Survey and characterisation of the archaeological landscape of Lovo

2021- ...

The research carried out by the AlICe laboratory in the Lovo massif (DRC) is part of a research programme led by archaeologist G. Heilmich on rock art in the Democratic Republic of Congo (https://exposition-lovo.com). More specifically, these studies aim to ‘integrate the rock art sites into the archaeological landscape of the Lovo massif and understand how they relate to the other sites inventoried. The aim is to provide new understanding of the occupation of the massif’.

The challenge for researchers in the AlICe laboratory is to use their knowledge and expertise in surveying and 3D digitisation to study this archaeological landscape. Alongside the project, this research aims to integrate a methodological approach for the acquisition, representation and characterisation of an anthropised architectural and natural landscape. Through the production of surveys (in the visible and non-visible (thermal) spectrum) carried out at different scales, ranging from rocky massifs and their landscape context covering more than 200ha to the digitisation of burials or archaeological artefacts, the first step is to create a digital map, whose granularity reflects the scales of the study. This multi-scalar observation of the site is an important phase in reconstructing the archaeological landscape of the Kongo kingdom (15th century) and its occupation of the Lovo massif.

Beyond the attention paid to the scale of the archaeological landscape, a significant part of the surveys focused on intermediate scales (such as that of the habitat, with regard to topography and wetlands) or the scale of the fragment, as shown by the acquisitions made of burials.

Research team (ULB):

• Michel Lefèvre (Researcher, ULB)
• David Lo Buglio (Researcher & project coordinator for ULB)
• Alexandre Van Dongen (Researcher, ULB)
  

Research team (not ULB):

• Geoffroy Heimlich (Archaeologist, General project leader, laboratoire TRACES - UMR 5608 CNRS)
• Clément Mambu Nsangathi (Head Curator of the Archaeology Section, Institut des musées nationaux du Congo)
• Santos Kavumbu (Researcher, Institut des musées nationaux du Congo)
• Michel Grenet (Prehistoric archaeologist, laboratoire LAMPEA - UMR 7269 CNRS)
• Renato Saleri (Researcher, laboratoire MAP Aria CNRS)
• Thomas Freteur (Videographer/ photographer)

Second mission in 2023:

First mission in 2021: