The Condition Assessment Study of the Coastal Archaeological Storage Building and the Collections at Fort Jesus Mombasa, Kenya

Abstract

With the exclusion of archaeologists most professional and the public do not often recognize that archaeological materials not only constitute national heritage, but also form a vital resource and an inalienable property of the Government of Kenya. Every year, huge sets of archaeological artifacts are deposited at the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) including the coastal archaeological storage at Fort Jesus Mombasa World Heritage Site (WHS). Currently, there are perhaps three main archaeological collection repository centers in Kenya: the Earth Sciences Laboratory (NMK) headquarters in Nairobi, Fort Jesus Mombasa (WHS) and Lamu Museums. This study had two objectives: (1) to assess the physical condition of the coastal archaeological storage building and the collections and (2) to make recommendations for the improvement of the storage building and collections management at coastal archaeological storage. The research design adopted was both descriptive and analytical that utilized observation, literature review and matrix tables methods in data collection, analysis and presentation. The study found that the shrinking storage space, coupled with building infrastructure that were not designed to handle such vast collections threaten the survival of this very important heritage of Kenya. Besides, the storage building and heritage collections stored in it are in deplorable conditions and urgent revamping of the building and improvement of collection management activities is recommended. This study finding may have implications for the practice of collections management and conservation not only in Kenya, but also for most of Sub-Saharan African countries