Zamani Project - The African Cultural Heritage

Cultural heritage

Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...

 Sites and Landscapes Database

Zamani, a research group at the University of Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

, acquires, models, presents and manages spatial and other data of cultural heritage sites. The present focus of the Zamani project is Africa with the principal objective of developing “The African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes Database”. Zamani is the Swahili word for ‘the past’.

History

The Zamani initiative was conceptualised in the Geomatics Division of the University of Cape Town by Professor Heinz Rüther in 2001 in collaboration with ITHAKA and Aluka [now an initiative of JSTOR] as the “African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes Database” in 2004 with a number of sequential grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The project developed out of a long history of heritage documentation in the Geomatics division reaching from conventional mapping of archaeological site

Archaeological site

An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...

s in the early stages of the project to advanced digital modeling of complex sites in its present phase.

Motivation

The documentation project aims to capture spatial information to create a permanent record of important heritage sites for restoration and conservation purposes and as a record for future generations. The project seeks to provide material for education, research and site management and increase international awareness of African heritage on a not-for-profit

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 basis.

Data

Spatial data of architectural structures and historical landscapes are acquired by means of laser scanning

Laser scanning

In modern engineering, the term `laser scanning' is used to described two related, but separate meanings. The first, more general, meaning is the controlled deflection of laser beams, visible or invisible...

, conventional surveys, GPS surveys and photogrammetric imaging with calibrated cameras. Satellite images

Satellite imagery

Satellite imagery consists of photographs of Earth or other planets made by means of artificial satellites.- History :The first images from space were taken on sub-orbital flights. The U.S-launched V-2 flight on October 24, 1946 took one image every 1.5 seconds...

, aerial photography

Aerial photography

Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...

 and full-dome

Fulldome

Fulldome refers to immersive dome-based video projection environments. The dome, horizontal or tilted, is filled with real-time or pre-rendered computer animations, live capture images, or composited environments....

 panorama photography are also employed as are contextual photography and videos. The data are captured by the project team during field campaigns. The acquired data are processed to produce Geographic Information System

Geographic Information System

A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...

s (GIS), 3D computer models

Computer simulation

A computer simulation, a computer model, or a computational model is a computer program, or network of computers, that attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system...

, maps, architectural sections and building plans and interactive panorama tours of the heritage sites. Sites are seen in the context of their physical environment and therefore landscapes surrounding sites are modelled in 3D using satellite and aerial imagery wherever possible.

Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

 

6. Lamu

Lamu

-Threats to Lamu:In a 2010 report titled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, Global Heritage Fund identified Lamu as one of 12 worldwide sites most "On the Verge" of irreparable loss and damage, citing insufficient management and development pressure as primary causes.- See also :* Juma and the Magic...

: Fortress, Swahili Building and historical street scene

7. Shela: Mosque

8. Gede: Palace, Mosque and buildings

Ruins of Gedi

The Ruins of Gedi are the remains of a Swahili town located in Gedi, a village near the coastal town of Malindi in Kenya.From the 13th or 14th to 17th centuries, Gedi was a thriving community along the jungle coast of East Africa...

9. Namoratung'a

Namoratunga

Namoratunga represent an archaeoastronomical site at the west side of Lake Turkana in Kenya, believed to have been founded around 300 BC. Namoratunga II contains 19 basalt pillars, aligned with 7 star systems Triangulum, Pleiades, Bellatrix, Aldebaran, Central Orion, Saiph, and Sirius. Namoratunga...

: Stelae field

10. Turkana Village: village huts

11. Tot Village: village huts

South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 

15. Mapungubwe

Mapungubwe

After Mapungubwe's fall, it was forgotten until 1932. On New Year's Eve 1932, E. S. J. van Graan, a local farmer and prospector, and his son, a former student of the University of Pretoria, discovered the wealth of artifacts on top of the hill. They reported the find to Professor Leo...

: Iron age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 site of Mapungubwe Hill, plus rock art site

16. Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

: Union Buildings

Union Buildings

The Union Buildings form the official seat of the South African government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa. The imposing buildings are located in Pretoria, atop Meintjieskop at the Northern end of Arcadia, close to historic Church Square and the Voortrekker Monument...

17. Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

: Good Hope Castle

Castle of Good Hope

The Castle of Good Hope is a star fort which was built on the original coastline of Table Bay and now, because of land reclamation, lies nearer to the Cape Town city centre in South Africa.-History:...

18. Wonderwerk Cave

Wonderwerk Cave

Wonderwerk Cave is an archaeological site, formed originally as an ancient solution cavity in Dolomite rocks of the Kuruman Hills, situated between Danielskuil and Kuruman in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is a National Heritage Site within a servitude ceded to and managed as a...

: cave with early human occupation

19. Cederberg

Cederberg

The Cederberg mountains and nature reserve are located near Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, South Africa at about . The mountain range is named after the endangered Clanwilliam Cedar , which is a tree endemic to the area. The mountains are noted for dramatic rock...

: 6 rock art

Rock art

Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...

 sites

20. Saldhana: Stone age site

21. Langebaan

Langebaan

Langebaan is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa on the eastern shore of Langebaan Lagoon.Langebaan is situated 120 km north of Cape Town, just off the R27, about 28km from Vredenburg and 20km from Saldanha Bay...

: Paleontological site

22. Drakensberg

Drakensberg

The Drakensberg is the highest mountain range in Southern Africa, rising to in height. In Zulu, it is referred to as uKhahlamba , and in Sesotho as Maluti...

: 2 rock art sites

Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

 

23. Musawwarat es-Sufra: Great Enclosure temple complex and Temple of Apedemak

Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

 

24. Kilwa Kisiwani

Kilwa Kisiwani

Kilwa Kisiwani is a community on an island off the coast of East Africa, in present day Tanzania.- History :A document written around AD 1200 called al-Maqama al Kilwiyya discovered in Oman, gives details of a mission to reconvert Kilwa to Ibadism, as it had recently been effected by the Ghurabiyya...

: Fortress, Mosque, Palace

25. Songo Mnara: Palace, Mosque, Buildings, Graveyard

26. Engaruka

Engaruka

Engaruka is an abandoned system of ruins in the Great Rift Valley of northern Tanzania , famed for its irrigation and cultivation system. It is considered one of the most important Tanzanian archaeological sites.-Site:...

: Drystone structures

27. Stone Town

Stone Town

Stone Town also known as Mji Mkongwe is the old part of Zanzibar City, the main city of Zanzibar, in Tanzania, as opposed to Ng'ambo . It is located on the western coast of Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago...

 in Zanzibar: 2 Persian baths and Beit Al-Amani

Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

 

28. Nyero: 5 rock art sites
29. Mukongolo: 3 rock art sites
30. Kampiri: rock art site
31. Lolui Island: rock art site
32. Kokoro

Kokoro

is a novel by the Japanese author Natsume Sōseki. It was first published in 1914 in serial form in the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shinbun. While the title literally means "heart", the word contains shades of meaning, and can be translated as "the heart of things" or "feeling"...

: 3 rock art sites

Sites documented by the project team but not included in the database

1. Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

, Tassili: Engravings (TARA)

2. Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Luxor

Luxor

Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 487,896 , with an area of approximately . As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open air museum", as the ruins of the temple...

: Valley of the Queens

Valley of the Queens

The Valley of the Queens is a place in Egypt where wives of Pharaohs were buried in ancient times. In ancient times, it was known as Ta-Set-Neferu, meaning –‘the place of the Children of the Pharaoh’, because along with the Queens of the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties many princes and princesses...

 (Getty Conservation Institute, L.A.)

3. Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

, Petra

Petra

Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited...

: SIQ canyon and tombs in co-operation with UNESCO

4. Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

, Laetoli

Laetoli

Laetoli is a site in Tanzania, dated to the Plio-Pleistocene and famous for its hominin footprints, preserved in volcanic ash . The site of the Laetoli footprints is located 45 km south of Olduvai gorge.-Date:...

: Hominid Trackway (Getty Conservation Institute, L.A.)

5. United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

, Al Ain

Al Ain

Al Ain |Spring]]), also known as the Garden City due to its greenery, is the second largest city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the fourth largest city in the United Arab Emirates. With a population of 374,000 , it is located approximately 160 km east of the capital Abu Dhabi and about...

: Archaeological site (ADACH, Abu Dhabi)

Access to data

The database is conceptualised as a holistic system and therefore spatial data acquired by the Zamani group are augmented by contextual non-spatial data contributed to JSTOR by various additional partners and organizations. This entire set of materials is made available to the scholarly community via JSTOR's Aluka initiative. Access to this collection is free to all institutions and organizations in Africa and portions of the developing world. Libraries and academic institutions outside of Africa can license access to these collections via JSTOR. The Zamani Project website provides a showcase for the data it produces. Subsets of the 3D data, such as panorama tours and flythrough animations can be viewed on the site as well as examples of plans, sections and photographs.

Funding

The African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes Database exclusively funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, New York. Administrative support, office space and other academic services are provided by the University of Cape Town and the Geomatics Division at UCT. Additional funds are generated through documentation work for the Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles and the World Monuments Fund, New York. In the early stages of the project UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

provided financial support for documentation in Lalibela.

Zamani team

The Zamani team members comprises four Scientific Officers (Christoph Held, Ralph Schroeder, Roshan Bhurtha and Stephen Wessels) under the leadership of the Principal Investigator, Prof. Heinz Rüther.

External links

• http://www.aluka.org/
• http://www.zamani-project.org/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jTlKjUAzn8
• http://www.jstor.org
• http://www.wmf.org/video/3d-laser-scanning-churches-lalibela-ethiopia