Benguela - With a collection estimated at more than nine thousand pieces, the National Archeology Museum, located in the province of Benguela, has been waiting for the rehabilitation of its infrastructure for more than twenty years, Angop learned yesterday.

In statements to ANGOP regarding the 18th of April, International Day of Monuments and Sites, the director of the aforementioned museum, Maria Benjamim, said that it is in an advanced state of degradation and with each passing year the situation becomes more worrying.
The person responsible said the museum operates in terrible conditions, with serious infiltration problems in its upper area and in its structures, so its rehabilitation is urgent, so that it can perform the function for which the already classified national heritage site was designed.

On the occasion, he said that the museum contains collections from 16 archaeological sites in Benguela, Luanda, Namibe and Lubango that could disappear if the museum is not rehabilitated.
He further explained that the Benguela museum carries out prospecting, excavation work and removes material from the field to the laboratory, where it is washed and cataloged for display.
Maria Benjamim said that the field of action is from prehistory to the present day with regards to ceramics, mythology, tombs, among others.
He explained that, at the moment, the museum has received visitors from schools and individuals, including some national and foreign tourists.
The National Museum of Archeology of Benguela operates in a former slave warehouse, also known as Alfândega de Benguela, and is directly linked to the history and development process of the city.
It was built at the end of the 17th century and its construction ended at the beginning of the 18th century, serving to concentrate slaves in the period known as the “Era of the Slave Trade” to be taken to various parts of the world through the Benguela coast, mainly to the American and European continents.
The National Archeology Museum is a public, non-profit establishment of a scientific, technical, cultural and educational nature and its purpose is to ensure the inventory, preservation, investigation, valorization and dissemination of the scientific and cultural production of the country's cultural and natural heritage .

Source:  angop

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