Oxford Príncipe Project

🌿 Exciting news! 🎬

Our documentary Príncipe Past & Present has been officially selected for ECOCINE International Environmental and Human Rights Film Festival in Brazil. 🌍

Ecocine is the first environmental film festival in Brazil (and the second in the world), and this year marks its 33rd anniversary 🏆 running alongside the global climate discussions of COP30. 🌱

We’re thrilled that our film will be screened as part of this year’s programme! 📽️

Insights from Mangal Abade 🌿: Our 2023 preliminary survey of this mangrove site on Príncipe island revealed a rich variety of ceramic fragments, offering glimpses into the island's past.

Particularly intriguing is the apparent broader chronological range of surface ceramics compared to those found at Ribeira Izé, challenging the assumption of Ribeira Izé as the oldest site and prompting a reevaluation of Príncipe's historical timeline.

These initial findings emphasize the importance of further research to deepen our understanding of the island's history. 📜🔍

🌍 We are delighted to announce that our Lead Environmental Scientist, Bastiaan van Dalen, was invited to present at the Society for American Archaeology's 89th annual meeting! His talk, 'Bridging the Gap: Exploring Historical Human-Environment Dynamicodiversity Hotspot in the Gulf of Guinea,' highlighted the urgent need for biodiversity hotspot research to protect Earth's species.

Focusing on São Tomé and Príncipe, an overlooked hotspot, Bastiaan emphasised its unique potential for understanding human-environment interactions. Despite its significance, Príncipe lacks extensive archaeological research.

Bastiaan discussed future fieldwork possibilities and shared insights from our initial paleoecological research—the first of its kind on Príncipe.

Our Filmmaker and Communications Officer, Sophie Carlarne, shares her experience in expedition filmmaking during a masterclass for OUEC - Oxford University Exploration Club. 🎥🌍

🔬 Update: The sampling of cores and pollen preparations, collected during the expedition, is in full swing at the University of La Laguna’s ecology laboratory! We are excited to share some examples of the well-preserved mangrove pollen from the Praia Grande site, provided by Dr. Álvaro Castilla-Beltrán. 🌼🔍

Bastiaan van Dalen, our Lead Environmental Scientist, has once again been featured by Dutch news site Omroep Flevoland! In this video, he speaks about his PhD and shares more about our Príncipe expedition.

https://www.omroepflevoland.nl/gemist/radio/347159/flevolander-in-het-buitenland-welk-buitenland-eigenlijk?id=347159&fbclid=IwAR3ls110CnAq4tL9Ft6EdAGcAflA8QXEUvLuZDMULsk2-KiKUc_srVr44uk

Flevolander in het buitenland: wélk buitenland eigenlijk? Oud-Almeerder Bastiaan van Dalen reist de hele wereld over. We spraken hem al toen hij in Engeland en Alaska woonde en zelfs de West-Afrikaanse kust. Vandaag is hij toevallig tijdelijk in Nederland. Maar ook dat duurt niet lang meer, want binnenkort gaat hij misschien in Duitsland wonen, omdat hij o...

Time flies! ⏰ It's hard to believe it's been 6 months since we embarked on our journey to Príncipe. Stay tuned as we share exciting updates on our ongoing research and the progress of our documentary.

We extend sincere gratitude to our partners and advisors, whose support made this expedition possible. Thank you to University of Oxford, The Explorers Club & ROLEX, Belo Monte Hotel, Harvard Travellers Club, South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership, St Hugh's College, Africa's Eden, Forever Príncipe and the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology for their contributions to this project.

Bastiaan van Dalen had a fantastic time presenting our research at in Houston! Gratitude goes to South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership and the Society of Africanist Archaeologists (SAfA) for their grants, making his attendance possible.

Post-production is in full swing! A shot of our Filmmaker and Communications Officer, Sophie Carlarne, fully immersed in editing the Príncipe documentary. We can’t wait to share the film with you in the future! 🎥