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Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Initiatives in Tanzania and Mozambique

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is provide an overview of the capacity building programmes in maritime and underwater cultural heritage (MUCH) conducted by the authors in Tanzania and Mozambique. Tanzania and Mozambique have long histories of indigenous cultures, foreign contacts and influences and African adaptations beginning in the late Greco-Roman period, when the coastal populations exploited the peoples and riches of the interior. Today the coastline contains numerous examples of indigenous tangible and intangible heritage and many sites and histories related to the Swahili culture. Some exploratory research and training has been conducted in Tanzania and Mozambique, but the implementation by local residents of their own MUCH programme is still at an early stage. Under a UNESCO agreement framework, Tanzania in particular has started to develop a MUCH programme, which can assist in highlighting their extensive histories, cultural landscapes and cultural identity.

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Notes

  1. In the first decade of this century these included the Coastal Management Research Centre (COMREC, Stockholm) and British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA, Nairobi) Mombasa 2001 workshop ‘Maritime Heritage and Coastal Management in the Western Indian Ocean’; the UNESCO 2003 Maputo International Conference on Underwater Heritage, and the British Museum-BIEA-WIOMSA (Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association) 2006 Zanzibar training workshop and conference on the maritime heritage of the Western Indian Ocean.

  2. Funding for the preliminary project was made available by UNESCO Dar es Salaam in association with the Department of Antiquities from the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

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Acknowledgments

A number of people and organisations need to be acknowledged and thanked for their assistance in this work. In Tanzania, the people of Kilwa Kisiwani, Kilwa Masoko, Songo Mnara; the people of the islands of Chole and Juani, and the Mlongo villagers in Mafia; the staff of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Department of Antiquities in Dar es Salaam and Kilwa Kisiwani; the staff of the Mafia Island Marine Park, and the Kilwa Kisiwani and Mafia Island District Administrators. Monique Korzelius from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dar es Salaam, and Adele Nibona, Vibeke Jensen and Nicole Bolomey from the UNESCO Dar es Salaam office need to be especially acknowledged for their support and funding of the Kilwa Kisiwani project and the initial training in Tanzania, and Jesper Buursink (CIE) was a also great help in those initial days. The government agencies on Zanzibar and on the mainland have supported their staff in forming the MUCH team and they financially supported their staff to join the Kilwa Kisiwani and Mafia projects. We would also like to thank the South African Heritage Resources Agency and the Namibian National Museum for supporting their staff to join the Kilwa project. Thanks also to Jon Sharman, Emma Imalwa and Sophie Winton for their help during the Kilwa project. In Mozambique, Hafiz Juma has been a consistent strength in the Ilha de Moçambique community and he initiated the need for the seminar on Ilha de Moçambique, in addition to years of lobbying the government authorities about the need for better management of the island’s heritage. We would also like to thank the staff of UNESCO in Maputo (particularly Mieke Oldenburg) and on Ilha de Moçambique for their support in the project (in addition to the work leading up to the project), and the people of Ilha de Moçambique who attended the seminar and have continued to voice their concerns, as well as support the community work that was initiated. We would also like to acknowledge the support of the CIE Leiden staff (particularly Anouk Fieneig and Arnout van Rhijin), who supported this work through many days of effective and efficient administration and literature research. Finally, we would like to thank Graeme Henderson and Stuart Heaver for reading and commenting on this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Programme, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Bill Jeffery

  2. University of Guam, UoG Station, Mangilao, GU, 96923, USA

    Bill Jeffery

  3. Hong Kong Maritime Museum, Central, Hong Kong

    Bill Jeffery

  4. CIE-Centre for International Heritage Activities, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Robert Parthesius

  5. Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Robert Parthesius

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  1. Bill Jeffery
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Correspondence to Bill Jeffery.

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Contributions to this article were made by the Tanzanian Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage team: Chris Ngivingivi, Humphrey Mahudi, Jumane Maburi, Ame Mshenga, Shamoun Ali, Margreth Mchome, Elinaza Mjema, Omary Kasu, Mussa Ally, Agnes Robert, Stephen Mndowla, Elgidius Ichumbaki, Wilbard Lema, Baraka Kuguru, Fihri Selemani and Munezero Kanyangemu.

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Jeffery, B., Parthesius, R. Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Initiatives in Tanzania and Mozambique. J Mari Arch 8, 153–178 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-013-9112-6

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