Jeffrey Fleisher
Rice University, Anthropology, Faculty Member
- Anthropology, Archaeology, African Archaeology, Tanzania, Swahili Coast, Social Archaeology, and 37 moreCeramics (Archaeology), Spatial Practices, Landscape Archaeology, Architecture and Public Spaces, Household Archaeology, Urbanism, Urbanism (Archaeology), Maritime Archaeology, Performance, Archaeological Geophysics, Survey (Archaeological Method & Theory), Swahili, Africa (Archaeology), Archaeology of public space, Coastal and Island Archaeology, East Africa, Indian Ocean World, Prehistoric Archaeology, African Studies, African History, Indian Ocean Archaeology, Indian Ocean History, Comparative Urbanism, Historical Archaeology, Mesoamerican Archaeology, Settlement Patterns, Urban Studies, Historical Anthropology, Archaeological Theory, Community Archaeology, Spatial archaeology, Archaeological Method & Theory, Indian Ocean Trade, Geoarchaeology, Medieval Archaeology, Islamic Archaeology, and Debates on public space and public life, urban design theory, urban culture and historyedit
- I am an archaeologist that works in eastern and southern Africa, and my research has focused on questions that concer... moreI am an archaeologist that works in eastern and southern Africa, and my research has focused on questions that concern people often left out of archaeological interpretations: rural communities in urban settlement systems, non-elite people in cities, and communities beyond the frontiers of large-scale societies. This research has explored: the roles that rural and non-elite people play in the composition of urban societies and the way they participate in social, economic, and religious spheres; the transformation of village settlements to ‘rural’ ones as urban centers develop; the use material culture and space in the establishment and maintenance of social inequality and power; and the way people use everyday items such as ceramics, coins, and architecture in public performances and the construction of value.edit
This volume proposes a supplemental approach to interdisciplinary historical reconstructions that draw on archaeological and linguistic data. The introduction lays out the supplemental approach, situating it in the broader context of... more
This volume proposes a supplemental approach to interdisciplinary historical reconstructions that draw on archaeological and linguistic data. The introduction lays out the supplemental approach, situating it in the broader context of similar interdisciplinary research methods in other world regions. Reflecting the arguments of the volume and its goal to document the process rather than the outcome of interdisciplinary collaboration, the volume is organized into two two-chapter case studies. Within each case study, the non-specialist develops an historical interpretation using their own research findings and published data from the other discipline.This chapter is followed by critical commentary from the specialist, a dialogue clarifying the commentary and specialists’ methods, and a second short historical interpretation that deploys insights from the supplemental approach. The conclusion reflects on the challenges of disciplinary conventions to interdisciplinary research and the contribution of the supplemental approach to efforts to know the history of oral societies in Africa and beyond.
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Theory in Africa, Africa in Theory explores the place of Africa in archaeological theory, and the place of theory in African archaeology. The centrality of Africa to global archaeological thinking is highlighted, with a particular focus... more
Theory in Africa, Africa in Theory explores the place of Africa in archaeological theory, and the place of theory in African archaeology. The centrality of Africa to global archaeological thinking is highlighted, with a particular focus on materiality and agency in contemporary interpretation. As a means to explore the nature of theory itself, the volume also addresses differences between how African models are used in western theoretical discourse and the use of that theory within Africa. Providing a key contribution to theoretical discourse through a focus on the context of theory-building, this volume explores how African modes of thought have shaped our approaches to a meaningful past outside of Africa.
A timely intervention into archaeological thought, Theory in Africa, Africa in Theory deconstructs the conventional ways we approach the past, positioning the continent within a global theoretical discourse and blending Western and African scholarship. This volume will be a valuable resource for those interested in the archaeology of Africa, as well as providing fresh perspectives to those interested in archaeological theory more generally.
A timely intervention into archaeological thought, Theory in Africa, Africa in Theory deconstructs the conventional ways we approach the past, positioning the continent within a global theoretical discourse and blending Western and African scholarship. This volume will be a valuable resource for those interested in the archaeology of Africa, as well as providing fresh perspectives to those interested in archaeological theory more generally.
Research Interests:
Recent efforts to engage more explicitly with the interpretation of emotions in archaeology have sought new approaches and terminology to encourage archaeologists to take emotions seriously. This is part of a growing awareness of the... more
Recent efforts to engage more explicitly with the interpretation of emotions in archaeology have sought new approaches and terminology to encourage archaeologists to take emotions seriously. This is part of a growing awareness of the importance of senses—what we see, smell, hear, and feel—in the constitution and reconstitution of past social and cultural lives.
Yet research on emotion in archaeology remains limited, despite the fact that such states underpin many studies of socio-cultural transformation. The Archaeology of Anxiety draws together papers that examine the local complexities of anxiety as well as the variable stimuli—class or factional struggle, warfare, community construction and maintenance, personal turmoil, and responsibilities to (and relationships with) the dead—that may generate emotional responses of fear, anxiousness, worry, and concern.
The goal of this timely volume is to present fresh research that addresses the material dimension of rites and performances related to the mitigation and negotiation of anxiety as well as the role of material culture and landscapes in constituting and even creating periods or episodes of anxiety.
Yet research on emotion in archaeology remains limited, despite the fact that such states underpin many studies of socio-cultural transformation. The Archaeology of Anxiety draws together papers that examine the local complexities of anxiety as well as the variable stimuli—class or factional struggle, warfare, community construction and maintenance, personal turmoil, and responsibilities to (and relationships with) the dead—that may generate emotional responses of fear, anxiousness, worry, and concern.
The goal of this timely volume is to present fresh research that addresses the material dimension of rites and performances related to the mitigation and negotiation of anxiety as well as the role of material culture and landscapes in constituting and even creating periods or episodes of anxiety.
The urban peoples of the Swahili coast traded across eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean and were among the first practitioners of Islam among sub-Saharan people1,2. The extent to which these early interactions between Africans and... more
The urban peoples of the Swahili coast traded across eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean and were among the first practitioners of Islam among sub-Saharan people1,2. The extent to which these early interactions between Africans and non-Africans were accompanied by genetic exchange remains unknown. Here we report ancient DNA data for 80 individuals from 6 medieval and early modern (AD 1250–1800) coastal towns and an inland town after AD 1650. More than half of the DNA of many of the individuals from coastal towns originates from primarily female ancestors from Africa, with a large proportion—and occasionally more than half—of the DNA coming from Asian ancestors. The Asian ancestry includes components associated with Persia and India, with 80–90% of the Asian DNA originating from Persian men. Peoples of African and Asian origins began to mix by about AD 1000, coinciding with the large-scale adoption of Islam. Before about AD 1500, the Southwest Asian ancestry was mainly Persian-related, consistent with the narrative of the Kilwa Chronicle, the oldest history told by people of the Swahili coast3. After this time, the sources of DNA became increasingly Arabian, consistent with evidence of growing interactions with southern Arabia4. Subsequent interactions with Asian and African people further changed the ancestry of present-day people of the Swahili coast in relation to the medieval individuals whose DNA we sequenced.
Spanning c. 1050-1500 CE, a burgeoning Swahili community called Chwaka built a sequence of four mortared coral mosques in their town of wattle-and-daub houses on Pemba Island, Tanzania. The mosques' placement, construction, and use played... more
Spanning c. 1050-1500 CE, a burgeoning Swahili community called Chwaka built a sequence of four mortared coral mosques in their town of wattle-and-daub houses on Pemba Island, Tanzania. The mosques' placement, construction, and use played an active role in creating and strengthening an Islamic community and help us define changes in social practice within the town and the larger polity in which it existed. It is argued that the construction of each mosque was an act of assembling, drawing people, other-thanhuman things and affective social practices together in ways that help tell an urban story. This research provides insights into the residents' socioeconomic and cultural priorities and the town's changing relationship with villagers from the surrounding region, contributing to understandings of Swahili urbanism and urban practice.
The fourteenth-to-sixteenth-century AD site of Songo Mnara, in the Kilwa archipelago in southern Tanzania, is a stone town with many standing coral buildings. Extensive excavations at the site have produced over 9,000 beads, 7,444 of... more
The fourteenth-to-sixteenth-century AD site of Songo Mnara, in the Kilwa archipelago in southern Tanzania, is a stone town with many standing coral buildings. Extensive excavations at the site have produced over 9,000 beads, 7,444 of which are glass. A subset of 140 of these was chemically analyzed using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, revealing a notably diverse assemblage that included four main glass types: mineral soda-high alumina (m-Na-Al), vegetable soda-high alumina (v-Na-Al), high lead glasses, and vegetable soda-lime (v-Na-Ca) glass. Here we present these types, giving the first tightly dated assemblage for the fifteenth-century coast. We then focus on two notable features of the assemblage. Among the high-lead glass beads are two types from China: one dates to the early fifteenth century and the other from about 1600. These later Chinese beads were accompanied by some of the earliest European beads (v-Na-Ca) found in eastern Africa. Their provenance and meaning are examined. Then, we discuss large folded beads that were decorated with trails of colored glass. Such beads have been recorded only at Songo Mnara and Kilwa Kisiwani, and we suggest they may have been made locally from imported v-Na-Al glass.
The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association with humans. The dispersal history of this non-native commensal rodent across Europe, however, remains poorly understood, and different... more
The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association with humans. The dispersal history of this non-native commensal rodent across Europe, however, remains poorly understood, and different introductions may have occurred during the Roman and medieval periods. Here, in order to reconstruct the population history of European black rats, we first generate a de novo genome assembly of the black rat. We then sequence 67 ancient and three modern black rat mitogenomes, and 36 ancient and three modern nuclear genomes from archaeological sites spanning the 1st-17th centuries CE in Europe and North Africa. Analyses of our newly reported sequences, together with published mitochondrial DNA sequences, confirm that black rats were introduced into the Mediterranean and Europe from Southwest Asia. Genomic analyses of the ancient rats reveal a population turnover in temperate Europe between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, coincident with an archaeologically attested decline in the black rat population. The near disappearance and re-emergence of black rats in Europe may have been the result of the breakdown of the Roman Empire, the First Plague Pandemic, and/or post-Roman climatic cooling.
In this article, we present the results of a recent program of high-resolution radiocarbon dating on the urban sequence at Kilwa Kisiwani in southern Tanzania, including Bayesian modeling of 21 calibrated 14C dates. These data come from... more
In this article, we present the results of a recent program of high-resolution radiocarbon dating on the urban sequence at Kilwa Kisiwani in southern Tanzania, including Bayesian modeling of 21 calibrated 14C dates. These data come from the 2016 excavation of a large trench directly adjacent to trench ZLL, one of the key 1960s excavations that served to establish the original chronology of the town. The new sequence reported here anchors the phases of Kilwa’s development for the first time in absolute terms. The dates, stratigraphy, and artifact assemblage offer a number of new insights into the timing and tempo of the occupation at Kilwa, notably placing the first coral buildings and coins at the end of the tenth century. Insights also include findings related to the earliest phases of settlement and periods of possible urban decline. We argue against a trend for understanding Swahili towns according to a common coastal trajectory and suggest that it is important to consider regional diversity by recognizing the particular, episodic sequence at Kilwa.
Swahili cuisine is known across Africa and globally as a highly distinctive product of a cosmopolitan, coastal, urban society. Here we present a comprehensive study of precolonial Swahili diet and culinary practices at the coastal town of... more
Swahili cuisine is known across Africa and globally as a highly distinctive product of a cosmopolitan, coastal, urban society. Here we present a comprehensive study of precolonial Swahili diet and culinary practices at the coastal town of Songo Mnara, positioning archaeological and ethnographic understandings of cuisine in a longterm coastal tradition. We explore contemporary food cultures and then present the first direct evidence for precolonial cuisine by combining ceramic lipid residue analysis with archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, and faunal and human stable isotopic data. Integrating these datasets produces a detailed picture of diet at the site of Songo Mnara during the peak of precolonial Swahili urbanism. Lipid residue analysis demonstrates how plant and animal products were consumed and valued in ways not discernible from plant and animal remains alone. We also note special treatment for particular foodstuffs, including an association of fish consumption with highstatus spaces and vessels, and preferential management of cattle for milk. A more complex picture of urban life emerges, recognizing influences of taste, class, and culture. Our findings demonstrate the potential of multilayered anthropological studies for exploring cuisine and urban life in coastal contexts across the globe.
This paper offers a mesoscale approach to the study of the urban landscape surrounding the fourteenth–sixteenth century Swahili site of Songo Mnara just off the southern Tanzanian coast. The study is based on a systematic, intensive... more
This paper offers a mesoscale approach to the study of the urban landscape surrounding the fourteenth–sixteenth century Swahili site of Songo Mnara just off the southern Tanzanian coast. The study is based on a systematic, intensive survey of the town’s immediate island hinterland. Such an approach, we argue, exposes a set of activities that extend out from the urban core and situates the traditional objects of study (urban center, rural villages) in an integrated landscape. This scale of activity is particularly apparent in an island context where urban activities encompassed the island itself. This example demonstrates why urban societies in island contexts must be considered in their landscape setting, as a range of territorial relationships can be discerned in the past that were an integral part of the ways that urban lives were constructed.
Using examples from medieval Europe and Africa, an approach to understanding urban open spaces is proposed. We argue that new digital and high-resolution methodologies, combined with interpretive frameworks which stress the affective... more
Using examples from medieval Europe and Africa, an approach to understanding urban open spaces is proposed. We argue that new digital and high-resolution methodologies, combined with interpretive frameworks which stress the affective capacities of the material world, call for a reappraisal of open spaces as places of disruption, creativity, and emergent urbanity. We advance an intensive approach to create a methodological basis on which to reimagine emptiness as a stimulus for interaction, applying Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of smooth/striated space. Key themes are the role of open spaces in the negotiation of power, their capacity to facilitate encounters, and their role as a resource from which distinctive forms of urbanity might emerge. The paper advocates for greater attention to be paid to open spaces in the study of medieval urbanism.
From its inception in 2014, the interdisciplin-ary Bantu Mobility Project has sought to refocus research on the Bantu Expansions away from the macro-scale towards a "writ small" approach within a well-defined region with well-understood... more
From its inception in 2014, the interdisciplin-ary Bantu Mobility Project has sought to refocus research on the Bantu Expansions away from the macro-scale towards a "writ small" approach within a well-defined region with well-understood episodes of language expansion, namely, the middle Kafue and middle Zambezi catchments of southern Zambia. This tighter focus enables the project to capture the human agency shaping movements of people, animals, material goods, and languages, and to consider the productive tension between mobility and rootedness as Bantu-speaking populations became settled in particular regions between the sixth and sixteenth centuries AD. From an archaeological standpoint, careful study of the spatial contexts of recovered artifacts-and of the various human activities that left them behind-captures different forms and scales of mobility that existed alongside the rootedness of mounded settlements occupied over generations. This paper shows how a better understanding of those spatial contexts, and the settlement patterns and land use they encode, is being achieved around Basanga, Zambia, by combining systematic archaeological survey with data derived from satellite imagery using analytical techniques available through GIS, such as spatial interpolation and linear regression modeling. Ultimately, the project will aim to integrate the insights of that geospatial analysis with other archaeological, linguistic, historical, and environmental datasets to capture the stories of the people whose ideas, practices, and forms of mobility and rootedness constituted the local experience of the Bantu Expansions. Résumé Depuis sa création en 2014, le Bantu Mobility Project, un projet interdisciplinaire sur l'histoire de la mobilité des bantous, a proposé de remplacer une approche à grande échelle vers une approche à petite échelle dans une région bien définie avec des épisodes d'expansion linguistique bien compris, les bassins ver-sants du Kafue moyen et du Zambezi moyen dans le sud de la Zambie. Cette focalisation permet au projet de capturer l'agence humaine influençant les mouvements des personnes, des animaux, des matériaux et des langues, et de prendre en compte la tension productive entre mobilité et enracinement au fur lorsque les populations de langue bantou se sont installées dans ces régions entre les 6 e et 16 e siècles. D'un point de vue archéologique, une étude du contexte spatial des artefacts récupérés (et des diverses activités humaines qui les ont laissés) capture différentes formes et échelles des mobilité qui existaient parallèlement à l'enracinement des établissements en ruines occupés au fil des généra-tions. Une meilleure compréhension de ces contextes spatiaux, ainsi que des modèles de peuplement et de Afr Archaeol Rev
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This paper describes a course that I developed and co-taught with Dr. John Hopkins at Rice University in the spring of 2014, entitled “Virtual Reconstruction of Historic Cities.” In this course, student teams worked to digitally... more
This paper describes a course that I developed and co-taught with Dr. John Hopkins at Rice University in the spring of 2014, entitled “Virtual Reconstruction of Historic Cities.” In this course, student teams worked to digitally reconstruct ancient Roman and Swahili buildings. The final products followed from a semester-long engagement with research on these pasts, working with archaeological and textual sources, draft iterations of buildings, then digitally modelling the structures and building them into 3D worlds in opensource gaming software. In this paper, I describe the background to the course, how it was organized, and how the course unfolded.
The eastern African coast is known for its Swahili “stonetowns.” Archaeological study of stonetowns has overshadowed that of Swahili rural life, and how it reformulated in the context of urban transformations after A.D. 1000. To help... more
The eastern African coast is known for its Swahili “stonetowns.” Archaeological study of stonetowns has overshadowed that of Swahili rural life, and how it reformulated in the context of urban transformations after A.D. 1000. To help redress that imbalance, we focus here on village research carried out in a Swahili heartland—Pemba Island, Tanzania—in the context of two archaeological projects. We feature four settlements: later 1st millennium Kimimba village and its large, trading village neighbor, Tumbe; and 2nd millennium Kaliwa village, neighbor to Chwaka stonetown. Their archaeology, contextualized within a regional landscape, allows us to say new things about the changing nature of rural life on Pemba, and to make a case for the potential of village complexity elsewhere on the Swahili coast.
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The 15th century Swahili town of Songo Mnara (Tanzania) had six mosques—an unusual quantity for a town of only 7 hectares and a population of 500–1000 people. Large-scale archaeological investigations of two previously unstudied mosques,... more
The 15th century Swahili town of Songo Mnara (Tanzania) had six mosques—an unusual quantity for a town of only 7 hectares and a population of 500–1000 people. Large-scale archaeological investigations of two previously unstudied mosques, and detailed survey of the remaining four structures has suggested a complex pattern of Islamic practice in the town, including a dynamic relationship between mosques and burials, an emerging sense of social difference within the town, and the active signalling of Islamic faith to visitors through the construction of monuments intended to be seen on approach to the town. We commend a holistic approach in which mosques are studied not as isolated structures but as part of a wider urban landscape.
Human-mediated biological exchange has had global social and ecological impacts. In sub-Saharan Africa, several domestic and commensal animals were introduced from Asia in the pre-modern period; however, the timing and nature of these... more
Human-mediated biological exchange has had global social and ecological impacts. In sub-Saharan Africa, several domestic and commensal animals were introduced from Asia in the pre-modern period; however, the timing and nature of these introductions remain contentious. One model supports introduction to the eastern African coast after the mid-first millennium CE, while another posits introduction dating back to 3000 BCE. These distinct scenarios have implications for understanding the emergence of long-distance maritime connectivity, and the ecological and economic impacts of introduced species. Resolution of this longstanding debate requires new efforts, given the lack of well-dated fauna from high-precision excavations, and ambiguous osteomorphological identifications. We analysed fau-nal remains from 22 eastern African sites spanning a wide geographic and chronological range, and applied biomolecular techniques to confirm identifications of two Asian taxa: domestic chicken (Gallus gallus) and black rat (Rattus rattus). Our approach included
Past urban settlements in tropical island environments offer particularly challenging sites for mainstream archaeology. Often associated with shallow stratigraphic sequences, archaeological sediments and soils in these sites are strongly... more
Past urban settlements in tropical island environments offer particularly challenging sites for mainstream archaeology. Often associated with shallow stratigraphic sequences, archaeological sediments and soils in these sites are strongly influenced by local geology and seawater. This study discusses the advantages and challenges of developing an integrated geoarchaeological programme to examine the use of space at the Swahili stonetown of Songo Mnara Island, Tanzania. This exceptionally well preserved site, occupied for less than two centuries (C14th–16th AD), comprises a complex urban layout with stone-built houses, wattle-and-daub structures, funerary complexes, activity areas such as wells, and open areas. The programme has combined geoarchaeological (soil macro- and micromorphology, ICP-AES, pH, EC), geophysical (magnetic susceptibility) and archaeological (large excavations, test trenches, artefact distribution mapping) techniques to investigate the use of space across different contexts. Initial geoarchaeological prospection and opportunistic soil sampling have allowed framing of the island’s environmental settings and archaeological deposits as well as outlining open spaces in between buildings. Subsequent research applied a systematic sampling strategy to map geochemical and artefact distributions in conjunction with context-specific soil micromorphology. The results provide a means to map out the impact of occupation across the site as well as to differentiate between open, roofed and unroofed spaces. ICP-AES results, for example, demonstrate that measurements of Ca, Mg, P, S and Sr levels can help discriminate occupation/activity areas in tropical island environments. They also indicate that the depletion of certain elements (e.g. Na, K, and Ni) should be considered as a means of differentiating between roofed and unroofed spaces. The combination of different methodologies demonstrates the importance of addressing discrepancies as well as correlations between multiple datasets for deciphering features within urban spaces in tropical environments and interpreting ancient activities that occurred within them.
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Houses are linked to the urban landscape in multiple ways. They provide urban form, and shape movement and interaction. This article analyses these connections through the concept of territories, defined as areas linked to particular... more
Houses are linked to the urban landscape in multiple ways. They provide urban form, and shape movement and interaction. This article analyses these connections through the concept of territories, defined as areas linked to particular activities and/or groups, at the fourteenth–sixteenth-century Swahili town of Songo Mnara. Detailed excavation and survey at the site has provided information on ritual and economic activity within and between households. Here we use these data to identify inclusive territories, which served to delineate some of the communal spaces of the town and to link these with exterior landscapes and more exclusive territories linked to particular families and houses. Finally, we discuss a series of economic territories linked to production, which crosscut some of the divisions evident between elite and non-elite activities. We argue that the urban landscape can be defined and understood through the ways these territories combined and overlapped.
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Research on the archaeology of the coast of eastern Africa is closely associated with the earliest days of the British Institute in Eastern Africa and in many ways quickly became synonymous with the Institute’s journal — Azania. This is... more
Research on the archaeology of the coast of eastern Africa is closely associated with
the earliest days of the British Institute in Eastern Africa and in many ways quickly
became synonymous with the Institute’s journal — Azania. This is not surprising
given that Neville Chittick, the first Director of the Institute and initial editor of
Azania, was most actively engaged with research on the eastern African Swahili
coast. Since those early years, many researchers have described the changing
paradigms of coastal archaeology, often through the lens of wider political and
theoretical changes and framed with reference to periods of colonialism,
independence and post-colonialism. In this paper, we seek instead to document
and describe the methodological and analytical changes that have occurred in
the archaeology of eastern Africa over the decades that Azania has been
published. We focus on three broad methodological areas and chart their
emergence, use and transformation over time: urban archaeology, ceramics and
typology and survey and reconnaissance. We then offer a discussion of the
diversity of current methodologies and the introduction of scientific techniques
and how they have served to shape the type of questions that can be asked and
answered. Finally, we call for a continued commitment to local dissemination for
coastal researchers: a job for which Azania retains its important role.
the earliest days of the British Institute in Eastern Africa and in many ways quickly
became synonymous with the Institute’s journal — Azania. This is not surprising
given that Neville Chittick, the first Director of the Institute and initial editor of
Azania, was most actively engaged with research on the eastern African Swahili
coast. Since those early years, many researchers have described the changing
paradigms of coastal archaeology, often through the lens of wider political and
theoretical changes and framed with reference to periods of colonialism,
independence and post-colonialism. In this paper, we seek instead to document
and describe the methodological and analytical changes that have occurred in
the archaeology of eastern Africa over the decades that Azania has been
published. We focus on three broad methodological areas and chart their
emergence, use and transformation over time: urban archaeology, ceramics and
typology and survey and reconnaissance. We then offer a discussion of the
diversity of current methodologies and the introduction of scientific techniques
and how they have served to shape the type of questions that can be asked and
answered. Finally, we call for a continued commitment to local dissemination for
coastal researchers: a job for which Azania retains its important role.
Research Interests:
Urban archaeology in Scandinavia has long been dominated by a processual understanding of medieval urban development. The author proposes that the concept of urbanity in the sense of ‘urban living’ should replace the processual and... more
Urban archaeology in Scandinavia has long been dominated by a processual understanding of medieval urban development. The author proposes that the concept of urbanity in the sense of ‘urban living’ should replace the processual
and functionalist-oriented concept of ‘urbanization’, and that instead focus should be directed towards social processes, practices and materiality. He perceives the emergence of urbanity in the Middle Ages in the light of the formation of specific
urban patterns of practice that can be analysed with the aid of theoretical tools from recent social-practice theory. Against this background, the potential of recent socialpractice theory is examined as a possible analytical tool in an urban archaeological
approach to medieval urban communities. Through concepts such as interaction,event, leakage and creativity, the medieval urban landscape can be reformulated as a dynamic social space in which diverse everyday routines were intertwined in patterns, bundles and complexes.
and functionalist-oriented concept of ‘urbanization’, and that instead focus should be directed towards social processes, practices and materiality. He perceives the emergence of urbanity in the Middle Ages in the light of the formation of specific
urban patterns of practice that can be analysed with the aid of theoretical tools from recent social-practice theory. Against this background, the potential of recent socialpractice theory is examined as a possible analytical tool in an urban archaeological
approach to medieval urban communities. Through concepts such as interaction,event, leakage and creativity, the medieval urban landscape can be reformulated as a dynamic social space in which diverse everyday routines were intertwined in patterns, bundles and complexes.
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In this article, we examine an assumption about the historic Swahili of the eastern African coast: that they were a maritime society from their beginnings in the first millennium C.E. Based on historical and archaeological data, we... more
In this article, we examine an assumption about the historic Swahili of the eastern African coast: that they were a maritime society from their beginnings in the first millennium C.E. Based on historical and archaeological data, we suggest that, despite their proximity to and use of the sea, the level of maritimity of Swahili society increased greatly over time and was only fully realized in the early second millennium C.E. Drawing on recent theorizing from other areas of the world about maritimity as well as research on the Swahili, we discuss three arenas that distinguish first- and second-millennium coastal society in terms of their maritime orientation. These are variability and discontinuity in settlement location and permanence; evidence of increased engagement with the sea through fishing and sailing technology; and specialized architectural developments involving port facilities, mosques, and houses. The implications of this study are that we must move beyond coastal location in determining maritimity; consider how the sea and its products were part of social life; and assess whether the marine environment actively influences and is influenced by broader patterns of sociocultural organization, practice, and belief within Swahili and other societies.
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Open spaces are an integral part of past urban settlement worldwide. Often large and devoid of visible traces of past activities, these spaces challenge mainstream archaeological approaches to develop methodologies suitable to investigate... more
Open spaces are an integral part of past urban settlement worldwide. Often large and devoid of visible traces of past activities, these spaces challenge mainstream archaeological approaches to develop methodologies suitable to investigate their history. This study uses geophysical survey, geochemical sampling and artifact distributions to examine open spaces at the Swahili stonetown of Songo Mnara, Tanzania. Initial, magnetic susceptibility survey revealed a set of anomalies associated with activities across the open spaces at the site; a systematic soil/sediment sampling program was applied to map artifact and geochemical distributions across these areas. These data provided a means to distinguish a ‘public space’ at the site: correlations were found between anomalies, daub, certain chemical elements (Fe, P, K, Mn) while areas without anomalies—the ‘public space’—correlated with more fragmented ceramics and other chemical elements (Ca, Na, Mg, Sr). The integrated methodological framework developed at Songo Mnara offers a new way to define areas that may have functioned as ‘public spaces’ as well as possible activities that were carried out in them. The results suggest that open spaces at this Swahili site contained defined and protected public areas where small-scale production may have occurred.
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Public spaces have been long recognized as integral parts of urban settings, often granted importance by the public ceremonies and spectacles that they hosted. Interpretations of such public arenas often focus on elites that use them to... more
Public spaces have been long recognized as integral parts of urban settings, often granted importance by
the public ceremonies and spectacles that they hosted. Interpretations of such public arenas often focus
on elites that use them to construct and legitimize power and authority; city residents are thought to
either accept these political machinations, or reject them and the space itself. Alternately, studies of public
space that emphasize more practical uses, such as for production or other domestic activities tend to
focus on those spaces directly associated with houses, emphasizing the everyday life of city residents.
This paper works to set aside this dichotomy by exploring the multi-faceted open spaces at Songo Mnara,
a medieval Swahili town on the southern Tanzanian coast. Songo Mnara is particularly well-suited to a
study of Swahili public space because of its short occupation and clear town plan understood through
standing architecture; it is likely the best example of how the southern Swahili understood a planned
town should be organized in the fifteenth century AD. Archaeological research directed at the site’s open
spaces has revealed a variety of public spaces which include a mix of deliberately-maintained areas
reflecting some element of control and planning, and other less formal public spaces that seem to have
been organized and maintained by non-elite residents of the town. This essay reviews literature on the
archaeology of open and public space and explores how the case of Songo Mnara contributes to it, by
walking the reader through what has been learned about the complex and variable public spaces of
the town. The public spaces of Songo Mnara serve to broaden previous dichotomous approaches to urban
open space.
the public ceremonies and spectacles that they hosted. Interpretations of such public arenas often focus
on elites that use them to construct and legitimize power and authority; city residents are thought to
either accept these political machinations, or reject them and the space itself. Alternately, studies of public
space that emphasize more practical uses, such as for production or other domestic activities tend to
focus on those spaces directly associated with houses, emphasizing the everyday life of city residents.
This paper works to set aside this dichotomy by exploring the multi-faceted open spaces at Songo Mnara,
a medieval Swahili town on the southern Tanzanian coast. Songo Mnara is particularly well-suited to a
study of Swahili public space because of its short occupation and clear town plan understood through
standing architecture; it is likely the best example of how the southern Swahili understood a planned
town should be organized in the fifteenth century AD. Archaeological research directed at the site’s open
spaces has revealed a variety of public spaces which include a mix of deliberately-maintained areas
reflecting some element of control and planning, and other less formal public spaces that seem to have
been organized and maintained by non-elite residents of the town. This essay reviews literature on the
archaeology of open and public space and explores how the case of Songo Mnara contributes to it, by
walking the reader through what has been learned about the complex and variable public spaces of
the town. The public spaces of Songo Mnara serve to broaden previous dichotomous approaches to urban
open space.
Research Interests:
Indian Ocean maritime networks have become a special focus of research in recent years, with emphasis not only on the economics of trade but also themovement of domesticated plants and animals (see Fuller et al. in Antiquity 2011:... more
Indian Ocean maritime networks have
become a special focus of research in recent
years, with emphasis not only on the economics
of trade but also themovement of domesticated
plants and animals (see Fuller et al. in
Antiquity 2011: 544–58). But did such
contacts inevitably lead to radical social
change? Excavations at Tumbe reveal a
settlement of the late first millennium AD
that was heavily engaged in the traffic in
exotic materials and may have been producing
shell beads for export. This activity seems to
have flourished within a domestic context
in a village setting, however, and does not
seem to have stimulated pronounced social
stratification nor to have led inexorably towards urbanisation. These results demonstrate that
some communities were able to establish a stable balance between the demands of the domestic
economy and long-distance trade that could persist for several centuries. Activities at Tumbe
should hence be viewed in their own right, not as precursors to the formation of the Swahili
trading towns of the later medieval period.
become a special focus of research in recent
years, with emphasis not only on the economics
of trade but also themovement of domesticated
plants and animals (see Fuller et al. in
Antiquity 2011: 544–58). But did such
contacts inevitably lead to radical social
change? Excavations at Tumbe reveal a
settlement of the late first millennium AD
that was heavily engaged in the traffic in
exotic materials and may have been producing
shell beads for export. This activity seems to
have flourished within a domestic context
in a village setting, however, and does not
seem to have stimulated pronounced social
stratification nor to have led inexorably towards urbanisation. These results demonstrate that
some communities were able to establish a stable balance between the demands of the domestic
economy and long-distance trade that could persist for several centuries. Activities at Tumbe
should hence be viewed in their own right, not as precursors to the formation of the Swahili
trading towns of the later medieval period.
Research Interests:
This paper explores the way that open spaces in ancient Swahili towns were part of a monumental landscape based on the performances that occurred within them. By exploring the physical arrangement of open space through the placement of... more
This paper explores the way that open spaces in ancient Swahili towns were part
of a monumental landscape based on the performances that occurred within
them. By exploring the physical arrangement of open space through the placement
of monumental and other buildings, it is argued that some Swahili open
spaces might be understood as a ‘built exterior’: places where meaningful activities
and performances were enacted, enhanced and framed by their monumental
setting. These themes are explored though data from the site of Songo Mnara, in
southern Tanzania, where archaeological research in two open spaces has
revealed deposits associated with the activities occurring in them.
of a monumental landscape based on the performances that occurred within
them. By exploring the physical arrangement of open space through the placement
of monumental and other buildings, it is argued that some Swahili open
spaces might be understood as a ‘built exterior’: places where meaningful activities
and performances were enacted, enhanced and framed by their monumental
setting. These themes are explored though data from the site of Songo Mnara, in
southern Tanzania, where archaeological research in two open spaces has
revealed deposits associated with the activities occurring in them.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The development of the Swahili world involved new ways of organizing and conceiving of space. Archaeology and historical linguistics are both crucial in charting the trajectory of changing spatial practice during the late first and early... more
The development of the Swahili world involved new ways of organizing and conceiving of space. Archaeology and historical linguistics are both crucial in charting the trajectory of changing spatial practice during the late first and early second millennium ad, yet their respective datasets have been correlated only in specific and restricted ways. In this paper, we take the first steps toward working between archaeological and historical linguistic data to understand the changing contexts and meanings of Swahili spatial practice. We develop this argument in three parts. First, we review archaeological approaches to space in the Swahili world and develop a holistic view of towns, including both confined and delimited space. Second, we offer an archaeologists’ perspective on the development of historical linguistics in relation to the Swahili world, exploring the changing relationship between linguistics and archaeology and arguing for a greater appreciation of context in how archaeological materials are deployed with linguistic data. Finally, drawing on new data from Songo Mnara, a fourteenth–sixteenth-century Swahili town on the southern Tanzania coast, we make a preliminary attempt to reconcile some aspects of the archaeological and linguistic datasets. Using published lexical innovations, we suggest ways that meaning might be found alternatively in archaeological and linguistic data. Our hope is to make some tentative steps toward a mutually satisfying way of working between disciplines. Le développement du monde swahili entraîna de nouveaux modes d’organisation et de conception de l'espace. L'archéologie et la linguistique historique ont un rôle décisif à jouer dans l’analyse des pratiques d’utilisation de l’espace à la fin du premier et au début du second millénaire av. J.-C. Ceci étant dit, leurs ensembles de données respectifs n'ont été intégrés que de manière spécifique et restreinte. Dans cette communication, nous faisons les premiers pas vers une méthode de travail intégrant les données archéologiques et linguistiques historiques pour comprendre les contextes et significations des pratiques spatiales swahilis, et leur évolution. Notre thèse est en trois parties. D'abord, nous passons en revue les méthodes archéologiques à l’égard de l'espace dans le monde Swahili, et développons une conception holistique des villes qui comprend les espaces restreints et bornés. Ensuite, nous offrons une perspective archéologique sur l'évolution de la linguistique historique par rapport au monde Swahili. Notre analyse explore le changement de relation entre la linguistique et l'archéologie, et plaide pour une meilleure prise en compte du contexte permettant l’association de leurs données respectives. Finalement, nous mettons à contribution de nouvelles données provenant de Songo Mnara, une ville swahili datant du XIVème-XVIème siècle située sur la côte sud de la Tanzanie, afin de réconcilier certains aspects des données archéologiques et linguistiques. Avec l'aide d'innovations lexicologiques publiées, nous suggérons des méthodes pour recouvrir les modes de signification dans les matériaux archéologiques ou linguistiques. Nous espérons avoir fait quelques pas initiaux vers une méthode de travail mutuellement satisfaisante entre les disciplines.
Coinage occupies an unusual position in archaeological research. Thriving scholarship on numismatics and monetary history ensures that the objects themselves are well-studied, often seen as an indication of chronology and of stylistic and... more
Coinage occupies an unusual position in archaeological research. Thriving scholarship on numismatics and monetary history ensures that the objects themselves are well-studied, often seen as an indication of chronology and of stylistic and commercial links. Yet coins might also be analysed as artefacts, and explored as part of the symbolic world of material culture through which archaeologists understand meaning and value in past societies. Using a recently-excavated assemblage of medieval Kilwa-type coins from Songo Mnara on the East African Swahili coast, this article explores the multiple ways that value was ascribed and created through use, rejecting a simple dichotomy between substantive and formal value. Attention is given to the contexts of the coins, which enables a discussion of the relationship between power and the constitution of value, the circulation and use of coins among townspeople, and their use within ritual and commemorative activity.(Received October 04 2010)(Accepted August 03 2011)(Revised June 14 2011)
Archaeological understandings of the Iron Age societies that developed on the East African coast and its hinterland have been transformed by exploration of locally produced ceramics. During the late first millennium, c. AD 600–900, sites... more
Archaeological understandings of the Iron Age societies that developed on the East African coast and its hinterland have been transformed by exploration of locally produced ceramics. During the late first millennium, c. AD 600–900, sites across eastern Africa are characterized by ceramics known as early Tana Tradition or Triangular-Incised Ware, containing necked jars with incised decoration and a series of other jar and bowl forms in varying quantities. The recognition of this pan-regional tradition of pottery, known from an ever-growing number of sites, has been crucial in the reorientation of Swahili research to recognize the indigenous roots of the cosmopolitan coastal culture. This paper reports on the results of a ceramics project that has revisited excavated collections from a series of key ETT/TIW sites, analyzing sherds according to a single system and allowing true cross-site comparison for the first time. The results show regional diversity, in both form and decoration, particularly in the relative importance of the necked jar types that have come to stand for the early Tana Tradition more generally. While previous studies have hinted at regional diversity, such conclusions have been subsumed in discussion by the evident similarities between assemblages. Comparative results are here discussed against the background of previous research at the sites, and a series of conclusions about overlapping spheres of commonality are presented. Rather than critiquing previous work that has recognized this ceramic type, we seek to understand the remarkable distribution better by exploring its context and content. La compréhension archéologique des sociétés de l'âge du fer qui se sont développées sur la côte de l'Afrique de l’est et dans son arrière-pays a été transformée par l'exploration de céramiques produites localement. Durant le premier millénaire, c. AD 600–900, des sites à travers l'Afrique se caractérisent par des céramiques appelées Early Tana Tradition ou Triangular-Incised Ware, contenant des jarres à goulot avec dessin gravé et une série d'autres formes de pot et de bol en quantités variables. La reconnaissance de cette fabrication traditionnelle de poterie domestique, reconnue par un nombre croissant de sites, a joué un rôle crucial dans la réorientation de la recherche en Swahili afin de reconnaître les racines autochtones de la culture cosmopolite de la côte. Cet article rend compte des résultats d'un projet de céramique qui a revisité des collections excavées d'une série de sites clés ETT/TIW, analysant les tessons selon un système unique et permettant, pour la première fois, une vraie comparaison entre les sites. Les résultats montrent la diversité régionale, dans la forme et la décoration, particulièrement dans l'importance relative des types de jarre à goulot qui en viennent à s’identifier aux “early Tana Tradition” plus généralement. Alors que des études antérieures ont suggéré une diversité régionale, de telles conclusions ont été subsumées dans la discussion par les similitudes évidentes entre les assemblages. Des résultats comparatifs sont discutés ici dans le contexte des recherches antérieures sur les sites, et une série de conclusions est présentée sur le recoupement des sphères communes. Plutôt que de critiquer les travaux antérieurs qui ont reconnu ce type de céramique, nous cherchons à en mieux comprendre la distribution remarquable en explorant son contexte et son contenu.
Historically, the Swahili of the eastern African coast have performed feasts through which they negotiated and contested social power. Feasts draw on tradition and practice, but create the space for, and conditions of, imbalance and... more
Historically, the Swahili of the eastern African coast have performed feasts through which they negotiated and contested social power. Feasts draw on tradition and practice, but create the space for, and conditions of, imbalance and social debt. Drawing on this historical frame, I examine the archaeology of feasting in the more distant Swahili past, AD 700–1500, in particular looking at how feasts can domesticate distant power—the power drawn from objects and practices from elsewhere. By charting changing assemblages of imported and local ceramics alongside settlement and food preferences, I examine developments in feasting patterns and the way feasts provided a social context within which local and distant power could be translated into authority.
Archaeological survey in 1999–2000 in the northern part of Pemba Island, Tanzania, has revealed the role of rural settlements in the development of Swahili towns from A.D. 750 to 1500. The survey investigated the regions directly... more
Archaeological survey in 1999–2000 in the northern part of Pemba Island, Tanzania, has revealed the role
of rural settlements in the development of Swahili towns from A.D. 750 to 1500. The survey investigated the
regions directly surrounding three towns to explore the political, economic, and religious relations between
towns and surrounding villages. Results of the survey suggest that the growth of Pemban towns, although
economically influenced by their increasing links to overseas trade, were dependent on population
movements from rural to urban areas. These shifts may be best described as a ‘‘synoecism,’’ a process in
which a town is formed through the union of smaller, rural settlements. The data indicate a dramatic
reorganization of the settlement pattern during the 11th century when new towns with monumental mosques
made of coral were founded and/or populated by migrants from the countryside, leaving a sparsely
populated region with only a few villages that were loosely tied to the center. The construction of Swahili
towns on Pemba was as much an effort to construct a cohesive community as it was a practical measure in
a burgeoning Indian Ocean economy.
of rural settlements in the development of Swahili towns from A.D. 750 to 1500. The survey investigated the
regions directly surrounding three towns to explore the political, economic, and religious relations between
towns and surrounding villages. Results of the survey suggest that the growth of Pemban towns, although
economically influenced by their increasing links to overseas trade, were dependent on population
movements from rural to urban areas. These shifts may be best described as a ‘‘synoecism,’’ a process in
which a town is formed through the union of smaller, rural settlements. The data indicate a dramatic
reorganization of the settlement pattern during the 11th century when new towns with monumental mosques
made of coral were founded and/or populated by migrants from the countryside, leaving a sparsely
populated region with only a few villages that were loosely tied to the center. The construction of Swahili
towns on Pemba was as much an effort to construct a cohesive community as it was a practical measure in
a burgeoning Indian Ocean economy.
A deposit of coins was recovered during excavations at Songo Mnara, Tanzania, containing over 300 copper Kilwa-type coins. This is the first deposit or hoard of these coins found in a well defined archaeological context and it therefore... more
A deposit of coins was recovered during excavations at Songo Mnara, Tanzania,
containing over 300 copper Kilwa-type coins. This is the first deposit or hoard of these
coins found in a well defined archaeological context and it therefore offers a unique
glimpse into both the typology of these coins and their contemporary uses. The
ramifications of the Songo Mnara deposit are discussed. In particular, the deposit is
firmly attributable to the end of the fourteenth or very early fifteenth centuries,
allowing for some chronological resolution. Coins of the late eleventh- to early
twelfth-century sultan Ali ibn al-Hasan show that these types remained in circulation
for several hundred years. In addition, the common coin type of Nasir ad-Dunya can
now be attributed firmly to the fifteenth and possibly fourteenth centuries by this find.
Finally, the paper discusses the burial of the coins in the foundations of a stonehouse
and the fact that this likely represented the building of value into the house and an
investment in place. Other finds, such as a carnelian necklace found with the coins,
testify to the importance of this practice.
containing over 300 copper Kilwa-type coins. This is the first deposit or hoard of these
coins found in a well defined archaeological context and it therefore offers a unique
glimpse into both the typology of these coins and their contemporary uses. The
ramifications of the Songo Mnara deposit are discussed. In particular, the deposit is
firmly attributable to the end of the fourteenth or very early fifteenth centuries,
allowing for some chronological resolution. Coins of the late eleventh- to early
twelfth-century sultan Ali ibn al-Hasan show that these types remained in circulation
for several hundred years. In addition, the common coin type of Nasir ad-Dunya can
now be attributed firmly to the fifteenth and possibly fourteenth centuries by this find.
Finally, the paper discusses the burial of the coins in the foundations of a stonehouse
and the fact that this likely represented the building of value into the house and an
investment in place. Other finds, such as a carnelian necklace found with the coins,
testify to the importance of this practice.
The towns of the Swahili coast of East Africa are widely acknowledged as the remains of a maritime society whose relationship with the ocean was fundamental to their economy and identity. Yet research that links the terrestrial... more
The towns of the Swahili coast of East Africa are widely acknowledged as the remains of a maritime society whose relationship with the ocean was fundamental to their economy and identity. Yet research that links the terrestrial environments of the towns to their adjacent maritime landscapes is rare, and urgently required in the light of marine erosional processes unmitigated by human actions. In the Kilwa archipelago of southern Tanzania, survey of the coastal foreshore has documented maritime architecture—particularly a series of coral-built causeways—that serve to link the medieval towns of this area to coastal resources and to expand the limits of the settlements themselves. This paper reports on survey recovering these causeways on Songo Mnara Island, putting the structures into context as part of the broader spatial manifestation of the island’s fourteenth–fifteenth century town. Several possible uses of the causeways are discussed, including functional explanations linked to the exploitation of oceanic resources, and more social reasons of territoriality and spatial demarcation.
African prehistory has a unique contribution to make to our understandings of the ways that power and authority were constituted and enacted in the past; a combination of anthropological, historical and archaeological approaches to the... more
African prehistory has a unique contribution to make to our understandings of the ways that power and authority were constituted and enacted in the past; a combination of anthropological, historical and archaeological approaches to the issue provide a powerful heuristic for thinking through the ways that authority was legitimised. In this introductory paper we focus on the divide between power and authority, and argue that a process-based approach is necessary to understanding the ways that each was created in societies of the past. Such an approach, we argue, can offer a mediation between practice-based perspectives on social power, and those that focus on the operations of the state. We make a fundamental distinction between twin aspects of the exercise of power, imposition and composition, and demonstrate how the incorporation of the latter into our understandings of prehistory can allow archaeologists to consider the materials with which they work as residues of the performance of power. The African archaeological record has a key role to play in our understandings of the operation of power, the creation of legitimacy and the exercise of authority.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
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This report details research carried out at the site of Songo Mnara in southern Tanzania from June 13 to July 17, 2009, under COSTECH permit number RCA2009/46. This project focused on the use of space in daily practice at this ancient... more
This report details research carried out at the site of Songo Mnara in southern Tanzania from June 13 to July 17, 2009, under COSTECH permit number RCA2009/46. This project focused on the use of space in daily practice at this ancient urban center, investigating public (centrally-located religious architecture, cemeteries, and open areas) and private (stone houses) spaces.
This module is designed to expose students to lithic artifacts in an introductory level archaeology course (e.g. prehistory, intro to archaeology). These materials can be used as a full set or in parts. This module is designed for two... more
This module is designed to expose students to lithic artifacts in an introductory level archaeology course (e.g. prehistory, intro to archaeology). These materials can be used as a full set or in parts. This module is designed for two class sessions, but can be adapted for other durations.
Part I: consists of an introductory lecture (to be created) followed by a two-station activity consisting of 1) a flintknapping demonstration and 2) an activity in which student work in groups with teaching collections.
Part II: consists of an extended activity which will challenge students working in groups to analyze and interpret several lithic reduction sets from different locations on a model landscape.
Part I: consists of an introductory lecture (to be created) followed by a two-station activity consisting of 1) a flintknapping demonstration and 2) an activity in which student work in groups with teaching collections.
Part II: consists of an extended activity which will challenge students working in groups to analyze and interpret several lithic reduction sets from different locations on a model landscape.
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Swahili cuisine is known across Africa and globally as a highly distinctive product of a cosmopolitan, coastal, urban society. Here we present a comprehensive study of precolonial Swahili diet and culinary practices at the coastal town of... more
Swahili cuisine is known across Africa and globally as a highly distinctive product of a cosmopolitan, coastal, urban society. Here we present a comprehensive study of precolonial Swahili diet and culinary practices at the coastal town of Songo Mnara, positioning archaeological and ethnographic understandings of cuisine in a longterm coastal tradition. We explore contemporary food cultures and then present the first direct evidence for precolonial cuisine by combining ceramic lipid residue analysis with archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, and faunal and human stable isotopic data. Integrating these datasets produces a detailed picture of diet at the site of Songo Mnara during the peak of precolonial Swahili urbanism. Lipid residue analysis demonstrates how plant and animal products were consumed and valued in ways not discernible from plant and animal remains alone. We also note special treatment for particular foodstuffs, including an association of fish consumption with highstatus spaces and vessels, and preferential management of cattle for milk. A more complex picture of urban life emerges, recognizing influences of taste, class, and culture. Our findings demonstrate the potential of multilayered anthropological studies for exploring cuisine and urban life in coastal contexts across the globe.
This paper offers a mesoscale approach to the study of the urban landscape surrounding the fourteenth-sixteenth century Swahili site of Songo Mnara just off the southern Tanzanian coast. The study is based on a systematic, intensive... more
This paper offers a mesoscale approach to the study of the urban landscape surrounding the fourteenth-sixteenth century Swahili site of Songo Mnara just off the southern Tanzanian coast. The study is based on a systematic, intensive survey of the town's immediate island hinterland. Such an approach, we argue, exposes a set of activities that extend out from the urban core and situates the traditional objects of study (urban center, rural villages) in an integrated landscape. This scale of activity is particularly apparent in an island context where urban activities encompassed the island itself. This example demonstrates why urban societies in island contexts must be considered in their landscape setting, as a range of territorial relationships can be discerned in the past that were an integral part of the ways that urban lives were constructed.
Human-mediated biological exchange has had global social and ecological impacts. In sub-Saharan Africa, several domestic and commensal animals were introduced from Asia in the pre-modern period; however, the timing and nature of these... more
Human-mediated biological exchange has had global social and ecological impacts. In sub-Saharan Africa, several domestic and commensal animals were introduced from Asia in the pre-modern period; however, the timing and nature of these introductions remain contentious. One model supports introduction to the eastern African coast after the mid-first millennium CE, while another posits introduction dating back to 3000 BCE. These distinct scenarios have implications for understanding the emergence of long-distance maritime connectivity, and the ecological and economic impacts of introduced species. Resolution of this longstanding debate requires new efforts, given the lack of well-dated fauna from high-precision excavations, and ambiguous osteomorphological identifications. We analysed faunal remains from 22 eastern African sites spanning a wide geographic and chronological range, and applied biomolecular techniques to confirm identifications of two Asian taxa: domestic chicken (Gallus ...
Research Interests:
... Zanzibar. I also acknowledge the generous support of the fol-lowing individuals: Abdallah Khamis, Salim Seif, Kombo Khamis, Rashid Ali, Hajj Moh'd Hajj, Assa Hamad Awena Ali, Suleiman Nassor, Molly Margaretten. Marcel ...
Research Interests: Stratigraphy, Typology, Methodology, Economy, Ceramics, and 6 moreChronology, Settlement, Habitat, Fauna, Dating, and Excavation
ABSTRACT The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Songo Mnara is one of the most impressive urban sites on the eastern African coast, with exceptionally well-preserved architectural remains and a short occupation during the 14th-16th centuries... more
ABSTRACT The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Songo Mnara is one of the most impressive urban sites on the eastern African coast, with exceptionally well-preserved architectural remains and a short occupation during the 14th-16th centuries AD. Ongoing archaeological research at the site has produced a dense set of digital materials, including laser scans of standing ruins, topographic DEMs, and digitized plans of archaeological features and artifact distributions. These data offer a unique snapshot of a crucial period in Swahili history, and the possibility of digitally reconstructing the site to study visual, spatial, and object patterns. The digital reconstruction will serve as an interactive research tool to investigate how spatial practices were made meaningful at the site, and how people may have experienced life in the town. This paper will discuss progress on this project, and the research, teaching, and heritage issues that it can address.
I welcome Axel Christophersen's effort to offer a new approach to the study of Scandinavian medieval urban communities, and his outline of an ‘urban archaeology of social practice’. His presentation of a theoretical framework and... more
I welcome Axel Christophersen's effort to offer a new approach to the study of Scandinavian medieval urban communities, and his outline of an ‘urban archaeology of social practice’. His presentation of a theoretical framework and language offers many insights as to how archaeologists can analyse the way people constructed their social lives through practice. It is exciting to see studies that grapple with the complexities of everyday life in urban settings. This article makes a significant contribution in its explicit approach to a theory of practice that archaeologists can use to explore and describe social change. Christophersen draws heavily on the work of Shove, Pantzar and Watson as detailed in their 2012 bookThe dynamics of social practice. Everyday life and how it changes; I was unfamiliar with this work until reading this essay and I am impressed with the way this framework offers a language and a concrete approach to understanding how practices emerge, evolve and disapp...
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Research Interests:
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Research Interests: Architecture, Urbanism, Swahili, Islam, Hospitality, and 6 moreSpace, Prehistory, Cosmology, Agency, City State, and Open
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The kingdom of Dahomey arose on the Slave Coast of West Africa in the tumultuous era of the slave trade. This essay explores elite architectural strategies designed to cope with political instability in this period, particularly the role... more
The kingdom of Dahomey arose on the Slave Coast of West Africa in the tumultuous era of the slave trade. This essay explores elite architectural strategies designed to cope with political instability in this period, particularly the role of urban landscape planning and resettlement schemes in the creation of political order. Attention is directed toward the role of palace construction campaigns across the Abomey Plateau, the core zone of Dahomean political power. Drawing on multiple lines of evidence (archaeological, oral, and documentary), I argue that the production of space was centrally important for crafting orthodox histories of dynastic origins and gerrymandering social identities vis-a`-vis the emerging state, providing new insights into the sources of political authority in West Africa in the Atlantic era, as well as into the complex intersections between space, power, and “history making” in the past.
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This paper seeks to challenge the notion of the invisible slave in the archaeological record and investigates the way in which material culture may reflect the movements and practices of enslaved labourers on the East African Swahili... more
This paper seeks to challenge the notion of the invisible slave in the archaeological record and investigates the way in which material culture may reflect the movements and practices of enslaved labourers on the East African Swahili coast. Archaeological approaches to enslavement have revealed the nuanced and complex experiences of a group of people often under- represented or absent in historical records, while also grappling with the challenges presented by the ambiguity of the material evidence. This paper presents a case study from the fifteenth- century Swahili site of Songo Mnara in Tanzania, an architecturally and materially wealthy stone town in the Kilwa archipelago. It focuses on the context, use, and spread of beads across the site, and considers the possibility of interpreting some classes — such as locally made terracotta beads — as proxies for the underclass and enslaved in an otherwise wealthy settlement. It presents a key study towards the aim of building a highly necessary methodology for the archaeology of slavery in East Africa and beyond, and suggests that certain types of material culture might be used to explore the activities of enslaved and/or underclass individuals.
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Research on the archaeology of the coast of eastern Africa is closely associated with the earliest days of the British Institute in Eastern Africa and in many ways quickly became synonymous with the Institute's journal — Azania. This is... more
Research on the archaeology of the coast of eastern Africa is closely associated with the earliest days of the British Institute in Eastern Africa and in many ways quickly became synonymous with the Institute's journal — Azania. This is not surprising given that Neville Chittick, the first Director of the Institute and initial editor of Azania, was most actively engaged with research on the eastern African Swahili coast. Since those early years, many researchers have described the changing paradigms of coastal archaeology, often through the lens of wider political and theoretical changes and framed with reference to periods of colonialism, independence and post-colonialism. In this paper, we seek instead to document and describe the methodological and analytical changes that have occurred in the archaeology of eastern Africa over the decades that Azania has been published. We focus on three broad methodological areas and chart their emergence, use and transformation over time: urban archaeology, ceramics and typology and survey and reconnaissance. We then offer a discussion of the diversity of current methodologies and the introduction of scientific techniques and how they have served to shape the type of questions that can be asked and answered. Finally, we call for a continued commitment to local dissemination for coastal researchers: a job for which Azania retains its important role.
La recherche sur l'archéologie de la côte de l'Afrique orientale est étroitement associée avec les premiers jours du British Institute in Eastern Africa, et devint rapidement synonyme à bien des égards de la revue de cet institut, Azania. Cet état de choses ne surprend pas, étant donné que Neville Chittick, premier directeur de l'Institut et éditeur initial d’Azania, était activement engagé dans des recherches sur la côte swahili de l'Afrique de l'Est. Depuis ces premières années, de nombreux chercheurs ont décrit l'évolution des paradigmes de l'archéologie de cette côte, et ce souvent à travers le prisme des changements politiques et théoriques plus larges et dans un cadre axé sur les périodes de la colonisation, de l'Indépendance et du post-colonialisme. Dans cet article, nous cherchons par contre à documenter et décrire les changements méthodologiques et analytiques qui ont pris place au sein de l'archéologie de l'Afrique orientale au cours des décennies pendant lesquelles a été publié Azania. Nous nous concentrons sur trois grands domaines méthodologiques — l'archéologie urbaine, la céramique et ses typologies, et la prospection et la reconnaissance — et traçons leur émergence, leur utilisation et leur transformation au fil du temps. Nous proposons ensuite une discussion de la diversité des méthodologies actuelles et de l'introduction de techniques scientifiques, et nous examinons comment celles-ci ont influencé le type de questions qui peuvent être posées et auxquelles ont peut espérer une réponse. Enfin, nous appelons à une continuation de l'engagement à la diffusion locale pour les chercheurs côtiers: ici, Azania garde un rôle important.
La recherche sur l'archéologie de la côte de l'Afrique orientale est étroitement associée avec les premiers jours du British Institute in Eastern Africa, et devint rapidement synonyme à bien des égards de la revue de cet institut, Azania. Cet état de choses ne surprend pas, étant donné que Neville Chittick, premier directeur de l'Institut et éditeur initial d’Azania, était activement engagé dans des recherches sur la côte swahili de l'Afrique de l'Est. Depuis ces premières années, de nombreux chercheurs ont décrit l'évolution des paradigmes de l'archéologie de cette côte, et ce souvent à travers le prisme des changements politiques et théoriques plus larges et dans un cadre axé sur les périodes de la colonisation, de l'Indépendance et du post-colonialisme. Dans cet article, nous cherchons par contre à documenter et décrire les changements méthodologiques et analytiques qui ont pris place au sein de l'archéologie de l'Afrique orientale au cours des décennies pendant lesquelles a été publié Azania. Nous nous concentrons sur trois grands domaines méthodologiques — l'archéologie urbaine, la céramique et ses typologies, et la prospection et la reconnaissance — et traçons leur émergence, leur utilisation et leur transformation au fil du temps. Nous proposons ensuite une discussion de la diversité des méthodologies actuelles et de l'introduction de techniques scientifiques, et nous examinons comment celles-ci ont influencé le type de questions qui peuvent être posées et auxquelles ont peut espérer une réponse. Enfin, nous appelons à une continuation de l'engagement à la diffusion locale pour les chercheurs côtiers: ici, Azania garde un rôle important.
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT In this article, we examine an assumption about the historic Swahili of the eastern African coast: that they were a maritime society from their beginnings in the first millennium C.E. Based on historical and archaeological... more
ABSTRACT In this article, we examine an assumption about the historic Swahili of the eastern African coast: that they were a maritime society from their beginnings in the first millennium C.E. Based on historical and archaeological data,we suggest that, despite their proximity to and use of the sea, the level of maritimity of Swahili society increased greatly over time and was only fully realized in the early second millennium C.E. Drawing on recent theorizing from other areas of the world about maritimity as well as research on the Swahili, we discuss three arenas that distinguish first- and second-millennium coastal society in terms of their maritime orientation. These are variability and discontinuity in settlement location and permanence; evidence of increased engagement with the sea through fishing and sailing technology; and specialized architectural developments involving port facilities, mosques, and houses. The implications of this study are that we must move beyond coastal location in determining maritimity;
consider how the sea and its products were part of social life; and assess whether the marine environment actively
influences and is influenced by broader patterns of sociocultural organization, practice, and belief within Swahili and other societies. [maritime, fishing and sailing, long-distance trade, Swahili, eastern Africa]
consider how the sea and its products were part of social life; and assess whether the marine environment actively
influences and is influenced by broader patterns of sociocultural organization, practice, and belief within Swahili and other societies. [maritime, fishing and sailing, long-distance trade, Swahili, eastern Africa]
Research Interests:
The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Songo Mnara is one of the most impressive urban sites on the eastern African coast, with exceptionally well-preserved architectural remains and a short occupation during the 14th-16th centuries AD.... more
The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Songo Mnara is one of the most impressive urban sites on the eastern African coast, with exceptionally well-preserved architectural remains and a short occupation during the 14th-16th centuries AD. Ongoing archaeological research at the site has produced a dense set of digital materials, including laser scans of standing ruins, topographic DEMs, and digitized plans of archaeological features and artifact distributions. These data offer a unique snapshot of a crucial period in Swahili history, and the possibility of digitally reconstructing the site to study visual, spatial, and object patterns. The digital reconstruction will serve as an interactive research tool to investigate how spatial practices were made meaningful at the site, and how people may have experienced life in the town. This paper will discuss progress on this project, and the research, teaching, and heritage issues that it can address.