Mograt’s Present and Recent Past

This collaborative research project is dedicated to the present and immediate past of the people of Mograt and the surrounding region. Mograt has a rich and deep past, which is the main focus of archaeological research, including survey, mapping and excavation.

However, archaeological methods can also help us to explore the more recent past of the island as well as its present. Mudbrick buildings and compounds in Mograt’s villages, for example, are dynamically adjusted. They are built, modified, abandoned, renovated, re-occupied, etc., to fit the changing needs of their occupants. These buildings are material manifestations of personal and family histories, and they reflect the fortunes and misfortunes of the people of Mograt over the past one hundred years or so. The location of villages may tell us about the effects of the introduction of the diesel pump, as fields were expanded and settlements shifted. 

The knowledge and memories of the people of Mograt help us to better understand the material traces of Mograt’s recent past – and how the island has become the place it is today. We would like to explore this local knowledge together with partners from Mograt who are interested in telling and collecting personal, family, village and island (his)stories, and in preserving them locally for the(ir) future.