DOI: 10.25375/uct.11770374
title: Kua Ruins Heritage Spatial Documentation Metadata Dataset

description: This master metadata spreadsheet documents all of the Kua ruins heritage items published by the Zamani Project. <br>The Kua ruins are all that remains of a medieval Swahili town located on Juani Island in the Mafia Archipelago. The ruins offer insights into an island civilization that saw Portuguese and Omani control as well as independence, enslavement, and eventual abandonment. Indicators of early settlement and trade—including Islamic and Chinese ceramics dating to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and currency from mainland Tanzania—have been found in the ruins, while Portuguese accounts from the sixteenth century note the great wealth of the Kua people. The Zamani Project spatially documented some of the Kua ruins in 2018.<br><br>The Zamani Project seeks to increase awareness and knowledge of tangible cultural heritage in Africa and internationally by creating metrically accurate digital representations of historical sites. Digital spatial data of cultural heritage sites can be used for research and education, for restoration and conservation and as a record for future generations. The Zamani Project operates as a non-profit organisation within the University of Cape Town.<br><br><i>This text has been adapted from the World Monuments Fund website</i> (https://www.wmf.org/project/kua-ruins).<br><br>All work was carried out as part of the <b>Kua Conservation Project:</b><br><b>Co-Directors:</b> Stephane Pradines (ISMC-AKU) and Pierre Blanchard (WMF).<br><b>Partner institutions:</b> Aga Khan University (AKU); Tanzanian Antiquities; World Monument Fund (WMF), Zamani Project (University of Cape Town)<br><br>Then Zamani Project contributed accurate 3D models and maps of the site and structures to the Kua Conservation Program.<br>The ruins of Gede (also Gedi), a traditional Arab-African Swahili town, are located just off Kenya’s coastline, some 90km north of Mombasa. Gede was a small town built entirely from stones and rocks, and most of the original foundations are still visible today. <br>Remaining structures at the site include coral stone buildings, mosques, houses and a palace. The town was abandoned in the early 17th century, and Gede’s buildings date back to the 15th century, although it is believed that the site could have been inhabited as early as the 11th or 12th century. <br>The Zamani Project spatially documented the Gede ruins in 2010. In addition to the three principal structures of the Great Mosque, the Small Mosque and the Palace, remains of other structures in the immediate vicinity were also documented.<br>The Zamani Project seeks to increase awareness and knowledge of tangible cultural heritage in Africa and internationally by creating metrically accurate digital representations of historical sites. Digital spatial data of cultural heritage sites can be used for research and education, for restoration and conservation and as a record for future generations. The Zamani Project operates as a non-profit organisation within the University of Cape Town.<br><i>This text has been adapted from the UNESCO website</i> (https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5501/).<br><b>The Zamani Project received funding from the Andrew W Mellon Foundation at the time of the project.</b>