Underwater Archaeology in Africa in the Age of Modern Technological Engineering
Africa is the cradle of mankind, and the continent boasts of having some of the most ancient civilizations in world. These are spread across the entire continent from the Pharaonic kingdoms in the North, the ancient kingdoms of Gao and Tumbuktu in the west to the Swahili civilization in the East African Coast. Further, the African continent was connected to ancient civilizations in other parts of the globe. Evidence of these civilizations and their networks remain today buried on land or under the oceans. While much of the evidence of these civilizations have retained some form of ruined monuments, others have completely disappeared. Either they were obliterated by enemies, submerged by rising sea levels or eroded away, majority got lost without trace only remaining in written records. It is only through archaeological studies that we come to appreciate these lost resources. With the advent of modern technological engineering, underwater archaeological studies are becoming easy to apply and the solution to recover much of the submerged sites. While technological methodologies such as Side Scan Sonar, ROVS, Multi-Beam Sonars, Sub bottom profilers etc. are a great invention, in Africa, underwater archaeologists face a number of challenges in the application of these technologies. Challenges emanate from the unavailability of the equipment to lack of local trained personnel with the requisite skills to operate these tools. Nevertheless, with the use of traditional physical on-site diver searches and underwater excavations, great discoveries are being recovered in the oceans of Africa. This presentation will explore the role of technology in the advancement of underwater archaeology in Africa and the technological barriers inherent in the continent.