AIA Site Preservation Projects
This project at the 500-year-old prehistoric site of Thimlich Ohinga is directed by Dr. Edward M. Luby of San Francisco State University and Dr. Isaya Onjala from National Museums of Kenya. The magnificent monumental construction, built with unshaped stones and no mortar, served as a fortification and urban complex, and, after initial abandonment, was reused by several different groups who occupied the site until as recently as a few decades ago. In 1981, after it was abandoned for the last time, the site was designated as a national monument by the government of Kenya.
April 18, 2019
Thimlich Ohinga in Kenya, an AIA Site Preservation Grant winner, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
September 21, 2012
Read about the installation of interpretive signage and road signs at Thimlich Ohinga, which in only two weeks has resulted in an increased number of visitors to this important site.
September 5, 2012
Project director Dr. Isaya Onjala reports on the restoration work and an educators workshop going on at the site of Thimlich Ohinga, Kenya.
May 14, 2012
A number of museum studies students at SFSU designed interpretive signs and brochures for the AIA Site Preservation project at Thimlich Ohinga, Kenya.
January 20, 2012
Thimlich Ohinga project directors report on the first stakeholders' workshop held at the site in December.
December 1, 2011
The AIA-funded project at Thimlich Ohinga held its first workshop to educate the local community on the preservation goals of the project and how the site should be preserved.
April 26, 2011
The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) will fund a community-based archaeological conservation project in Luoland in southwestern Kenya.
The AIA is North America's largest and oldest nonprofit organization dedicated to archaeology. The Institute advances awareness, education, fieldwork, preservation, publication, and research of archaeological sites and cultural heritage throughout the world. Your contribution makes a difference.
