Songo Mnara
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Songo Mnara
Songo Mnara is a historic Swahiili settlement in located on Songo Mnara Island in Pande Mikoma, Kilwa District in Lindi Region of Tanzania. The island is home to a Medieval Swahili stone town. The stone town was occupied from the 14th to 16th centuries. Songo Mnara has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with nearby stone town Kilwa Kisiwani. In total, archaeologists have found six mosques, four cemeteries, and two dozen house blocks along with three enclosed open spaces on the island. Songo Mnara was constructed from rough- coral and mortar. This stonetown was built as one of many trade towns on the Indian Ocean. The site is a registered National Historic Site. Layout of Swahili Towns Archaeologists have been analyzing the layout of stone towns on the Swahili coast, mainly focusing on the relationship of the mosques and houses, in order to understand the role of the Swahili coast in Islamic culture, the functions of specific towns, and the complex eco ...
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Kilwa District
Kilwa District (''Wilaya ya Kilwa'' in Swahili) is one of six administrative districts of Lindi Region in Tanzania. The District covers an area of . The district is comparable in size to the land area of the nation state of East Timor. Kilwa district is bordered to the north by Rufiji District in Pwani Region, to the east by the Indian Ocean, to the south by the Lindi District, Nachingwea District together with Ruangwa District, and to the west by the Liwale District. The district borders every other district in Lindi Region except Lindi Municipal District. The district seat (capital) is the town of Kilwa Masoko. The district is named after the medieval Swahili city state of Kilwa Kisiwani. According to the 2012 census, the district has a total population of 190,744. History The area that is now Kilwa district has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years. The area is the ancestral home to three Bantu people groups, namely the Mwera people and the Matumbi people t ...
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Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste which hardens to bind building blocks such as stones, bricks, and concrete masonry units, to fill and seal the irregular gaps between them, spread the weight of them evenly, and sometimes to add decorative colors or patterns to masonry walls. In its broadest sense, mortar includes pitch, asphalt, and soft mud or clay, as those used between mud bricks, as well as cement mortar. The word "mortar" comes from Old French ''mortier'', "builder's mortar, plaster; bowl for mixing." (13c.). Cement mortar becomes hard when it cures, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure; however, the mortar functions as a weaker component than the building blocks and serves as the sacrificial element in the masonry, because mortar is easier and less expensive to repair than the building blocks. Bricklayers typically make mortars using a mixture of sand, a binder, and water. The most common binder since the early 20th century is Portland cement, but the ancient binder l ...
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World Heritage Sites In Danger
The List of World Heritage in Danger is compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) through the World Heritage Committee according to Article 11.4 of the World Heritage Convention,Full title: ''Convention concerning the protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage'' which was established in 1972 to designate and manage World Heritage Sites. Entries in the list are threatened World Heritage Sites for the conservation of which major operations are required and for which "assistance has been requested". The list is intended to increase international awareness of the threats and to encourage counteractive measures. Threats to a site can be either proven imminent threats or potential dangers that could have adverse effects on a site. In the case of natural sites, ascertained dangers include the serious decline in the population of an endangered or other valuable species or the deterioration of natural beauty or scientific value o ...
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Archaeological Sites In Tanzania
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. It is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America – the four-field approach), history or geography. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology is distinct from palaeontology, which is the study of fossil remains. Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for which, by definition, there are no written records. Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the advent o ...
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World Heritage Sites In Tanzania
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique while others talk of a "plurality of worlds". Some treat the world as one simple object while others analyze the world as a complex made up of many parts. In ''scientific cosmology'' the world or universe is commonly defined as " e totality of all space and time; all that is, has been, and will be". '' Theories of modality'', on the other hand, talk of possible worlds as complete and consistent ways how things could have been. '' Phenomenology'', starting from the horizon of co-given objects present in the periphery of every experience, defines the world as the biggest horizon or the "horizon of all horizons". In ''philosophy of mind'', the world is commonly contrasted with the mind as that which is represented by the mind. ''T ...
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Swahili City-states
Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people The Swahili people ( sw, WaSwahili) comprise mainly Bantu, Afro-Arab and Comorian ethnic groups inhabiting the Swahili coast, an area encompassing the Zanzibar archipelago and mainland Tanzania's seaboard, littoral Kenya, northern Mozambique, ..., an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili people * Swahili coast, a littoral region in East Africa Language and nationality disambiguation pages {{disambiguation ...
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List Of Swahili Settlements Of The East African Coast
Swahili settlements of the East African coast date from as early as the first century CE when eastern Bantu people on the east coast of Africa began adopting the Swahili language and culture and founded settlements along the coast and islands. Below is a list of Swahili settlements founded between 800 CE to 1900 CE. Northern coast, Tanzania * Manza * Toten Island * Tanga * Yambe Island * Tongoni * Mnarani *Mushembo *Pangani *Bweni Dogo *Ras Kikokwe * Kipumbwe * Kiungani * Sange * Kisikimto *Ushongo *Mkwaja *Bimbini * Mafui * Uzimia * Buyuni * Saadani * Utondwe *Winde * Mkadini *Bagamoyo * Kaole Southern Coast, Tanzania * Mbegani * Mbweni * Ukutani * Kunduchi * Msasani * Dar es Salaam * Mjimwema * Mbuamaji * Kimbiji * Mbuamaji * Kigunda * Funza * Jino Baya * Sala * Kutani * Bandarini * Kisiju * Kwale Island * Koma Island * Kisimani, Mafia * Kua Juani * Mwanamkuru * Mbutu Bandarini * Ras Dege * Kanyegwa Mfunguni * Ras Kutani * Jambe Juani * ...
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3D Laser Scanning
Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be used to make digital 3-D representations of areas on the Earth's surface and ocean bottom of the intertidal and near coastal zone by varying the wavelength of light. It has terrestrial, airborne, and mobile applications. ''Lidar'' is an acronym of "light detection and ranging" or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging". It is sometimes called 3-D laser scanning, a special combination of 3-D scanning and laser scanning. Lidar is commonly used to make high-resolution maps, with applications in surveying, geodesy, geomatics, archaeology, geography, geology, geomorphology, seismology, forestry, atmospheric physics, laser guidance, airborne laser swath mapping (ALSM), and laser altimetry. It is also used in control and navigation for s ...
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Zamani Project
The Zamani Project is part of the African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes Database. Zamani is a research group at the University of Cape Town, which acquires, models, presents and manages spatial and other data from cultural heritage sites. The present focus of the Zamani project is Africa, with the principal objective of developing “The African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes Database”. Zamani comes from the Swahili phrase “Hapo zamani za kale” which means “Once upon a time”, and can be used to mean 'the past'. The word is derived from Arabic root for temporal vocabulary, ‘Zaman,’ and appears in several languages around the world. History The Zamani initiative was conceptualised in the Geomatics Division of the University of Cape Town by Professor Heinz Rüther in 2001 in collaboration with ITHAKA and Aluka ow an initiative of JSTORas the “African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes Database” in 2004 with a number of sequential grants from ...
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Middens
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation. These features provide a useful resource for archaeologists who wish to study the diets and habits of past societies. Middens with damp, anaerobic conditions can even preserve organic remains in deposits as the debris of daily life are tossed on the pile. Each individual toss will contribute a different mix of materials depending upon the activity associated with that particular toss. During the course of deposition sedimentary material is deposited as well. Different mechanisms, from wind and water to animal digs, create a matrix which can also be analysed to provide seasonal and climatic information. In some middens individual dumps of material can be discerned and analysed. Shells A shell mid ...
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National Historic Sites Of Tanzania
National Historic Sites of Tanzania is an official list of places in Tanzania that have been designated as National Historic Sites as per the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism of Tanzania under the Antiquities Division. The list is not complete and is currently being updated. History The National Historical Sites was created by the colonial British Mandate in Tanganyika Territory in 1937 as the Monuments Preservation Ordinance of 1937. In 1957, it was handed over to the Ministry of Education as the Antiquities Division with the office based in Bagamoyo, Pwani Region. The Office was moved to Dar es Salaam in 1960. In 1964, four years after independence, the national assembly of Tanzania passed the Antiquities Act No.10 of 1964 replacing the Mounuments Preservation Ordinance of 1937. The 1964 Act was amended in 1979 by the Antiquities Act No.22 of 1979, then that was replaced by the Objects Monuments Act No.13 of 1981. List of National Historic Sites Below is the list of ...
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