Current Research: Africa
Reported by Kenneth Kelly
kenneth.kelly@sc.edu
(Spring 2008 SHA Newsletter 40[4])
Dufile, Uganda:
In late 2006-early 2007 a project directed by Merrick Posnansky, Professor Emeritus, Departments of History and Anthropology, UCLA, was undertaken to relocate the colonial fort at Dufile, on the River Nile, in northern Uganda. This fort, or a location very near by, was established by the British Colonel Charles Gordon, as part of his comprehensive survey of the Nile in the mid 1870s. Dufile was one of about 20 major Egyptian stations in northern Uganda and southern Egypt, and was repeatedly visited, although for short periods, by Emin Pasha. The fort was first located by an archaeological team directed by Posnansky and consisting of students, including Nigel Fitzpatrick, in 1965, when they spent six days at the site. The current project was a follow-up of their intended return visit, albeit forty years later. The 2006-07 project was developed also to include major involvement by students from Makerere and Kyambogo Universities in Kampala. The research conducted at the fort site included an archaeological survey and mapping program to delimit the boundary of the site, and an excavation component to expose and record a series of mounds that were believed to correspond to earlier buildings within the fort walls. Also investigated were a series of “graves” or cenotaph burials (so determined because of the lack of human remains), and the bank and ditch constructions. Artifacts recovered from the various excavations dated to the later part of the 19th century, consistent with historic information. The results of the survey and excavations have provided much-needed training experiences to Ugandan students, and will contribute to efforts to preserve and interpret the site as a Uganda Historic Monument.
