Research > Archaeological Fieldwork > International excavations > Rock Art and archaeological landscape in Central Tanzania
Director: Marina Gallinaro
The primary goal of this project is to investigate the archaeological landscape of the Singida region, reconstructing the long-term history of human occupation from the Pleistocene to the Holocene, with a particular focus on rock art. The project also includes activities dedicated to cultural heritage protection through close collaboration with local communities—both civil society and heritage authorities—and offers training opportunities for students from the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM).
The specific objectives of the project aim to:
- define a sequence of climatic and environmental changes in the region;
- reconstruct subsistence strategies, cultural dynamics, symbolic trajectories, and the transition between hunter-gatherer and agro-pastoral groups in the Singida region;
- investigate settlement patterns and interactions with the environment, along with the traditional production systems of modern communities descended from the last hunter-gatherer groups and the earliest agro-pastoral communities;
- preserve cultural heritage and contribute to the sustainable development of the region;
- invest in creating training pathways for local personnel employed in institutions dedicated to the protection and dissemination of cultural heritage, as well as in the advanced education of students from Tanzania’s major universities.
This interdisciplinary project combines fieldwork and laboratory research, applying cutting-edge methods in environmental science, archaeology, and cultural heritage management. All activities are carried out in partnership with the University of Dar es Salaam and the local staff of the Antiquity Division of the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.
Collaborators:
- Makarius Peter Itambu, Dar es Salaam University, Co-PI
- Christowaja Ntandu, Director Antiquities Division, Tanzania, cultural heritage management
- Tadele Solomon Bekele, Ethiopian Heritage Authority, rock art and cultural heritage management
- Alessandro Vanzetti, Sapienza Dip. Scienze dell'Antichità, ethnoarchaeological research
- Leonard Muhuri, Dar es Salaam University, and National Museum of Tanzania, archeology
- Prisila Malley, Dar es Salaam University, rock art
- Eliah Mwamakula, Dar es Salaam University, archeology
- Bibliography
Itambu M., Arous E.B., Fernandes R., Gallinaro M., Ilgner J., Lucas M. Roberts P., Scott E., Steinhof A., Patalano R. (2025)Renewed Archaeological Research in Singida Region, Central Tanzania, African Archaeological Review, pp. 1-18.
Itambu M. and Gallinaro M. (2024) Quarrying unearthed: Balancing heritage preservation and economic development in Singida's archaeological landscape (central Tanzania), in Marino S., Kelany A. and Vanzetti A. Modern Quarries and Cultural Heritage, BAR Publishing, pp. 57-66.
Further details about this research:
- Research type: International excavation
- Location of the excavation: Singida region Cental Tanzania
- Research topic: archaeology
- Fundings: Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation