legacy and remote sensing) and targeted ground verification work in all eight countries of project Phase 1 (Mali, Senegal, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Botswana) via open-source transferrable workflows.
Extend the project geographically to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia and Mozambique.
Develop open-source monitoring protocols and tools based on the integration of remote sensing, spatial analysis and rapid field-based assessment useable by heritage practitioners with no specialist background in GIS or remote sensing, accompanied by the development of relevant documentation and user guides.
Create a model for sustainable deployment of digital management of archaeological sites and monuments, linking this with enhanced provision of technical training for the project’s African partners.
Foster a culture of open sharing of archaeological data and the creation of interoperable and re-usable archives through the creation of a network of practitioners and digital data champions on the African continent, accompanied by the creation of guides to best practice.
Consolidate links with all Arcadia funded heritage projects to facilitate streamlining and sharing of ideas, experiences and resources for software development and cross-collaboration with geographically contiguous and/or overlapping projects including in database development.
Arcadia is a charitable foundation that works to protect nature, preserve cultural heritage and promote open access to knowledge. Since 2002 Arcadia has awarded more than $1.2 billion to organisations around the world.
