Namibia’s archaeological heritage is under threat – Public talk to zoom in on challenges and way forward
The Scientific Society will host a public talk by Dr Alma Nankela centred on the belief that the country’s archaeological heritage is under threat.
The talk titled, ‘The violence of mining and quarrying on the Namibian archaeological landscape: the case of Spitzkoppe Mountains and other Erongo sites’ will take place on 4 November at 19:00.
Dr Nankela will highlight the complex challenges of conserving Namibia’s archaeological heritage and suggest a way forward.
She said Namibia is one of the key Southern African country with an extensive wealth of archaeological heritage and the densest concentration has been recorded in the central region of Erongo with more than 400 archaeological sites harbouring over 65000 known ancient rock paintings and engravings.
Studies have revealed a systematic outright destructive actions inflicted on this fragile heritage landscape as a result of mining, on the large and small scale, activities involving outright destruction of archaeological sites and disruption of its landscape, she added.
Meanwhile the country’s situation has been exacerbated further by other anthropogenic activities emanating from increased tourism and uncontrolled access to archaeological sites in Erongo, the Society concluded.
