CULTURAL HERITAGE INTANZANIA

By Chediel Simon Msuya

Division of Antiquities, Tanzania.

Introduction

• Tanzania is the largest country of the threeEast African Countries of Kenya & Ugandawith Square Kilometres of 942,832. It liesjust south of the equator, betweenlongitude 2921' E and 4025' E andlatitude 1 S and 1145' S.

Introduction…..

• Besides, the richness it has on natural resourcese.g. Wildlife, water bodies like Ocean, Lakes &Rivers, Minerals etc. it has a lot on cultural andnatural heritages which goes back as far asperiod of Dinosaur to very recently of our time,homo sapiens sapiens. Mabulla (1996:198) saythat Tanzania is one of the few countries in theworld that is well endowed in archaeological,palaeontogical and historical resources.

Introduction…Map of Tanzania

THE ROLE OF DEPARTMENT OFANTIQUITIES IN MANGEMENT

OF CULTURAL HERITAGE.

• The Antiquities Department is agovernment body responsible for thereinforcement of Cultural HeritageLegislation in the Tanzania mainland. Thecountry has varied and interesting cultureheritages that are found in different partsof the country spanning the period from3.5 million years ago to the present era.

THE ROLE OF DEPARTMENT OFANTIQUITIES…..

• They fall under different categories, whichinclude palaeontological/archaeological,historical and natural features. A goodthing about these sites is that they are notonly meant for research and othereducational opportunities but also offerbeautiful environmental scenery.

CULTURAL HERITAGELEGISLATION IN TANZAINIA

• Tanzania as other countries in the world islegally protecting cultural heritage. Thelegal protection of the country’s tangiblecultural heritage is affected through theAntiquities Act of 1964 (Act No. 10 of 1964Ca.550) that is principal legislation and theAntiquities (Amendment) Act, 1979 (ActNo. 22 of 1979).

CULTURAL HERITAGELEGISLATION…

• The 1964 Act repealed the MonumentsPreservation Ordinance of 1937 and 1949and enlarged the scope of the heritage,which needed to be conserved. Thelegislation offers general protection toobjects or structures, which are ofarchaeological, palaeontological, historic,architectural, artistic, ethnological orscientific interest. Legislation classified thecultural heritages as follows: -

First classification is: -“Monument”

• means and includes:- any building,fortification, interment, midden, dam, anyrock painting or immovable objectpainted, sculptured, carved, incised ormodified and any earthwork, trench, adit,well, tunnel or other modification of soilor rock dug or made by human agency inTanganyika before the year 1863. Suchobjects and structures are automaticallyprotected under the Law.

First classification is: -“Monument”….

• The protection of objects and structures ofa particular type made by human in thecountry by declaration order of the Ministerresponsible for Antiquities.

Second classification is: -“Protected objects”

• Means any ethnographical object or anywooden door or door frame carved inTanganyika in any African or orientalstyle before the year 1940 and includesany object declared to be a protectedobject by the minister responsible withthe Antiquities Department.

Third classification is:- “Relics”

• Means any movable object madeshaped, painted, inscribed or otherwiseproduced or modified by human agencyin Tanganyika before the year 1863

CULTURAL HERITAGE TYPES

• The above classification can becategorised in different grouping typessuch as Tangible and Intangible, Historicand Prehistoric cultural heritages. In thispaper the cultural heritages of Tanzaniacan broadly be divided into:-

A. Immovable cultural Heritage,which includes

• Archaeological andPalaeoanthropological sites where thereare evidences of evolution ofhumankind, physically and culturallydating about 2 to 4 million years agoand later sites such as the Ismila MiddleStone in Iringa.

Archaeological andPalaeoanthropological sites ..

Figure Olduvai GorgeHuman Origins and Evolution at

Olduvai Gorge

VEK site area in the OlduvaiGorge showing fossils of bones

Archaeological andPalaeoanthropological sites …

Laetoli site showing Footprints

Burial sites evidencing burialactivities of prehistoric people.

• Ngorongoro burial mound at Creatorassociated with stone bowl culture datedmore than 6000 years ago.

Ruins of building and tombs eithersingle or in groups manifesting thegrowth and development of early

villages and urban settlement.

• These include the Swahili earlysettlements along the coast, whichsome of them are in ruinous state.

Ruins of building… the SmallDomed Mosque at Kilwa Kisiwani

site

Rock shelters containing paintings.Figure Kiara site at Katoma,

Bukoba

Ethnological structures

• Those which are still intact such asvarious defensive Boma, fortifications,ritual and worshiping sites.

Kwihara Tembe, Dr.Livingstone’s anti Slave

Museum.

Historical buildings and urbanhistoric quarters,

• Those which are of architecturalimportance (starting from Germansbuildings to those of 1960s and otherswhich due to their outstanding valueshave been declared as historicalmonuments).

The German Building at Kasuludistrict in Kigoma. (Currently is

residence of DC)

The ruins of German Boma atUjiji in in Kigoma.

A picture showing originaldesign of the German Boma at

Ujiji in Kigoma.

Natural sites protected by theAntiquities Act.

• Consists of Mbozi Meteorite and caveswhich have been involved with ritualsand dwellings such as Amboni,Kipatimu etc.

B. Movable heritage.

• Most of them are found in the immovableheritages and are recovered from themand stored/ kept and curetted mostly inmuseums for the purpose of studying,recording, conserving, displaying andresearching on them.

B. Movable heritage…

• These include artefacts, ecofacts, fossilsand ethnographic objects such asBagamoyo Carved doors. In Tanzania, theNational Museum of Tanzania is a bodycorporate established by the act ofParliament.

Carved door at Bagamoyo town

Recording and documentation ofcultural heritage in Tanzania.

• In spite of many cultural heritage sites inTanzania, very few are known, recordedand documented by the Department ofAntiquities. The recording anddocumentation have been done bydifferent researchers using differentmethodologies to address their researchproblems.

Recording and documentation …

• The Antiquities division has beenundertaking recording and documentationusing varied methodologies on some ofcultural heritage sites such as KilwaKisiwani and Songo Mnara, OlduvaiGorge, Kondoa Rock art, BagamoyoHistoric town and Dar es Salaam historictown because either for preparations ofnomination file or the project purposes.

Some of the challenges theAntiquities Division is facing in

conservation of Cultural heritagein Tanzania

• The main objective of the Division is toensure sustainable conservation of culturalheritages in the country. These goes handin hand with good management plans toeach site known in the country.

Some of the challenges theAntiquities…

• Preparation of management plans requiresa lot of money which has been a bigproblem for the Division. The moneyallocated for the division from thegovernment budget is enough only for veryminor duties concerning conservation. Theshortage of equipments, competent staffand poor infrastructure are also hinderedefforts to conserve properly the culturalheritages in the country.

Some of the challenges theAntiquities…..

• But also, the conservation works oncultural heritages depends very much inrecording and documentation. Therevarious techniques and methodologies forthe recording and documentationpurposes which allow then properundertaking of rehabilitation, restorationand conservation measures to culturalheritages.

Some of the challenges theAntiquities….

• The techniques include GIS, photography;digital, laser or films etc. Currently, theDivision has been developing systems andmethods for recording and documentationof historic areas, buildings and sites for itsown use and stakeholders. The methodsand system will facilitate proper inventoryof cultural heritage sites in the country.

Some of the challenges theAntiquities….

• But, the ever changing technology in the field ofrecording and documentation is a big challengeto the Division. I may say the division shouldaccept and embrace technological advancementand changes for proper conservation of culturalheritage. The management of various culturalheritage in the country depends also very muchon recording and documentation systemdesigned either for coordinating variousresearches, researchers or setting up differentfunctions in a particular cultural site.

An Example of Engaruka site

• This is an early irrigation scheme sitewhich dates almost 15 Century AD, itcould benefit from recording anddocumentation techniques that allowrestoration of its features and structuresbuilt from dry stone technologies when aresubjected in any kind of destruction. Thesite is covering the area estimated to 10square miles.

An Example of Engaruka site

• The site has got evidences for ancientfields, which manifests a complexity ofkeen engineered irrigation schemes. Theevidence for this work includes ancientcanals; stone lines furrows and stone fielddivisions. The site consists of stonefeatures that are mainly in two groups, thatis angular Cairns and circular enclosures,

Conclusion

• The cultural heritages in Tanzania requiresmore input especially in recording anddocumentation for sustainableconservation. It is my expectation theworkshop will highlight the significant ofdeveloping the system of recording anddocumentation that is suitable for Africanenvironment and complexity of its culturalheritages