Natamatao
Natamatao (also Tell Natamatao ) is an archaeological site in Mali from the time of the great empires. The artificial sand-clay hill, a tell , is located about 6 km from the village of Thial in the Cercle Tenenkou , which in turn lies in the west of the inland delta that the Niger forms.
In the early 1990s, after a clay statuette was found, the hill was systematically plundered by robbery graves , with hundreds of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines made of terracotta , urns , various ceramic vessels , millstones , but also iron objects came to light. The authorities only intervened after one of the robbery had suffocated in a collapsed shaft. In 1993 the proportion of sites destroyed by systematic looting in Mali, of which 834 were registered at that time, was already 45%. After the death of said looter, there were arrests, one of the antique dealerswas sentenced. The surrounding excavation sites could now be secured, but the looters avoided Méma , the lake region, Farimaké and Guimbala .
One of the problems is the fact that while protection laws were passed in 1985 and 1986, they are circulated in French at best. In addition, trading in copies is permitted, but the authorities can hardly distinguish them from originals. In many cases, the exports of copies approved by the National Museum in Bamako were used to replace the copies with originals when packing. In addition, smuggling across the unsupervised borders is associated with comparatively low risks. There is now an agreement with the USA that excludes certain goods from importing into the United States and makes them a criminal offense. On the other hand, centers were established in Djenné , Bandiagara and Timbuktu from 1994 , whose task is to educate people about the cultural value of the artefacts . Of utmost importance is the attitude of those who live near the sites. So Toguéré Somo therefore well protected because there Sékou Amadou , the founder of the Massina Empire is buried. Djidiè near Kolokami is protected because village spirits live there.
Against this background, scientific investigations, excavations and oral interviews were carried out between 2001 and 2006. At the same time, numerous objects were gradually returned by the population of the surrounding villages, which they had previously considered their property. In addition, the sites were mapped based on the memories of the robbers. These surveys and 14 probes showed that Natamatao represented a complex of dual nature, because there was a village settlement in the south and west next to a religious monument. This occupied the east and north of the complex.
The religious nature of this area was shown by horse skeletons sprinkled with red ocher , as well as hundreds of statuettes , nine of them in a row. The size suggests that the place must have had a wide catchment area.
literature
- Bourahima Ouedraogo: Recherches archéologiques dans le delta intérieur du Niger: archéologie et environnement d'un site religieux à l'époque des empires: Natamatao (Mali) , Thèse de doctorat en Aréologie, Paris 2013.
- Bourahima Ouedraogo: Recherches archéologiques dans le delta intérieur du Niger: archéologie et environnement d'un site religieux à l'époque des empires: Natamatao (Mali) , in: Afrique: Archeologie & Arts 9 (2013) 117–120 ( online ).
- Jean Polet : Natamatao (Thial): archéologie d'un site pillé , in: R. Bedaux, J. Polet, K. Sanogo, A. Schmidt (eds.): Recherches archéologiques à Dia dans le Delta intérieur du Niger (Mali) : bilan des saisons de fouilles 1998-2003 (= Mededelingen van het Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde Leiden No 33), pp. 431–444 ( online , PDF).
Remarks
- ↑ Rogier Michiel Alphons Bedaux: Research archéologiques à Dia dans le Delta intérieur du Niger (Mali). Bilan des saisons de fouilles, 1998-2003 , CNWS Publications, 2005, p. 433.
- ↑ Kléna Sanogo: The Looting of Cultural Material in Mali ( Memento of January 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), Bamako, Illicit Antiquities Research Center 1999, version from 2006
Coordinates: 14 ° 28 ′ 0 ″ N , 5 ° 0 ′ 4 ″ W.