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

Abstract

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.

Reinterpreting chronology and society at the mortuary complex of Jebel Moya (Sudan)

“…Furthermore, the phenomenon of occupations being subsequently used as cemeteries has parallels elsewhere in the Sahelian belt, for example at Dia (Mali) where a first millennium AD cemetery covers a first millennium BC settlement of similar size at Dia Shoma (Bedaux 2005;Bedaux et al 2001). …”

Population dynamics and Paleoclimate over the past 3000 years in the Dogon Country, Mali

“…AD), and horizon IV (800?-1100 AD)-, (Bedaux et al, 2001), of the Iron Age sites of Méma (Haaland, 1980;Togola, 1996), of Kumbi Saleh (Berthier, 1997) and Saouga (Vogelsang, 2000), because their study is not published in sufficient detail. We have taken into account information from Koukia (Arazi, 1999), Timbuktu (McIntosh and McIntosh, 1986), and Ségou areas (MacDonald, 1997), but only surveys have been made there and no radiocarbon date are available.…”

“…The mound of Dia-shoma, located on the edge of the Inland Niger Delta in a more favorable position, seems to have been occupied from 800 BC and show evidence of rice cultivation (Murray, 2004). The first horizon (800-300 BC) contains a ceramic range demonstrating important affinities with the Late Neolithic of the Méma, as well as slag and iron objects, but the second horizon (300 BC-300 AD) shows an occupation probably limited to seasonal visits in some sectors of the site (Bedaux et al, 2001).…”

Dia Shoma (Mali), a medieval cemetery in the inner Niger delta

“…The dating of the material in several tombs (Bedaux et al, 2001) reveals that category 7 is older than category 2. Category 8 appearing at the same level as category 9 is, in fact, older than category 6.…”

“…The site of Dia Shoma, formerly described by Bedaux et al (2001), has yielded about 100 individuals ( Figure 3) and may contain many more; it thus appears to be one of the most important archaeological funerary sites of West Africa. Preliminary fieldwork indicates that ten different kinds of burials coexisted within a single place ( Figure 4).…”