Alma Mekondjo Nankela

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Alma Mekondjo Nankela
Born
Kwanza-Sul, Angola[1]
Alma mater
Scientific career
Fields


Institutions
ThesisRock Art and Landscape: An empirical analysis in the content, context and distribution of the rock art sites in Omandumba East and West, Erongo Region-Namibia (2017)
Doctoral advisor
  • David Pleurdeau, Luiz Oosterbeek, François Sémah [2]

Alma Mekondjo Nankela is a quaternary and prehistorian specialist at the National Heritage Council of Namibia. She develops and implements archaeological resource policies and guidelines to ensure their sustainable utilisation and professional conservation. Nankela oversees the integration of UNESCO's Conventions and other internationally recognized laws into Namibia’s cultural heritage resources policies. She advises the culture and heritage sector on appropriate measures towards research, conservation, management and promotion of Namibia's cultural heritage resources. She works closely with local communities to strengthen, encourage and promote their involvement in the preservation and management of Namibia's cultural heritage properties. She liaises and collaborates with regional, international heritage professionals and other bodies relating to scientific research. Her notable scientific and management work is particularly known in the Brandberg, Erongo Mountains, Twyfelfontein World Heritage Site, Spitzkoppe Mountains, Sperrgebiet, Khuiseb Delta, Etosha and Kalahari Basin. She also assist the National Museum of Namibia in relations to policy development, preservation, curation and management of archaeological objects, repatriated human remains and heritage objects.

Early life and education[]

Nankela was born in exile in Kwanza-Sul, Angola, during Namibia's liberation struggle.[1] Her parents worked alongside Nickey Iyambo at Cambuta Health Centre in Cuanza-sul.[1]

Nankela earned a joint Master’s Degrees in Quaternary & Prehistory in 2011 from the University of Ferrara and the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris. In 2017, she completed her double titled Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Quaternary & Prehistory from the same institutions in France and Italy.[4]

Awards and accomplishments[]

Her most notable discovery to date has been the April 2008 find of a 16th century Portuguese shipwreck in Oranjemund.[5] In 2013, Nankela secured funding of U$10,000 American Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) through the American Embassy in Windhoek, towards the restoration of the Spitzkoppe heritage sites in Erongo region.https://na.usembassy.gov/education-culture/ambassador-fund-cultural-preservation/ In 2014, Nankela secured European Union funding for the scientific research of archaeological heritage in Erongo Mountains, Namibia.https://sites.google.com/a/unife.it/idqp/ In 2016, Nankela was runner up for researcher of the year by the National Commission on Research, Science and Technology of Namibia.[6]

Committee[]

Nankela serves as the Chairperson of Namibian National Committee for Human Remains and Heritage Objects (HRC) in the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture Namibia. The committee is tasked to review Namibia’s current practices for claiming and repatriation of human remains and heritage objects of Namibian origin held in foreign institutions as well as the development of comprehensive set of national guidelines and a national policy for the handling and managing the remains and heritage objects in Namibia.

Research Interests[]

Namibian quaternary and prehistory, prehistoric rock art, geochemistry analysis of rock paintings, geoinformatics, heritage conservation, provenance research, human remains and heritage objects projects management, cultural heritage policy developments, museum exhibitions and museum and cultural heritage education.

Professional associations[]

Nankela is a professional member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) https://www.icomos.org/fr/ the Associations of Southern African Professional Archaeologists (ASAPA) http://asapa.co.za/ the Namibia Scientific Society (NSS) http://www.namscience.com.na/ and the Society of Africanist Archaeologists (SAfA) https://safarchaeology.org/

Selected works[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Solomons, Jonathan (2015-10-20). "From Refugee to Leading Female Archaeologist". The Namibian. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  2. ^ a b Mekondjo Nankela, Alma (2017-03-23). "Rock Art research in Namibia: a Synopsis". Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  3. ^ "Rock Art and Landscape: An empirical analysis in the content, context and distribution of the rock art sites in Omandumba East and West, Erongo Region-Namibia". 2017-03-23. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  4. ^ Mungoba, Tunohole. "For the Love of Heritage". Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  5. ^ Neill, Peter; ContributorDirector; Observatory, World Ocean (2013-11-19). "The Oranjemund Shipwreck". HuffPost. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  6. ^ "National Commission on Research, Science and Technology Report 2016" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  7. ^ Nankela, Alma Mekondjo (2017-03-23). Rock art and Landscape : an empirical Analysis in the content, context and distribution of the rock art sites in Omandumba East and West, Erongo Region-Namibia (Thesis).

External links[]

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