Here at MAEASaM we are using many different avenues together to document archaeological heritage in Africa. For instance, these stone structures in Darfur, Sudan, have been prospected by Ed Burnett using a combination of the historical record and ground survey-based work of Dr Ibrahim Musa Mohammed, historical maps covering …
Tree growing inside a building at the Gede ruins on the coast of Kenya. The ancient stone towns of the Swahili coast, that have been preserved for several hundred years, are in danger of being destroyed by human-induced factors and rising sea levels. As COP26 continues, the importance of preserving …
Last Friday, MAEASaM’s Dr Akinbowale Akintayo presented to the University of York Archaeology department’s Research Forum on our project and the work he has recently been doing within it, creating probability maps of likely site locations in Mbeya, Tanzania – well done to him for a great presentation!
Next to the town of Lobaste in Botswana, lies the ancient Tswana city of Seoke, which was inhabited by approximately 10,000 people in the late 1700s. Google Earth survey and ground verification conducted by a team led by our MAEASaM project manager, Stefania Merlo, in the past 10 years have …
Great Zimbabwe is a renowned UNESCO listed World Heritage Site. This 12th to 16th century capital was one of the most important political and religious centres in Sub-Saharan Africa. Great Zimbabwe is a true mark of what an urban environment means in an ever changing landscape, with its networks reaching …
Cenchrus ciliaris or more commonly known as mosekwangwetsi (Kalanga) or buffalo grass (en.), is a type of perennial, tufted grass that grows in the more arid areas of Southern Africa. In Botswana, the detection of this type of grass can be used to uncover ancient sites such as cattle enclosures …
At the beginning of the MAEASaM project, the first sites we mapped were the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and Tentative World Heritage sites of our partner countries. Here are some images of the World Heritage site of Tiya, which our team in Exeter were lucky enough to visit in 2018. …
Yesterday, MAEASaM and MAHSA ran an online #workshop on #historicalmaps, attended by 135 participants from 24 countries around the globe. Thank you to everyone who attended! MAEASaM’s Ed Burnett and Renier van der Merwe presented on their experience using historical maps in Africa, including the difficulties inherent in often inaccurate …
A beautiful settlement in Zimbabwe that forms part of the Nyanga Complex. An enclosure can clearly be seen in the centre of the settlement with possible middens in the upper right corner. Une belle habitation au Zimbabwe qui fait partie du complexe de Nyanga. On distingue nettement un enclos au …
At MAEASaM we are using historical maps to document archaeological sites, such as in this excerpt from the 1:250,000 series based on early 20th century surveys of Sudan. The map sheet was published in 1944 and can be accessed through https://www.loc.gov/item/87692353/. Sites can then possibly be verified with Google Earth, …