Finding Their Place in the Swahili World: an archaeological exploration of southern Tanzania

Pawlowicz, Matthew

doi:10.1080/0067270x.2012.677331

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…The alternative scenario-that Asian crops spread from Madagascar to a more northern corridor via the Swahili Coast-has stronger support, given that crop-raising societies were probably present on the Swahili Coast earlier than on the central Mozambique Coast to the south, due to their origin in the north. Nevertheless the earliest history of East African crop-cultivating communities is still poorly known and early examples of cultivation such as at Mikindani in southern Tanzania have produced only small numbers of plant remains (Crowther et al 2016;Pawlowicz 2011). Linguistic evidence provides an unclear and partly controversial picture, but at least Malagasy words for 'banana' and 'millet, sorghum' are agreed to be of Bantu origin, which casts doubt on the assumption of a simple event of unilateral crop transfer from Madagascar to the East African coast (Adelaar 2009(Adelaar , 2016Beaujard 2011).…”

Section: Current Papermentioning

confidence: 99%

Asian Crop Dispersal in Africa and Late Holocene Human Adaptation to Tropical Environments

et al. 2019

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Occupation of the humid tropics by Late Holocene food producers depended on the use of vegetative agricultural systems. A small number of vegetative crops from the Americas and Asia have come to dominate tropical agriculture globally in these warm and humid environments, due to their ability to provide reliable food output with low labour inputs, as well as their suitability to these environments. The prehistoric arrival in Africa of Southeast Asian crops, in particular banana, taro and greater yam but also sugar cane and others, is commonly regarded as one of the most important examples of transcontinental exchanges in the tropics. Although chronologies of food-producer expansions in Central Africa are increasingly gaining resolution, we have very little evidence for the agricultural systems used in this region. Researchers have recovered just a handful of examples of archaeobotanical banana, taro and sugar cane remains, and so far none from greater yam. Many of the suggested dispersal routes have not been tested with chronological, ecological and linguistic evidence of food producers. While the impact of Bantu-speaking people has been emphasised, the role of non-Bantu farmers speaking Ubangi and Central Sudanic languages who have expanded from the (north)east has hardly been considered. This article will review the current hypotheses on dispersal routes and suggest that transmissions via Northeast Africa should become a new focus of research on the origins of Asian vegeculture crops in Africa.

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Section: Current Papermentioning

confidence: 99%

Asian Crop Dispersal in Africa and Late Holocene Human Adaptation to Tropical Environments

et al. 2019

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“…Pottery belonging to this period is better understood than in the previous periods, the majority being foreign and of known place or origin (Horton 1996;Pawlowicz 2011). Whereas local carinated arcdesigned pottery is dominant, imported ceramics include monochrome, celadon, porcelain and European wares (Chami et al 2004;Croucher 2006;Kirkman 1974).…”

Section: Background To the Use And Dating Of East African Coastal Potmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…This area was investigated by A. Kwekason in 2006and later by M. Pawlowicz between 2007and 2010(Kwekason 2007Pawlowicz 2009Pawlowicz , 2011. The investigations recovered archaeological evidence including local ceramics with incised decorations and red paint, slag, Indian earthenware, daub and postholes, from test excavations.…”

Section: Mvita Mikindanimentioning

confidence: 98%

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Potsherds Coated with Lime Mortar Along the East African Coast: Their Origin and Significance

Ichumbaki

Pollard

2015

Afr Archaeol Rev

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This paper investigates the purpose of lime mortar-coated potsherds found along the East African coast. Recent sites investigated are in areas of Kaole, Kiswere, Rushungi, Sudi, and Mikindani in Tanzania. Desktop research revealed similar potsherds from Manda in the Lamu Archipelago of Kenya and Kilwa Kisiwani in Tanzania. From the late first millennium AD, asphalt has been recorded on pottery at Manda to make it waterproof. From around the same period, mortar was found on pottery at Kaole and on other artefacts in the midden deposit such as 'bead' grinders and bone deposits. This suggests natural cementation from lime introduced to the midden deposit. A thin layer of plaster on pots dating to the late twelfth to late thirteenth centuries at Kilwa Kisiwani, and eleventh to fourteenth centuries at Sudi, has been interpreted as deliberate to make the vessel more watertight. Later evidence indicates that the tradition of coating pots with lime mortar probably for the purposes of storing liquids continued up to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries at Mikindani. However, vessels and deposits dating from the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries at Kiswere and Bwembweni, near Kaole, contain layers of mortar too thick for the purpose of waterproofing the vessel, and were probably used for mixing and then coating a building. The coastal and estuarine settings of the find spots indicate the importance of water transport for this lime mortar industry. The storage and transport of lime along the coast and inland would have been a significant part of local East African trade for its use in iron making and building.Résumé Cet article étudie la poterie couvri chez mortier trouvé sur la côte de l'est del'Afrique. Les sites étudiés pendant enquête sur le terrain sont Kaole, Kiswere, Afr Archaeol Rev (2015) 32:443-463

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“…East Africa became part of a global Indian Ocean trading network in the 9th and 10th centuries CE, and this influenced the interior (Pawlowicz 2011). This trading network linked Arabia, the Middle East, India and China in a substantial partnership.…”

Section: Archaeology and The History Of Tanzaniamentioning

confidence: 99%

A German Rifle Casing and Chief Mkwawa of the Wahehe: the Colonial and Post-Colonial Significance of Mlambalasi Rockshelter, Iringa Region, Tanzania

et al. 2019

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During the 2010 excavations of Mlambalasi rockshelter, Iringa Region, Tanzania, a single rifle bullet casing was recovered. Analysis of this casing found that it was manufactured in 1877 at the munitions factory in Danzig for the German infantry’s Mauser 71 rifle. This casing is thus directly linked to the period of German colonization of Tanganyika, during which Iringa was a key centre of anti-colonial resistance. Mlambalasi was the location of the last stand of Chief Mkwawa of the Hehe people, and this bullet casing provides a tangible link to his uprising during the 1890s. In light of this colonial context and our ongoing research at Mlambalasi, this find is used to illustrate that a single artifact can reinforce multiple narratives about the past and the significance of an archaeological site.

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Finding Their Place in the Swahili World: an archaeological exploration of southern Tanzania

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Asian Crop Dispersal in Africa and Late Holocene Human Adaptation to Tropical Environments

Asian Crop Dispersal in Africa and Late Holocene Human Adaptation to Tropical Environments

Potsherds Coated with Lime Mortar Along the East African Coast: Their Origin and Significance

A German Rifle Casing and Chief Mkwawa of the Wahehe: the Colonial and Post-Colonial Significance of Mlambalasi Rockshelter, Iringa Region, Tanzania

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