The salt of Bunyoro: seeking the origins of an African Kingdom

Abstract

Excavations at the salt-making village of Kibiro, on the Ugandan shore of Lake Albert in East Africa, suggest that an important part of the economy of the Kingdom of Bunyoro originated early in the present millennium. The predominance of roulette-decorated pottery, in particular the use of carved roulettes, indicates that Kibiro was first occupied by people with northern affinities, possibly from the upper Nile region or further west. Collectively, these findings provide important clues concerning the origins of the Kingdom of Bunyoro.

Archaeological survey, ceramic analysis, and state formation in western Uganda

“…The role of iron in prehistoric economies is an intriguing issue that should be explored from several directiorls, the most urgent of which is ethnoarchaeological research among those surviving elders who recall metallurgical practices at the time of European contact. Iron is, however, but one of several commodities that may have been important as avenues to wealth and power; other items include salt -currently being investigated by Connah (1991)-, ivory and exotic items such as glass beads obtained from the East African coast or the Sudan through long-distart~e trading networks. The role of these items may be revealed through more extensive excavations at putative regional centers.…”

“…Preliminary indications suggest that the Kibiro potter}, has northern affinities which may reflect tl~e Nilotic contribution to the establishment of the Nyoro kingdom (Connah 1989(Connah , 1991.…”

Early settlement and social organization in the Interlacustrine region

“…Further north, around Mubende, a number of settlements are identified fiom the twelfth century onwards (Robertshaw 1991a), while by about the thirteenth century a salt-producing community was thriving at Kibiro on Lake Albert. Connah (1991) argues that this community could not have been self-sufficient in food and must therefore have been dependent on production and trade of its salt. In the Karagwe highlands sirmlarly , the first evidence of widespread colonisation dates to the second millennium AD.…”

An archaeology of salt production in Fiji

“…Numerous researchers identify salt access as central to the development of complex societies (Connah 1991;McKillop 1995;Lovejoy 2003). Flad et al (2005: 12618) claim its presence in all early states.…”