Conversations with local people in Tombos- by Tomomi Fushiya محادثه مع السكان المحليين في تمبس بواسطه Tomomi Fushiya

I joined the Tombos archaeological team from this season to enhance community engagement efforts in the village that surrounds archaeological remains of Tombos and where the team have stayed over the last two decades. The archaeological team previously created educational materials for students and teachers at a local primary school in 2017 , an information pamphlet for them and excavation workers in 2016, and organised public talks at the nadi – soccer club. To continue and further develop the previous work, I’ve started asking schoolteachers and local people if they have any questions to archaeologists or whether they are interested in any programmes about archaeology. We invited a group of 5th grade students and a history teacher to visit the excavation in the cemetery (image below). I also investigate stories and ritual practices that relate to archaeological records in Tombos – the rock inscriptions, statue and ancient cemetery, and whether aspects of the local history and heritage are considered associated to these records. As I am a new face for the residents of the village, I started from having conversations with some of them to get to know each other and talk around the topics of my interests over tea and breakfast.