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The Dia archaeological project: rescuing cultural heritage in the Inland Niger Delta (Mali)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Rogier Bedaux ,
Kevin MacDonald ,
Alain Person ,
Jean Polet ,
Kléna Sanogo ,
Annette Schmidt  and
Samuel Sidibé
Rogier Bedaux
Affiliation:
Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, PB 212,300 AE Leiden, Netherlands. bedaux@rmv.nl annettes@rmv.nlannettes@rmv.n
Kevin MacDonald
Affiliation:
Institue of Archaeology, University College London, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, England. kevin.macdonald@ucl.ac.uk
Alain Person
Affiliation:
Laboratoire Géologie Bassins Sédimentaires, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI), 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris cedex 05, France. alperson@ccr.jussieu.fr
Jean Polet
Affiliation:
Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie, Université Sorbonne (Paris I), 3 rue Michelet, 75006 Paris, France. polet@univ-paris1.fr
Kléna Sanogo
Affiliation:
Institute des Sciences Humaines, BP 159, Bamako, Mali Ish@datatech.toolnet.org
Annette Schmidt
Affiliation:
Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, PB 212,300 AE Leiden, Netherlands. bedaux@rmv.nl annettes@rmv.nlannettes@rmv.n
Samuel Sidibé
Affiliation:
Musée National du Mali, BP 159, Bamako, Mali. Musee@malinet.ml
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Extract

Mali is a country with a rich history and diverse cultures. Its cultural heritage is, however, threatened by both the pillage of archaeological sites and illicit trade (ICOM 1995; Bedaux & Rowlands, this volunle). Looting has dramatically increased in recent years, especially in the Inland Delta of the Niger, and has obliged Malian authorities to take measures to counteract this destruction. Within the framework of a long-term Malian-Dutch cultural heritage programme, the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde at Leiden recently initiated large-scale excavations in the Inland Niger Delta at Dia, in close cooperation with the Université du Mali, the Institut des Sciences Humaines and the Musée National du Mali in Bamako, the Mission Culturelle in Djenné, the Universities of Paris I and VI, the C.N.R.S., University College London and Leiden University. This excavation, financed principally by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, started in 1998 and will continue until 2004. It is a continuation of previous international programmes of site survey and documentation in the Inland Niger Delta, which the Institut des Sciences Humaines in Bamako has co-ordinated over the past two decades (e.g. Raimbault & Sanogo 1991; Dembele et al. 1993; Togola 1996). An initial season of prospection was carried out in 1998 in the Inland Delta, following which the vicinity of Dia was chosen as the principal research zone for the project.

Keywords

DiaMalicultural heritagesettlement moundsLate Stone AgeIron Age
Type
Special section
Information
Antiquity , Volume 75 , Issue 290 , December 2001 , pp. 837 - 848
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2001

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