Wikipedia:WikiProject African Archaeology

2022-10-17

Africa has the longest record of human biological and cultural evolution in the world. Throughout this period, homo sapiens and our ancestors have lived across the African continent – from Jebel Irhoud in Morocco to Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa - developing diverse and complex cultures and lifeways. However, while archaeologists and other specialists are generally well acquainted will these histories, the lack of public outreach and rise of Pseudoarchaeology has left many non-specialists unaware.

This Wiki project is an exercise of the African Archaeology course at University of Gent, in collaboration with Wikimedia Belgium. The project is designed to allow students to explore a topic, site, or archaeological tradition of their choice over the course of an entire semester. The master’s students will select a topic within African Archaeology and create a Wikipedia page with maps, images, and referenced texted in order to expand the growing body of public knowledge of African Archaeology.

Preparation

 * Create a Wikipedia account
 * Choose a topic, site, or archaeological tradition
 * Register for the training platform via the blue "Participate" button at the top.
 * Begin writing your article!
 * First write your text, including references, in an offline word processor.
 * Aim for 1-2 pages or at least 500 words, plus images.
 * List your references at the end of the document (avoid using built-in footnotes, as copy/pasting them into Wikipedia will be more difficult)
 * Feel free to email researchers for images or further sources.
 * Consult the Writing Better Articles page for tips and tricks.

Submission

 * Students should submit their final drafts as Microsoft Word documents
 * Deadline for submission and making your Wiki page live is Sunday 11 December
 * Short (5-10 minute) presentations will occur on the final day of class

Help and Tutorials
There are a number of helpful tools to get you started.


 * The WikiEdu program has a series of training modules that are extremely helpful.
 * Here is the Introduction to Wikipedia page.
 * Consult the Your First Page article.
 * You may want to begin by using an Article Wizard - check it out.
 * Below you will find several documents and videos to help you along:

Works in Progress
For a list of possible topics, remember to consult the course's Google Sheets page.