Zinj Conference

In honour of the golden anniversaries of the discovery of Zinanthropus and the establishment of Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (home to the Department of Antiquites) decided to host a conference. We (my supervisor and her graduate students) were lucky enough to be invited as participants. To be honest, there was some confusion surrounding this conference and our plans to present in Arusha. We first found out about the Zinjanthropus (affectionately known as "Zinj") conference last summer at a stop into the Department of Antiquities in Dar es Salaam. At that time it was mentioned that it was likely that the Zinj celebration would take the form of a conference held in conjunction with the 2nd East African Association for Palaeoanthropology and Palaeontology (EAAPP) meeting planned for August 2009 in Arusha. To make a long story short, it turned out this was not the case and so we find ourselves attending both the Zinj conference (13th to 17th) and the EAAPP conference (17th to 20th).

The conference was held in the Arusha International Conference Center (AICC) which interestingly is also home to the the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, judging those responsible for the genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes (note: trials are still in progress and when in session you can sit in on them).

The first day of the conference was all about dignitaries and Olduvai (Oldupai) Gorge. It was an interesting mix of welcoming speeches, votes of thanks, and scientific papers. There was also a performance of a song written about Olduvai Gorge and Tanzania's cultural heritage. It was very heartfelt and very Tanzanian. The participants were mostly Tanzanian - government officials, tourism agents, secondary school and university students, researchers, and Masai. We were part of around a dozen foreign researchers present which is quite humbling, and we were very honoured to be included.

Gotta love free conference loot!

The rest of the conference was filled with papers and endless hours of discussion. It is hard to summarize just how important cultural heritage is here but also how much Tanzanian's love to argue/discuss. It is also a reflection of Tanzania's socialist past as everyone is allowed, and given time, to present their opinion. This meant that more often than not we were running behind.

Although the official language of the conference was English, many chose to give papers (the text in their presentations were English so I usually could still follow along) and the discussion was primarily in Kiswahili. Topics focused mostly on either the archaeology of Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli or Cultural Heritage Management - everything from new interpretations of the faunal assemblage at BK site to the ecology of Serengeti National Park to conservation and preservation of rock art sites in Kondoa. My supervisor presented an overview of our research project and it was extremely well received. In particular everyone seemed really impressed with our work with local peoples and loved the posters I created to help in the dissemination of our results in local villages, schools, offices, and museums.

All in all it was a great conference. I heard a lot of interesting talks and met some fantastic people. I left feeling very optimistic about ongoing and future work in Tanzania.

Counting the sleeps

I leave on the 10th for another trip to Tanzania. This will be my third time travelling there in four years. I spent six weeks there in 2006 and almost three months in 2008 doing archaeological field work as part of my PhD research. It did not take me long to fall in love with everything about the country. I must admit part of me can't help but think that somewhere in all our DNA is a code which recognizes East Africa as our ancestral home. A few colleagues of mine have commented on this so I know I am not the only one who has felt this connection.

Our study area is called Iringa, and our base of operations is Iringa town. We always stay at the Isimila Hotel (named after the famous Early Stone Age site of Isimila). It is my home away from home in Tanzania. I know the menu of the hotel restaurant by rote, as well as the names of most of the people who work there. Some of the shop ladies along "the gauntlet" (a street full of souvenier shops for mzungu like me) recognize me and we joke around as I make my purchases. We joke with the parking pass guy at the central market. When not in town, we are bombing around the region stopping in at villages and talking with everyone and anyone about "caves" that they know about. Often we will pick up a few people who will take us to sites they know or have heard about. We spend hours greeting local officials from every branch of government and handout posters about our research in English and kiswahili to offices, schools, and anyone else who may be interested. We record new sites and revisit those which have been disturbed by pothunters. Mostly I smile and try my best to the swahili I am slowly picking up.

This trip will be very different from the last two though. Unfortunately there will be no fieldwork, no Iringa, no Isimila hotel this time. Instead we (myself, my supervisor, and three of her graduate students) are travelling to Arusha for two conferences. The first is a celebration of the golden anniversary of the discovery of Zinjanthropus boisei at Olduvai Gorge. I am presenting at the meeting of the East African Association of Palaeoanthropologists and Palaeontologists. Both will feature many prominent archaeologists, geologists, and palaeontologists working in the area. I am eager to talk and network with my Africanist colleagues, and hear about all the exciting work going on. My ego is looking forward to presenting though it would be better if I had something more conclusive to put forward and not just preliminary results/thoughts. Oh well.

After the conferences, we are off on a four day safari (swahili for journey, trip, expedition)through the northern parks. It is sure to be the highlight of the trip and I plan on taking hundreds of photos of the wanyama (animals).

Seven more sleeps...