Making the Labour Visible Behind the Tendaguru Dinosaur Collection Through Wikidata

(1) Context: The German Tendaguru Expedition

The German Tendaguru expedition was a colonial excavation project, which engaged the labour of hundreds of people of diverse African ethnicities, and was carried out in present-day Tanzania from 1909 to 1913. This excavation of the fossil material, based on labour extraction, led to 225 tons of dinosaur bones covered with sediment, being transported to the German Imperial capital of Berlin (Heumann et al., 2024). The value of these bones for the field of vertebrate palaeontology is well researched. Owing to digitisation and datafication, these fossils are also becoming increasingly integrated into the field of digital humanities. However, the labour dimensions under which these bones were collected is equally noteworthy, as the entire expedition was embedded within the framework of German imperial domination over present-day Tanzania – relying on labour and land extraction of Eastern Africa as well as its various ethnic communities.

Museums are increasingly focusing on digitising and providing virtual access to their natural cultural collections. This increase in digitised natural material and its associated data have drawn focus to the dominations, omissions, and gaps in the collection data (Zaagsma, 2023). This is also the case with the Tendaguru collection at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, where the digitisation of Tendaguru fossils has further brought to light the lack of records of labour information associated with the fossils. In the wider field of museum digitisation, these colonial biases are also starkly reflected in the classification systems used for these collections, which upon digitisation due to lack of critical engagement are transported to the digital realm (Briscoe et al., 2022). In such cases, a decolonial approach could constitute taking into consideration scientific, historical, intellectual, and political aspects (Risam, 2018). In relation to botanical and other natural cultural material, Wikidata offers a valuable resource where collaborative work could benefit natural sciences by bringing diverse historical information together with scientific findings (von Mering et al., 2025). Therefore, integration of labor information associated with Tendaguru fossils into Wikidata could lead to further enrichment of the historical and palaeontological information available on the platform.

To understand the historical context of the Tendaguru excavation with regards to the colonial and labour dimensions, the post Berlin Conference German Colonial Empire needs to be brought to focus. After the “scramble for Africa” started in 1885 (Chamberlain, 2010), the German colonial empire participated in it by colonising present-day Tanzania from 1885 until 1913. The colonisation was met with resistance across the region with the Hehe resistance from 1891 to 1898, and the Majimaji resistance spanning over two years (1905–1907). As an attempt to suppress the Majimaji resistance, the violence by German imperial forces caused the death of 180000 people. Imperial Germany employed a variety of tactics to curb the uprising – the primary strategy was the scorched earth policy which led to mass starvation and famine (Sunseri, 2022). A year after the official disarming of resistance groups, the Tendaguru excavation started at the geographical core of the Majimaji resistance (Rushohora, 2015). Benefitting the German metropolitan centre, this colonial excavation depended on the labour that was forcibly extracted from hundreds of individuals (including men, women and children) of diverse African ethnicities, who had deep knowledge of the land in that region. Their labour involved surveying the land, locating the fossils, digging them out, preparing, packing, transporting, documenting, and other innumerable tasks. The women and children on the excavation site were responsible for sustenance of the campsites, such as water hauling and other forms of domestic labour for the people working on the excavation site. Additionally, there were young men referred to by the colonial term “boys” by the German expedition leaders, who carried out domestic labour (Rösser, 2024). Along with domestic labour, they supported the German expedition leaders with construction of the camp site as well as everyday tasks, such as translation and accompanying them on land surveys and trips.

The extent of physical labour required for the Tendaguru expedition is evident from the vast area upon which the excavation sites or quarries were spread. There were around 67 quarries excavated for dinosaur fossils^1,2 (Janensch, 1925). Surveys performed by the German expedition leaders with the help of local communities led to excavations beyond the Tendaguru Hill, spreading in the regions with historical names of Mtapaia, Kindope, and expanding further into the regions located in the north, such as Kilwa. The archival documents hold testimony to the distances the people on site had to travel. With the excavation sites several miles apart, the workers had to walk on foot sometimes for multiple days to get from one site to another. That the excavation sites were such long distances apart added to the labour imposed on each individual.

The location of the excavation sites and their association to the excavators is an important source of information to highlight, as several of these sites can be directly associated with the names of overseers with the help of the archival documents. So entangled is the labour of the East African population with the Tendaguru expedition, that in the archival sources the quarries on the site are referred to by the names of the people overseeing the excavation. For example, the bones excavated from site M were referred to as “Nyororosaurus”, and those excavated from site H as “Mohammadisaurus”. Similarly, some excavation sites were referred to by the names of the people overseeing it such as “Ngororo-Graben” (Ngororo-quarry) named after Seliman Ngororo, and “Seliman-Graben” (Seliman-quarry) named after Seliman Kawinga (Stoecker & Ohl, 2024).

Over eight hundred men, women, and children laboured under coercive and exploitative conditions during the Tendaguru excavation. Yet, within the colonial archives of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, the names of only 23 workers have been identified so far. All of these names are of the people who were more senior in the German hierarchical systems of workers – with no mention of those workers who were perhaps viewed as performing ‘ordinary’ labour by the Germans. This stark absence of documentation, whether due to loss, omission, or colonial practices, makes historical reconstruction difficult today. It contributes to the erasure of the skills and suffering of African workers, whose role has been systematically downplayed in favour of European actors in official accounts. This has led to the achievements of the excavation being attributed primarily to European scientists and administrators.

Through our research, we have begun a process of identifying the limited names and biographical details within the colonial archive and making them accessible. As part of this effort, we have added the limited data to Wikidata, where each identified individual is documented not only by name but also by the type of labour they performed and the specific quarry sites on which they worked. Through creating this open access and networked data, we hope to open up avenues for future research.

(2) Dataset description

The dataset is part of the research project Research and Responsibility (DFG SCHW 1452/10–1) that aims to provide virtual access to the fossil and archival materials collected during the German Tendaguru Expedition 1909–1913. The dataset is constituted by a table with 23 names of workers from various African ethnicities who contributed to the expedition, comprising their names along with data on the excavation sites/quarries where they worked, the nature of their labour, the skills involved, and bibliographic references.

(3) Method

The source material employed for collecting the data on the labour during Tendaguru expedition was primarily the archival collection at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. This includes detailed documentation of the work being carried out at the excavation site by the German expedition leaders, in the form of field books, sketches, correspondence with various vendors and suppliers, and daily attendance sheets. However, despite the in-depth record keeping, the names of most of the people working on the site are missing from the archival records. Our methods included scouring the archival documents to find the names of as many people as we could. There is also secondary literature which has consulted other archival sources, such as the archives at the University of Tübingen that contain correspondence of Edwin Hennig with family and friends in Germany during the expedition.

Another important component of the project involves the digitisation and transcription of archival documents. This process is being carried out by a dedicated team of five volunteers responsible for transcribing the documents housed in the museum, and three volunteers who focus on preparing and segmenting these materials for transcription. The work is conducted using the platform Transkribus.³ Upon completion, the fully transcribed documents will be published through the same platform.

Throughout the transcription process, transcribers apply detailed tagging, including the identification of names, which has proven to be a crucial step in recovering and structuring valuable historical information. Given that many of the original documents are fragile and often difficult to decipher, the expertise and precision of the transcribers are essential in rendering the material legible and accessible to a much broader audience. Future stages of the project include plans to translate the transcriptions into both English and Swahili, thereby further enhancing accessibility, and enabling wider engagement with these historical sources.

Specify,⁴ the relational collection database used by the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, has also provided valuable information for the preparation of this data-upload. While the database currently records mainly scientific data linked to the bones, it has helped collate and clarify certain details, such as linking specific collectors to particular excavation sites and reconciling inconsistencies in the spelling of names. These connections have offered additional context for understanding the excavation’s organisation.

As part of the data entry/integration process, a total of 21 identified individuals were added to Wikidata. Names of two individuals, Boheti bin Amrani and Salesi bin Mgoni, already existed on Wikidata – the existing data related to them was further enriched with labour information. In total, 76 items had to be generated entirely from scratch, as they did not previously exist on Wikidata. The newly-created entries include names: such as Issa, Ngaranga, Liganga, Hizza, Sefu, Kimbamba, Ntandayira, Tombali, Seliman, Kawinga, Keranje, Mwejelo, Salesi, Laa, Tatu, and Nyororo as well as entries relating to specific excavation sites and various forms of labour.

A further addition was the item “skilled labourer: skilled or highly-skilled physical labour – labour done with expertise”. This concept did not yet exist in Wikidata, and its inclusion was deemed necessary to accurately represent the nature of work undertaken by African overseers, preparators, carriers, and workers physically excavating on the site. Archival records from the expedition consistently demonstrate the high level of expertise, precision, and technical knowledge required in their labour, underscoring that such work extended well beyond unskilled physical effort.

Another crucial entry created was “coerced labour under colonialism: labour carried out under colonial circumstances, often through direct coercion or circumstantial enforcement”. This addition was motivated by the need to acknowledge that much of the labour associated with the Tendaguru expedition was not purely voluntary. As discussed in previous sections, many of the workers were compelled to participate due to the coercive structures of German colonial rule, including the aftermath of resistance warfare, the destruction of villages, and the imposition of increased colonial taxation (Rushohora, 2015). Recognising this dynamic is vital to accurately represent the socio-political conditions under which the expedition’s workforce operated.

In addition to individual and labour-related entries, new items were created for each excavation site. These were, understandably, not previously represented in Wikidata. The documentation of excavation sites is essential, as it provides critical information about where each individual worked and which fossils they excavated. This spatial and contextual data contributes to the broader objective of the ongoing research project Research and Responsibility: Virtual Access to Fossil and Archival Material from the German Tendaguru Expedition (1909–1913). By integrating data on workers, sites, and fossil specimens, the project aims to reconstruct networks of labour and expertise, thereby foregrounding the often-overlooked contributions of Tanzanian workers to palaeontological discovery.

The archival and secondary sources consulted identified a total of 19 preparators, including two individuals who were overseers or crew leaders. Additionally, two individuals were involved in domestic work, and one worked as a cook (Maier, 2003, p. 254; Rösser, 2024). Through this information, it becomes possible to establish a direct connection between the fossil bones and the individuals who excavated them. By linking the names of workers to specific excavation sites and the fossils recovered from those sites, we can more accurately trace which individuals were responsible for particular excavations. This process not only enhances recognition and understanding of the workers’ technical skill and labour, but also provides a tangible association between their contributions and the physical specimens. In the longer term, this form of documentation may support future initiatives for scientific and historical justice.

(4) Results and discussion

The goal of this study was to highlight the diverse forms of labour performed for the Tendaguru expedition by the African population under German colonial rule. In addition, it also focused on giving prominence to the highly skilled nature of labour the population engaged in on the site. The skills that workers held have historically been undervalued due to the Western perception of what constitutes professional training or scientific designations, but above all, because of a lack of recognition for their work. However, the labour they performed required multilayered expertise ranging from identifying dinosaur bones in the soil bed to the subsequent excavating, ensuring safe storage, packing, and transporting of it. Along with palaeontological work, the people on site also constructed living quarters for everyone, including those for German expedition leaders. They also bore responsibility for all the labour encompassing general sustenance of the site, such as sourcing food and water.

To fulfill the goals of the research of giving visibility to the diverse forms of labour, the study identified the names of 23 people (including 21 created specifically in Wikidata for this paper) of diverse African ethnicities who worked on the Tendaguru expedition under German colonial rule (see Table 1). The research integrated their names and associated contextual data in Wikidata, resulting in the creation of 76 new items. These include items for the first and last names of individuals, items for the excavation sites on which they laboured, items for the nature of their labour and the specialised skills required, as well as items for bibliographic references. By integrating this information in Wikidata, the study contributes to a more accessible record of the diverse and skilled contributions made by African workers during the expedition.

Although this research attempts to incorporate the names of people and their labour during the Tendaguru expedition into Wikidata, the dataset of the labour on the Tendaguru excavation site can never be fully comprehensive as the source material only documents 23 names out of the hundreds of workers on site. Additionally, it does not record the labour of women and children on the site, who equally contributed to the sustenance of the camps by doing domestic and other kinds of labour not directly linked to the fossils.

Table 1 lists the names of the men who provided labour on the Tengaduru expedition this research was able to identify. All of the items created are associated with the Wikimedia project Research and Responsibility: Virtual access to fossil and archival material from the German Tendaguru Expedition (1909–1913) (Q135490302) and WikiProject MfN Berlin Names (Q136483366). There are bibliographic references to each of the names mentioned below added to Wikidata. However, the primary references for these names are the archival records held at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. It is anticipated that these archival records will be published online and openly accessible in the latter part of 2026. However, integrating these names on Wikidata ahead of their official online publication renders the data readily available for further research.

It is important to acknowledge that this dataset is entirely based on the colonial documentation, and could potentially contain misinformation. Some of the above-mentioned names of people of African ethnicities are often misspelled in the archival sources as well as in the museum database, resulting in several variations of titles for a single person. Although this research attempts to add alternative spellings as aliases, there might exist further variations in literary sources that are absent from Wikidata. This aspect adds a layer of complexity to identifying the right person through the Wikidata search function and attributing the labour to them. However, it is anticipated that as the information on Wikidata gets further populated, and more sources are added, this aspect of Wikidata searchability will be improved.

(5) Implications/Applications

Conclusion

This paper demonstrates that the Tendaguru expedition, long celebrated for its palaeontological discoveries, was equally a site of immense skilled labour by East African men, women and children coerced under German colonial rule. By identifying 23 named East African workers and integrating their data onto Wikidata, this research takes the initial step towards making this labour more visible and opening up further research opportunities. The paper highlights how open, linked data can be used not only to make Tendaguru archival and fossil information more accessible, but also to embed within digital infrastructures a recognition of colonial exploitation (and resistance). Although this research remains predominantly Western-centric, and the labour information still has plenty of gaps, it is anticipated that integrating the available information on Wikidata will help alleviate these shortcomings. Ultimately, this work aims to contribute to restoring visibility and acknowledgement of the labour that took place during the GTE (1909–1913). It implores for continued work in this field and improved access for researchers and communities outside of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin.

Competing Interests

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Author Contributions

Sara Akhlaq: Conceptualisation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Validation

Ella Bates: Conceptualisation, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Marion Depraetere: Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Validation