COMPLETED PROJECTS

The SLSA supervised five more projects which have been completed since its foundation in 1986. The SLSA carried out its pilot project from 1987 to 1995 under the direction of the Geneva archaeologist Dr. Pierre Corboud in Fujairah, a sheikhdom of the United Arab Emirates. The project was then proposed by the Swiss Dr. Kather Massaad and was aimed at the research and preservation of ancient and early historical sites and monuments. The results of this project were published in one volume of the series «Terra Archaeologica».

The ethnological-archaeological SLSA project in Niger-Delta, Mali (1988 until 1995) under the direction of the Geneva Prehistorian Professor Dr. Alain Gallay studied primarily the already endangered ceramic traditions in the area above Timbuktu. The perceptions which were made can help in the evaluation of the pre- and protohistoric finds. The project manager was supported by Dr. Eric Huysecom, the Belgian Prehistorian who later went on to lead the SLSA project in Ounjougou (1997 until today). The final report was also published in the series «Terra Archaeologica».

In the Peruvian Torata Valley, the SLSA carried out a small project in 1990/91 under the direction of the US-Swiss Peter Bürgi. Within the scope of the archaeological development cooperation, he collected material about the colonization of the south of Peru by the Inka from the 11th until the 14th century AD. The results were published by the project manager in 1992 within the framework of his dissertation. The preliminary report was published in 1992 in the annual report of the SLSA.

From 1992 until 1999 the SLSA supervised a project on the Chukchi Peninsula in the outer north-east of Siberia under the direction of Dr. Yvon Csonka. Interesting traces of prehistoric Eskimo populations (500 BC until 1500 AD) were preserved here. The breakers of the Bering Sea as well as grave robberies strongly endangered the national heritance of the ancient population. For this reason the SLSA participated in an international committee to save the sites of the finds and the finds themselves in the border area of the Asiatic and American continents. The first field campaign was able to be carried out in the year 1995. In the years 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 further campaigns were conducted and are described in the respective annual reports. In August 1998 the SLSA organized a member trip to West Greenland which the tour guide Professor Dr. h. c. Hans-Georg Bandi particularized in the annual report of 1998. The last contribution from the annual report 1999 can be downloaded as a PDF.

Finally, the SLSA conducted archaeological excavations in the Eastern Himalayas. The project «Bathpalathang» in the Kingdom of Bhutan was led by Reto Blumer, former assistant to the Secretary General. The results of these excavations were published in the annual reports in 1998, 2000 and 2001. The contributions from the reports 2000 and 2001 can be downloaded as PDFs. A continuation of the project is impossible at the moment, despite strong attempts on behalf of the SLSA. But the SLSA is still interested in carrying on with the research work in Bhutan and sets great value upon a cooperation with Helvetas. It is in contact with the Swiss ambassador for India and Bhutan who visited the Bhutan government in 2002 together with the Swiss Minister of State Joseph Deiss. The officials in Bhutan have requested that local archaeologists be educated in Switzerland. Under direction of such a specialist, an archaeological project in Bhutan would be conceivable in cooperation with a Swiss institution (SLSA/Helvetas).