Beyond the Coastalscapes: Preindustrial Social and Political Networks in East Africa

Kusimba, Chapurukha M.; Kusimba, Sibel; Dussubieux, Laure

doi:10.1007/s10437-013-9133-4

Cited by 29 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…1000, coastal settlements were enmeshed in continental socioeconomic webs; materially they were the easternmost places in a larger interaction sphere that stretched inland hundreds of kilometers (Fleisher and Wynne-Jones 2011 ; Helm 2000 ; Walz 2010 ). As Ceri Shipton and colleagues ( 2013 ) and Chapurukha Kusimba and colleagues ( 2013 ) have shown, the settlement hierarchies of the first millennium are best understood by looking to the continent from the coast (or looking to the coast from the continent). The emergence of large regional centers was occurring not just at the coast but also in the coastal uplands, and many of these settlements shared material cultural forms and styles, such as local ETT–TIW pottery.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Suffice it to note that while such aspects of Swahili practice and tradition undoubtedly have deep historical roots, correlating their emergence with the initial appearance of material expressions of a distinctly maritime orientation remains challenging and can only be resolved, if at all, by future research. As overarching theories about Swahili tend to give way to regional and specific temporal perspectives (e.g., Kusimba et al 2013 ; LaViolette and Fleisher 2009 ), we proceed cautiously, knowing that what we present here will be further elaborated as archaeology continues apace on the coast. Nonetheless, that multiple lines of material evidence now seem to point to, at the very least, a scaling up of engagement with “things maritime” and a general reorientation toward the sea in the early second millennium C.E.…”

Section: Maritimity and The Swahilimentioning

confidence: 98%

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When Did the Swahili Become Maritime?

Fleisher

Lane

LaViolette

et al. 2015

American Anthropologist

162

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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 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]RESUMENEn este artículo, evaluamos la hipótesis de que los pueblos Swahili de la costa oriental africana fueron una sociedad marítima a partir del primer milenio E.C. Basados en información histórica y arqueológica, proponemos que la asociación de la sociedad Swahili con el mar incrementó considerablemente con el tiempo y se manifestó de una forma significativa particularmente desde principios del segundo milenio E.C. Utilizando teorías recientes sobre maritimidad en otras áreas del mundo, así como investigaciones sobre los Swahili, discutimos tres temas que marcan las diferencias del nivel de orientación marítima de esta sociedad costera entre el primer y segundo milenio. Éstas son la variabilidad y discontinuidad en la localización y permanencia de los asentamientos; evidencia de una conexión mayor con el mar a través de la tecnología de pesca y navegación; y desarrollos arquitectónicos especializados que incluyen instalaciones portuarias, mezquitas, y casas. Las implicaciones de este estudio indican que debemos considerar otros aspectos de una sociedad aparte de su localización costera para determinar su maritimidad. Hay que considerar cómo el mar y sus productos son parte de la vida social y evaluar si existe una influencia recíproca entre el ambiente marítimo y los patrones de organización sociocultural, las prácticas, y las creencias de los Swahili y otras sociedades. [marítimo, pesca y navegación, comercio a larga distancia, Swahili, África Oriental]

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Maritimity and The Swahilimentioning

confidence: 98%

When Did the Swahili Become Maritime?

Fleisher

Lane

LaViolette

et al. 2015

American Anthropologist

162

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“…The latter thus links all Swahili towns to each other and to all smaller coastal settlements and contextualizes the power of stone structures. It also ties coastal dwellers to neighboring hinterland societies (Kusimba et al, 2013).…”

Section: Chwaka and Swahili Townsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assembling Islamic practice in a Swahili urban landscape, 11th–16th centuries

LaViolette

Fleisher

Horton

2023

Journal of Social Archaeology

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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-than-human 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.

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“…Increasingly, these towns came to be seen as semi-autonomous entrepôts that were outward-looking towards the wider Indian Ocean region but were also bound to Africa through their trading connections and social relationships. This period of research also saw the start of a landscape-orientated approach to recognising the complex relationships these towns would have enjoyed with their terrestrial hinterland and marine forelands [71][72][73][74]. For the period before 1500 AD, archaeology provides the greatest source of information on contemporary society and the drivers of economic and landscape change.…”

Section: Uniting Terrestrial and Maritime Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rising from the Depths Network: A Challenge-Led Research Agenda for Marine Heritage and Sustainable Development in Eastern Africa

et al. 2021

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The Rising from the Depths (RftD) network aims to identify the ways in which Marine Cultural Heritage (MCH) can contribute to the sustainable development of coastal communities in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar. Although the coastal and marine heritage of eastern Africa is a valuable cultural and environmental resource, it remains largely unstudied and undervalued and is subject to significant threat from natural and anthropogenic processes of change. This paper outlines the aims of the RftD network and describes the co-creation of a challenge-led research and sustainability programme for the study of MCH in eastern Africa. Through funding 29 challenge-led research projects across these four Global South countries, the network is demonstrating how MCH can directly benefit East African communities and local economies through building identity and place-making, stimulating resource-centred alternative sources of income and livelihoods, and enhancing the value and impact of overseas aid in the marine sector. Overall, Rising from the Depths aims to illustrate that an integrated consideration of cultural heritage, rather than being a barrier to development, should be positioned as a central facet of the transformative development process if that development is to be ethical, inclusive and sustainable.

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Beyond the Coastalscapes: Preindustrial Social and Political Networks in East Africa

Cited by 29 publications

References 40 publications

When Did the Swahili Become Maritime?

When Did the Swahili Become Maritime?

Assembling Islamic practice in a Swahili urban landscape, 11th–16th centuries

Rising from the Depths Network: A Challenge-Led Research Agenda for Marine Heritage and Sustainable Development in Eastern Africa

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