12 research outputs found
Coastal Subsistence, Maritime Trade, and the Colonization of Small Offshore Islands in Eastern African Prehistory
Recent archaeological research has firmly established eastern Africa's offshore islands as important localities for understanding the region's pre-Swahili maritime adaptations and early Indian Ocean trade connections. While the importance of the sea and small offshore islands to the development of urbanized and mercantile Swahili societies has long been recognized, the formative stages of island colonizationâand in particular the processes by which migrating Iron Age groups essentially became âmaritimeââare still relatively poorly understood. Here we present the results of recent archaeological fieldwork in the Mafia Archipelago, which aims to understand these early adaptations and situate them within a longer-term trajectory of island settlement and pre-Swahili cultural developments. We focus on the results of zooarchaeological, archaeobotanical, and material culture studies relating to early subsistence and trade on this island to explore the changing significance of marine resources to the local economy. We also discuss the implications of these maritime adaptations for the development of local and long-distance Indian Ocean trade networks
Coastal subsistence, maritime trade, and the colonization of small offshore islands in eastern African prehistory
Recent archaeological research has firmly established eastern Africaâs
offshore islands as important localities for understanding the regionâs
pre-Swahili maritime adaptations and early Indian Ocean trade connections.
While the importance of the sea and small offshore islands
to the development of urbanized and mercantile Swahili societies has
long been recognized, the formative stages of island colonizationâand
in particular the processes by which migrating Iron Age groups essentially
became âmaritimeââare still relatively poorly understood. Here
we present the results of recent archaeological fieldwork in the Mafia
Archipelago, which aims to understand these early adaptations and
situate them within a longer-term trajectory of island settlement and
pre-Swahili cultural developments. We focus on the results of zooarchaeological,
archaeobotanical, and material culture studies relating
to early subsistence and trade on this island to explore the changing
significance of marine resources to the local economy. We also discuss
the implications of these maritime adaptations for the development of
local and long-distance Indian Ocean trade networks.The Sealinks Project is funded through a
grant toNicole Boivin from the European Research
Council (StarterGrant 206148) under
the âIdeasâ specific Programme of the 7th
Framework Programme (FP7). Additional
funding includes: postdoctoral fellowships
from the British Academy (2010â2013) and
the University of Queensland (2015â2017)
to Alison Crowther; a Fondation Fyssen Postdoctoral
Grant toErÂŽendira Quintana Morales;
and a postdoctoral fellowship from the Government
of the Balearic Islands (Conselleria
dâEducaciÂŽo) and the European Social Fund
to Llorencž Picornell-Gelabert. Fieldwork was
carried out under COSTECH Research Permit
no. 2012-303-ER-2011-85 and the Division
of Antiquities (Ministry of Natural Resources
and Tourism, Tanzania) excavation
license no. EA.402/605/01 issued to Alison
Crowther, and with the support and permission
of theRegionalAdministrative Secretary
(Dar es Salaam andCoast/Pwani), the District
Administrative Secretary (Mafia), and the Village
Executive Officer (Mtendaji wa Kijiji,
Juani).http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uica20hb2016Anthropology and Archaeolog
Coastal subsistence, maritime trade, and the colonization of small offshore islands in eastern African prehistory
Recent archaeological research has firmly established eastern Africaâs
offshore islands as important localities for understanding the regionâs
pre-Swahili maritime adaptations and early Indian Ocean trade connections.
While the importance of the sea and small offshore islands
to the development of urbanized and mercantile Swahili societies has
long been recognized, the formative stages of island colonizationâand
in particular the processes by which migrating Iron Age groups essentially
became âmaritimeââare still relatively poorly understood. Here
we present the results of recent archaeological fieldwork in the Mafia
Archipelago, which aims to understand these early adaptations and
situate them within a longer-term trajectory of island settlement and
pre-Swahili cultural developments. We focus on the results of zooarchaeological,
archaeobotanical, and material culture studies relating
to early subsistence and trade on this island to explore the changing
significance of marine resources to the local economy. We also discuss
the implications of these maritime adaptations for the development of
local and long-distance Indian Ocean trade networks.The Sealinks Project is funded through a
grant toNicole Boivin from the European Research
Council (StarterGrant 206148) under
the âIdeasâ specific Programme of the 7th
Framework Programme (FP7). Additional
funding includes: postdoctoral fellowships
from the British Academy (2010â2013) and
the University of Queensland (2015â2017)
to Alison Crowther; a Fondation Fyssen Postdoctoral
Grant toErÂŽendira Quintana Morales;
and a postdoctoral fellowship from the Government
of the Balearic Islands (Conselleria
dâEducaciÂŽo) and the European Social Fund
to Llorencž Picornell-Gelabert. Fieldwork was
carried out under COSTECH Research Permit
no. 2012-303-ER-2011-85 and the Division
of Antiquities (Ministry of Natural Resources
and Tourism, Tanzania) excavation
license no. EA.402/605/01 issued to Alison
Crowther, and with the support and permission
of theRegionalAdministrative Secretary
(Dar es Salaam andCoast/Pwani), the District
Administrative Secretary (Mafia), and the Village
Executive Officer (Mtendaji wa Kijiji,
Juani).http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uica20hb2016Anthropology and Archaeolog
The port of Berenike Troglodytica on the Red Sea: a landscape-based approach to the study of its harbour and its role in Indo-Mediterranean trade
Abstract of PhD thesis: The Port of Berenike Troglodytica on the Red Sea: A Landscape-Based Approach to the Study of its Harbour and its Role in Indo-Mediterranean Trade. University of Oxford, 2015
Port town and its harbours: sedimentary proxies for landscape and seascape reconstruction of the Greco-Roman site of Berenike Trogodytica on the Red Sea coast of Egypt
Berenike Trogodytica was one of the key harbours on the Red Sea coast during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods and was a major trade and exchange hub connecting the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. Berenikeâs geographical position was extraordinarily propitious owing partly to its natural harbours, protected against the prevailing northern winds, as well as its location in the vicinity of an ancient viewshed, the large peninsula of Ras Benas. This paper discusses how multifaceted geoarchaeological approaches to the study of ancient ports can contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms and logistics of maritime trade, as well as fluctuations in its quality and quantity. It also sheds new light on the significance of the effect that local and regional palaeoclimatic, landscape, seascape and environmental changes had on the development and decline of the port, and its changing role within the Red SeaâIndian Ocean maritime network
Affad 23: settlement structures and palaeoenvironments in the Terminal Pleistocene of the Middle Nile Valley, Sudan
The Epipalaeolithic of the Levant witnessed important changes in subsistence behaviour, foreshadowing the transition to sedentism and cultivation, but much less is known of contemporary developments in the Middle Nile Valley. Here, Affad 23, a 16000-year-old settlement, on the margins of a resource-rich, multi-channel floodplain, offers exceptional insights. Unusually good preservation has left the remains of pits and postholes, indicating the construction of temporary shelters and specialised functional zones. The Affad 23 community successfully exploited a wide range of riverine resources, and created a highly organised seasonal camp adjacent to convenient, resource-rich hunting grounds. Surprisingly, they continued to exploit Levallois-like tools, rather than adopting the new technologies (e.g. microliths) that were then evolving in Upper Egypt
Building blocks of the lost past: game engines and inaccessible archaeological sites
This paper explores an idea for creating an informal and easily approachable media platform to promote archaeological sites that are inaccessible and lesser known to the public in the form of an educational game. This game will create an illusion of a real archaeological site visit, allowing players direct contact with its environment and surroundings as well as interaction with its ancient and contemporary inhabitants. In an era of international connectivity, globalization, and social networking, it seems appropriate to choose the online computer and mobile gaming industries as media for spreading the interest in heritage and archaeology
Coastal landscape changes at Unguja Ukuu, Zanzibar: Contextualizing the archaeology of an early Islamic port of trade
Unguja Ukuu, located on the Zanzibar Archipelago, eastern Africa, was an active Indian Ocean trading settlement from the mid-first millennium until the early second millennium AD. As part of recent archaeological excavations aimed at understanding the siteâs transregional trade networks, geoarchaeological analyses were undertaken to document the geomorphic context of the ancient settlement. Here, we outline the results of these field and laboratory studies to discuss patterns of anthropogenic sediment deposition. Unguja Ukuuâs deep coastal stratigraphy appears to record progradation of an inhabited back-reef shore from the mid-seventh to the nineth centuries AD, perhaps in the wake of an earlier middle to late Holocene marine transgression. Excavations on the back-beach show that deposits associated with the ancient settlement include interlayered middens, paleofloors, and backshore sands and, in later phases, a peri-urban dump with dark-earth-type anthrosols developed on these deposits. Coastal progradation appears to have been driven in part by the accumulation of anthropogenic detritus and compaction of ancient surfaces. We hypothesize how the inherited, submerged relic Late Pleistocene geomorphology of the intertidal zone and later Holocene sediment supply from the hinterland may have supported the emergence of Unguja Ukuu as a trading locale, and possibly contributed to its decline in the early second millennium AD
Impact of climate change and human activity on soil landscapes over the past 12,300 years
Abstract Soils are key to ecosystems and human societies, and their critical importance requires a better understanding of how they evolve through time. However, identifying the role of natural climate change versus human activity (e.g. agriculture) on soil evolution is difficult. Here we show that for most of the past 12,300 years soil erosion and development were impacted differently by natural climate variability, as recorded by sediments deposited in Lake Dojran (Macedonia/Greece): short-lived (â<â1,000 years) climatic shifts had no effect on soil development but impacted soil erosion. This decoupling disappeared between 3,500 and 3,100 years ago, when the sedimentary record suggests an unprecedented erosion event associated with the development of agriculture in the region. Our results show unambiguously how differently soils evolved under natural climate variability (between 12,300 and 3,500 years ago) and later in response to intensifying human impact. The transition from natural to anthropogenic landscape started just before, or at, the onset of the Greek âDark Agesâ (~3,200âcalâyr BP). This could represent the earliest recorded sign of a negative feedback between civilization and environmental impact, where the development of agriculture impacted soil resources, which in turn resulted in a slowdown of civilization expansion
Use of Zanzibar copal (Hymenaea verrucosa Gaertn.) as incense at Unguja Ukuu, Tanzania in the 7-8th century CE: Chemical insights into trade and Indian Ocean interactions
This study presents the chemical analysis of an amorphous organic residue extracted from a 7th-early 8th century CE brass artefact from the trading port of Unguja Ukuu, Zanzibar, Tanzania, hypothesised to be an incense burner. The artefact is a very rare and highly significant find in East Africa, with only one other example being found previously (also at the same site), and likely represents early contact between coastal East Africa and the Indian Ocean world. Chemical analysis of the residue adhering to this artefact was undertaken to confirm its use to burn incense, and to determine whether the resin used was local or exotic to East Africa and thus likely acquired through long-distance trade. The residue extract was analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) and identified as Zanzibar copal (Hymenaea verrucosa Gaertn.), a local species that rose to major importance in colonial period trade. The results obtained from this study provide the first direct archaeological evidence for the ancient use of this East African species as an aromatic, suggesting that it might have had a much earlier role in long-distance incense trade than previously demonstrated. This finding also provides insights into local East African engagement with the material culture of the Indian Ocean world