I am just back from a six-week travel to Jerusalem (Israel), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Nairobi (Kenya) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) in the frame of PleisTechnoVar. The programme included data collection, discussion and collaboration with colleagues and participation in an international conference.
Jerusalem
The first step of my trip was Jerusalem, at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I only had a few days there, to complete data collection on the assemblages from the Epipalaeolithic of the Negev, in collaboration with Prof. Nigel Goring-Morris. Many thanks to Prof. Erella Hovers and everyone at the Institute for the warm welcome!
Dar es Salaam
My second step was Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. During the short time there (one week), I could look at a lithic assemblage stored at the National Museum of Tanzania in Dar. I also had the opportunity to go and see the site where the material came from.
Nairobi
The third step of my trip was Nairobi, in Kenya, to go to the rich library of the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) and of the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA). I had the opportunity to consult excavation notes and archives, stored at the BIEA, from times when, to exchange ideas, researchers had to send each other letters.
Addis Ababa
And the last step was Addis Ababa for three weeks. Together with Dr Clément Ménard, in the frame of the ANR project 'Big Dry', we collected data on backed pieces and finalised our presentation for the 6th biennial meeting of the Eastern African Association for Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (EAAPP), held in Addis Ababa at the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH). This was a wonderful conference (despite the rainy season...!).
