Amini Aza Mturi

Amini Aza Mturi is a former and the first African Director (1968-1981) of the Division of Antiquities,[1] a Tanzanian Government institution responsible for conservation, preservation, protection and management of cultural heritage resources. He was one of the founding fathers of archaeology in Tanzania, and in whose name the Olduvai Gorge Research Station has been named.[2]

The Division (or previously, Department) was placed under the full leadership of Tanzanians from 1969 onwards. Throughout the 1970s, Mturi directed the Division to conduct archaeological excavations in northern Tanzania,[3][4] which contributed to major studies and findings on human origins, as well as provided insights into the Stone Age and Iron Age periods.

Mturi is a graduate of history from Makerere College. He was recruited as an Assistant Conservator for the Division of Antiquities in April 1966.[5] Five months after being recruited, he left for London to pursue his further studies on archaeology and conservation at the Institute of Archaeology, University College of London. He returned to Tanzania in 1968 and was promoted soon afterwards to become the first Tanzanian Conservator of Antiquities,[6][7] a role he served until 1981.

Mturi contributed immensely to the archaeology of Tanzania[8] and his efforts to preserve the culture within the Division of Antiquities, as he had inherited it from the non-Tanzanians that preceded him, is well exhibited and appreciated in the Division's annual reports between the late 1960s to the late 1970s.[9][10][11]

Mturi played a crucial role in establishing archaeology at the University of Dar es Salaam, to feature amongst the top African universities that offered training in the field at the time. Generally, his efforts culminated in the field of archaeology being taken seriously in Tanzania. He deemed the understanding of human origins and the appreciation of human history to be key knowledge in the heritage of an emerging and independent United Republic of Tanzania.[12]

One of the most popular excavation sites uncovered under his leadership was at Lake Ndutu where a considerable amount of lithic and faunal materials were uncovered, as well as the Ndutu cranium.[13]

Internationally, he served as chairperson of UNESCO's Bureau of the World Heritage Committee (9th session, 1985) that consists of representatives from 21 of the States parties to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

References
  1. "Antiquities Division | Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism".
  2. http://www.olduvaiproject.org/the-olduvai-research-station/
  3. Mturi, A. A. 1976c. New hominid from Lake Ndutu Tanzania. Nature 262:484–485.
  4. Mturi, A. A. 1986. The Pastoral Neolithic of West Kilimanjaro. Azania: Journal of the British Institute in Eastern Africa 21(1):53–63.
  5. Sassoon, H. 1968b. Annual report of the Department of Antiquities for the year 1966. Dar es Salaam: Department of Antiquities.
  6. Mturi, A. A. 1976a. Annual report of the Department of Antiquities for the year 1968. Dar es Salaam: Department of Antiquities.
  7. Mturi, A. A. 1976b. Annual report of the Department of Antiquities for the year 1970-71. Dar es Salaam: Department of Antiquities.
  8. Mturi, A. A. 1998. OHI 307: archaeology of Tanzania. Dar es Salaam: Open University of Tanzania.
  9. Mturi, A. A. 1977. Annual report of the Department of Antiquities for the year 1969. Dar es Salaam: Department of Antiquities.
  10. Mturi, A. A. 1978a. Annual report of the Department of Antiquities for the year 1972-73. Dar es Salaam: Department of Antiquities.
  11. Mturi, A. A. 1978b. Annual report of the Department of Antiquities for the year 1976-77. Dar es Salaam: Department of Antiquities.
  12. Mehari A.G., 2015. Practicing and teaching archaelogy in East Africa: Tanzania and Uganda. PhD Dissertation. University of Florida.
  13. MTURI, A. New hominid from Lake Ndutu, Tanzania. Nature 262, 484–485 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/262484a0
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