We are excited to share that our second fieldwork season is underway! We have just wrapped up our first week excavating in Inhambane Province, Mozambique, at the site of Ngomene Nhanimela, a previously unstudied Zimbabwe Tradition site with characteristic dry-stone walling enclosing a settlement on a hilltop. So far, we have opened two trenches and five test pits and conducted ten interviews with local community members regarding the oral history of the area.
We have a fantastic international team for the excavation. Our three Project members based in Cambridge (Abigail Moffett, Scott Dunleavy, and Joanna Lawrence) are joined again by our collaborators from Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM), including some of our 2024 fieldwork team (Solange Macamo, Cláudio Mandlate, Pedro Moiane, and Hamido Atuia) as well as some new faces (Osvaldo Marrame and Silva Mutombe). We are also excited to have Luís Chaúque, Head of the Department of Cultural Heritage at the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism in Inhambane province, joining us for both weeks of excavation at Ngomene this year. Finally, we are thrilled to have seven students on the excavation team this year: Leticia Buanela, Zabiba Bobo, Adriano Sigaúque, and Armando Mangue from UEM, and Clemency FIsher, Emily Bradley, and Sam Woodroff from the University of Cambridge.
Later this season, we will relocate to the Bazaruto Archipelago, where we will work in coordination with the AfricanParks organisation to conduct more surveys, excavations, and historical research. Our goals this season include examining the spatial layout and extent of Ngomene Nhanimela using a variety of strategies including strategic testpits to LiDAR drone mapping, gathering carefully documented assemblages from different areas of the sites that will help us assess the nature and duration of site occupation and connections between sites, and diving into the local oral histories to better understand connections to heritage in the region.
Sam and Emily have taken the initiative to launch our fieldwork Instagram page, which you can follow @entangledproject to see daily updates on our excavation progress, and stories showing little moments from life on the excavation!
Entangled Project 