- Department of Anthropology,
Hamilton Hall, Room 201
American University
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016 - +1(202) 885-6378
Chap Kusimba
American University, Anthropology, Faculty Member
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The peoples of the Swahili coast of eastern Africa established a literate urban culture by the second millennium CE. They traded across eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean and were among the first sub-Saharan practitioners of Islam. An... more
The peoples of the Swahili coast of eastern Africa established a literate urban culture by the second millennium CE. They traded across eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean and were among the first sub-Saharan practitioners of Islam. An open question has been the extent to which these early interactions between Africans and non-Africans were accompanied by genetic admixture. We report genome-wide ancient DNA from 80 individuals in five medieval and early modern (1300-1800 CE) coastal towns, as well as people from an inland town postdating 1650 CE. Over half of the ancestry of most coastal individuals came from African ancestors; these African ancestors were primarily female. A slightly smaller proportion of ancestry was from Asia. This Asian component was approximately eighty to ninety percent from Near Eastern males and ten to twenty percent from Indian females. Peoples of African and Asian origins began to mix by around 1000 CE, a time when archaeological evidence documents changes...
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Research Interests: Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Archaeobotany, Landscape Archaeology, Evolutionary Archaeology, and 15 moreMesolithic Archaeology, Cultural Landscapes, Food History, Biology, Agriculture, Origins of Agriculture, Paleoethnobotany, Landscapes in prehistory, Food in antiquity, Archaeological Theory, Agricultural History, Prehistory, Prehistoric Archeology, Domestication, and Plant and Animal Domestication
Geoarchaeological investigations along the Galana River, eastern Kenya, document a pattern of channel aggradation and then degradation from the Middle to Late Holocene. Archaeological occupations at six sites in fluvial terraces along a... more
Geoarchaeological investigations along the Galana River, eastern Kenya, document a pattern of channel aggradation and then degradation from the Middle to Late Holocene. Archaeological occupations at six sites in fluvial terraces along a 100 km stretch of the Galana River in ...
Research Interests: Human Ecology, Archaeology, Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, and 12 moreGeoarchaeology, Paleoclimatology, Hydrology, Quaternary Geology, Archaeometry, Fluvial Geomorphology, OSL dating, Domestication (Zooarchaeology), African Archaeology, History and archaeology, Optically Stimulated Luminescence, and Geoarchaeoogy
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Examining myth, ritual, history and science, this work describes the systems of smithing and iron smelting, that existed in Africa 2000-2500 years ago. It demonstrates that iron production is a socially constructed activity and its... more
Examining myth, ritual, history and science, this work describes the systems of smithing and iron smelting, that existed in Africa 2000-2500 years ago. It demonstrates that iron production is a socially constructed activity and its cultural and technological domains cannot be understood alone.
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Ironsmiths occupy an important yet ambiguous position in many African societies. They are both revered and feared, because they wield social power which arises from their access to occult knowledge, not only of metallurgy but of healing,... more
Ironsmiths occupy an important yet ambiguous position in many African societies. They are both revered and feared, because they wield social power which arises from their access to occult knowledge, not only of metallurgy but of healing, divination, circumcision and peacemaking. In some societies smiths enjoy high status and are the wealthiest people. In others they are feared, covertly maligned, and blamed for societal misfortunes. In still others the…
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Comparing Prehistoric and Historic Hunter-Gatherer Mobility in Southern Kenya Sibel B. Kusimba and Chapurukha M. Kusimba This chapter compares ... Using information from societies like the IKung San, Lee and DeVore (1968: 11-12) assembled... more
Comparing Prehistoric and Historic Hunter-Gatherer Mobility in Southern Kenya Sibel B. Kusimba and Chapurukha M. Kusimba This chapter compares ... Using information from societies like the IKung San, Lee and DeVore (1968: 11-12) assembled an empirical model of hunter ...
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This paper discusses Preindustrial Water Management in Eastern Africa , in particular kin based agricultural societies and the potential for intensification of water management, with reference to sites like Engaruka, in Tanzania.
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This study reports the emerging patterns of migration and settlement of Kenyans into the Chicago metropolitan area. Like most African immigrant communities in North America, economic downturn, political instability, and socio-economic... more
This study reports the emerging patterns of migration and settlement of Kenyans into the Chicago metropolitan area. Like most African immigrant communities in North America, economic downturn, political instability, and socio-economic polarization in African countries necessitated an appreciable quantum of emigration of Kenyans following the attainment of Africa's political independence in the 1960s. Most of the findings on housing characteristics, education, employment, patterns of family life, socio-cultural interaction, challenges encountered by new immigrants, and related phenomena evince parallels with other studies on African immigrants in North America.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bryn Mawr College, 1993. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 310-344). Microfiche. s
ABSTRACT The provenance of cobalt mineral of the blue decoration in Yuan Qinghua porcelain would reveal the technological and cultural interaction between ancient China and the Islamic world. However, the limitation of conventional... more
ABSTRACT The provenance of cobalt mineral of the blue decoration in Yuan Qinghua porcelain would reveal the technological and cultural interaction between ancient China and the Islamic world. However, the limitation of conventional methods in the determining trace elements of the blue decoration hampered the deep research on provenance of the cobalt mineral. In the paper, we employed the good advantage of Laser-ablation-inductively-coupled-plasma-mass-spectroscopy (LA-ICP-MS) to determine the major element and trace elements of blue decoration of the different type of Qinghua successfully. The blue decoration of all different types of samples shared the same characteristics of higher FeO and lower Mn, which suggested the potter adopted the non- native cobalt material of China to paint the Yuan Qinghua in Jingdezheng, and the difference on the outside appearance of blue decoration of different samples were supposed to be related to the tenor of ore, the different treatment process of cobalt material and the firing process in the kiln. In addition, the significant differences on the element concentrations of Cu, Ni, Pb, Zr and Sb in the blue decoration between Yuan Qinghua and the Islamic blue and white wares of 13-14th century provided a new evidence to discuss the provenance of the cobalt of Yuan Qinghua porcelain.
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ABSTRACT Researchers have raised a wide range of variables to account for the emergence and governance of complex polities. Warfare and investment in military power, along with an expansionist ideology, are often raised as catalysts for... more
ABSTRACT Researchers have raised a wide range of variables to account for the emergence and governance of complex polities. Warfare and investment in military power, along with an expansionist ideology, are often raised as catalysts for the emergence of state societies and hierarchical forms of leadership. In southern Africa’s Zambezian region, complex polities arose during the Later Iron Age, presently dated to the early second millennium CE. Wealth accumulation in the form of arable land for grazing cattle, as well as the development of a highly regulated elite ideology coupled with favorable climatic conditions, factored into this trajectory of sociopolitical development. This paper explores the role coercion may have played in cultural changes associated with increased political complexity in Zambezia. Coercive and persuasive leadership is often challenging to recognize archaeologically. Do we have sufficient visible datasets to support coercive power and conflict as a dominant factor for cultural change in this region? Was conflict a significant driver of change in the prehistoric Shashi-Limpopo Basin? How does the evidence stand up to scrutiny when evaluated against known archaeological signatures for warfare?
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Page 1. INTENSIFICATION AND PROTOHISTORIC AGROPASTORAL SYSTEMS IN EAST AFRICA Sibel B. Kusimba and Chapurukha M. Kusimba * INTRODUCTION Agricultural systems can become complex in many different ways; nor do they necessarily intensify. ...
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... The Tsodilo jewellery: Metal work from northern Botswana. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Miller, Duncan. PUBLISHER: UCT Press (Rondebosch, South Africa). SERIES TITLE: YEAR: 1996. PUB TYPE: Book (ISBN 0799215856 ).... more
... The Tsodilo jewellery: Metal work from northern Botswana. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Miller, Duncan. PUBLISHER: UCT Press (Rondebosch, South Africa). SERIES TITLE: YEAR: 1996. PUB TYPE: Book (ISBN 0799215856 ). VOLUME/EDITION: ...
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... Toll of Katrina: How Social and Economic Resources are Altering the Recovery Experience among Katrina Evacuees in Colorado MEGAN UNDERHILL 59 ... The planning of the event was greatly aided by Sofia Ivanova and Pamela Canady, who... more
... Toll of Katrina: How Social and Economic Resources are Altering the Recovery Experience among Katrina Evacuees in Colorado MEGAN UNDERHILL 59 ... The planning of the event was greatly aided by Sofia Ivanova and Pamela Canady, who ensured that the details were ...
Page 1. African Archaeological Review, Vol. 16, No. 2, 1999 Book Review Africa: A Biography of the Continent. By John Reader. Hamish Hamilton, London 1997, 840 pp. ISBN 0-241-13047-6. The story of humans in Africa is the story of... more
Page 1. African Archaeological Review, Vol. 16, No. 2, 1999 Book Review Africa: A Biography of the Continent. By John Reader. Hamish Hamilton, London 1997, 840 pp. ISBN 0-241-13047-6. The story of humans in Africa is the story of humankind. ...
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The Bantu languages are widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Genetic research supports linguists and historians who argue that migration played an important role in the spread of this language family, but the genetic data... more
The Bantu languages are widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Genetic research supports linguists and historians who argue that migration played an important role in the spread of this language family, but the genetic data also indicates a more complex process involving substantial gene flow with resident populations. In order to understand the Bantu expansion process in east Africa, mtDNA hypervariable region I variation in 352 individuals from the Taita and Mijikenda ethnic groups was analyzed, and we evaluated the interactions that took place between the Bantu- and non-Bantu-speaking populations in east Africa. The Taita and Mijikenda are Bantu-speaking agropastoralists from southeastern Kenya, at least some of whose ancestors probably migrated into the area as part of Bantu migrations that began around 3,000 BCE. Our analyses indicate that they show some distinctive differences that reflect their unique cultural histories. The Taita are genetically more diverse than the Mijikenda with larger estimates of genetic diversity. The Taita cluster with other east African groups, having high frequencies of haplogroups from that region, while the Mijikenda have high frequencies of central African haplogroups and cluster more closely with central African Bantu-speaking groups. The non-Bantu speakers who lived in southeastern Kenya before Bantu speaking groups arrived were at least partially incorporated into what are now Bantu-speaking Taita groups. In contrast, gene flow from non-Bantu speakers into the Mijikenda was more limited. These results suggest a more complex demographic history where the nature of Bantu and non-Bantu interactions varied throughout the area.
Research Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Archaeology, Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology, Gene Flow, and 14 morePopulation Genetics, Africa, Physical Anthropology, Kenya, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, mtDNA, Mitochondrial DNA, Humans, Haplotypes, Female, Male, Ethnic Groups, Demographic History, and mtDNA diversity
Page 1. P1: JVP/JVP P2: JVP African Archaeological Review [aar] pp1043-aarr-475964 November 14, 2003 10:12 Style file version Nov 28th, 2002 African Archaeological Review, Vol. 20, No. 4, December 2003 ( C o 2003) Book Review ...
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... Not all societies evolved into states but many of those that did generally exhibit salient features that have guided archaeological theorizing on the emergence of the state (Bilman 2002; Carneiro 1981; Flannery 1998; Fried 1967;... more
... Not all societies evolved into states but many of those that did generally exhibit salient features that have guided archaeological theorizing on the emergence of the state (Bilman 2002; Carneiro 1981; Flannery 1998; Fried 1967; Johnson and Earle 2000; Keeley 1996; Marcus ...
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Excavations in Tsavo, Kenya