Expeditions
Cameroon Cultural Survival Expedition
In 2006 the Cameroon Cultural Survival Expedition was undertaken by a multi-disciplinary team of students from the UK and Cameroon, who spent the summer living and working alongside Baka ‘Pygmies’ in the Central African rainforest. The team carried out a cultural mapping project with indigenous groups in the rainforest of southern Cameroon. This involved recording various aspects of Baka culture, with particular emphasis on their relationship and interactions with the forest environment. We used both qualitative and quantitative techniques, and produced written descriptions, photographs, diagrams and video material in order to illustrate the communities’ cultural and resource-based reliance on the rainforest. These were then combined with a GIS map, including over 450 of our own GPS coordinates recording areas of use in the forest, in order to produce both paper and interactive digital maps, with the aim of assisting the communities with on-going negotiations over land access rights, as well as to provide a permanent record of the Baka communities’ traditional activities.
The Samburu in Kenya – A Changing Picture
This expedition took place in the summer of 2005, and was conducted by graduates from Newcastle University in the UK, and Nairobi University in Kenya. The team travelled to the Samburu heartlands of northern Kenya, in order to search for rock paintings in the Great Rift Valley, and investigate the traditional cultural practices associated with cattle branding and the role of the warrior (Moran) within society. A total of 367 rock paintings and engravings were recorded at 21 different rock shelters, portraying a range of subjects from humans and animals to weapons, tools and cattle brand marks. Anthropological studies also provided information on the context and meaning of the rock paintings, as well as on traditional cattle branding, the use of rock shelters and other practices associated with the Samburu Morans.
Mongolian Rock Art Survey
This joint British-Mongolian expedition was undertaken in 2004 by a team of students from the universities of Newcastle and Edinburgh in the UK, and the National University of Mongolia. The project aimed to locate and record previously undocumented rock art sites in the Huremt region of Arkhangai Aimag, and to conduct ethnographic interviews with members of the local nomadic herding community in order to determine local attitudes towards the rock art and opinions on its future conservation and management. The project was extremely successful, with the team recording over 1000 rock engravings in various styles, and depicting a range of subjects including animals, humans, tools and weapons.