Environmental Sciences Research Institute

Research in East Africa


Investigators Colin Breen, Wes Forsythe, Thomas McErlean and Rory McNeary


The work of the Centre for Maritime Archaeology has continued across East Africa. The primary focus of the research component of this work over the past year has been on the historic port town of Suakin, established in the medieval period as a centre for trade, slaving and facilitating the Hadj. Excavations have focused on the earliest medieval layers of the site and have also uncovered a small mosque attached to the house of a merchant residing on the island settlement. Survey work was also undertaken into the hinterland of the Red Sea hills where a number of important sites and landscapes associated with the Beja were documented and recorded. Evidence for Roman period activity was also uncovered. Further north, the CMA is working closely with the newly established Centre for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage at the University of Alexandria in Egypt. The CMA has been appointed the external assesor to its Egyptian partner and is facilitating the development of teaching and research.


References

Breen, Colin, Forsythe, Wes, Smith, Laurence and Mallinson, Michael (2011) Excavations at the medieval Red Sea Port of Suakin, Sudan. Azania, Journal of Archaeological Research in Africa, 46 (2). pp. 205-225.

Breen, Colin and Rhodes, Daniel (2010) Archaeology and International Development in Africa . Duckworth Academic Press. 159 pp ISBN 978-0-7156-3905-4

Mallinson, M, Smith , L, Breen, Colin, Forsythe, Wes and Phillips, J (2009) Ottoman Suakin 1541 – 1865 AD – Lost & Found.. In: Frontiers of the Ottoman World. (Eds: Peacock, A), Proceedings of the British Academy. Oxford University Press, pp. 469-492. ISBN 13: 9780197264423

Breen, Colin (2007) Advocacy, international development and World Heritage Sites in sub-Saharan Africa. WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY, 39 (3). pp. 355-370.