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Unearthing Namibia's Forgotten Genocide Through Archaeology

Despite the scale of the Namibian genocide - one of the first genocides of the 20th century - between 1904 and 1908, in which tens of thousands of Ovaherero and Nama people were killed under German colonial rule, the material and human legacy of this genocide remains less understood than later atrocities.

Historical accounts exist, but are often incomplete or shaped by the perspectives and priorities of the colonial period in which they were produced.

The landscapes of Namibia that testify to this violence still survive, but are under increasing pressure from urban expansion, infrastructure development and environmental change. Archaeological research is playing a key role in documenting and protecting this heritage, write William Mitchell and Kevin Colls for The Conversation Africa.

Bundesarchiv, Bild, Unknown author, Ullstein Bilderdienst, Berlin/Wikimedia Commons

Tens of thousands of Namibians, mainly the Nama and Ovaherero, were killed in the first genocide of the 20th century. German troops massacred and displaced tens of thousands of Namibians in 1904-1908.

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