Pastoralist Settlement and the Anthropogenic Savannah: the Archaeo-Ecology of Maili Sita, Kenya
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Pastoralist Settlement and the Anthropogenic Savannah: the archaeo-ecology of Maili Sita, Kenya. Oliver J. C. Boles Institute of Archaeology University College London Ph.D 2017 Funded by the AHRC, UCL Graduate School, UCL Institute of Archaeology and the British Institute in Eastern Africa 1 I, Oliver Boles, confirm that the work presented in this dissertation is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, this has been indicated in the text. 2 Abstract Pastoralism has long been regarded difficult subject matter for archaeology, particularly in eastern Africa. Ephemeral settlements are presumed to leave little physical residue, such that reconstructions of pastoralist ethno-histories have relied on often-vague distributions of material culture. Cultural-stratigraphic approaches are limited in their capacity to explore the lifeways and social dynamics behind material expressions. As a consequence, our knowledge of how herding spread into the region and the historical development of the specialised stock-keeping communities seen today is hindered by a methodological incapacity to address what are arguably the fundamental drivers of pastoralist daily experience: mobility and landscape ecology. This dissertation argues that the interaction of these two elements provides the foundation for pastoralist economics, politics and culture. Movement around the savannah, ostensibly in response to the needs of livestock, not only shapes herders’ social interactions and experiences of environment, but also leaves a physical impact on those landscapes. While built structures may not survive archaeologically, this dissertation discusses how settlement, however temporary, affects local ecology in ways that endure and might be ‘read’ as a proxy record of herders’ presence and practices. With respect to the mid-second millennium site of Maili Sita, in central Kenya’s Laikipia Plateau, various data are employed to assess how settlement and particular patterns of land-use have impacted soils and vegetation. Using geoarchaeological survey and satellite imagery to assess the legacy effects of human presence, alongside isotope data derived from cattle teeth and relating to mobility and resource use, I argue that Maili Sita was part of a regional phenomenon of ethno-linguistic interaction, exchange and assimilation that precipitated the paradox of the defined-yet-entangled identities which continue to characterise the pastoralist societies of eastern Africa. 3 Acknowledgements My sincere thanks must go to my supervisors, Andrew Reid and Manuel Arroyo-Kalin, for sage advice and for faith and assurance when I was most lacking them. I would also extend this to Paul Lane, who, when the rug was pulled out from under me, gave me the chance to work at Maili Sita and offer unremitting support throughout. Countless other folk have helped along the way, either through expertise, funds, and/ or moral support: Richard MacPhail helped me make some sense of micromorphology, Mark Altaweel bulked up my meagre knowledge of remote sensing, and Liz Henton was my isotope-guru and gave me the job that got me through my final funding-less year. My appreciation also to John Cogdale extending his interest in faecal spherulites to my samples. Huge thanks to Anne-Lise Jourdan and Christina Manning for their mass-spec- trometry wizardry and, lest I forget, to all and sundry in G7B, past and present, for gen- eral camaraderie and distraction, Lisa Daniel for an administrative crutch, and the IoA in general for giving me some money now and again. As for fieldwork, my warmest thanks go to Robert Wells for letting me work and stay at Lolldaiga, which has been a real privilege, to Tom Butynski and Mike Roberts for all they have done to make my fieldwork possible, and to Geoffrey for keeping me well-fed. I would also like to thank Chief Milton and the Makurian community for allowing me access to their land and the Makurian Fence site. Fieldwork would have been infinitely less successful and certainly less fun without the help of Julius Mwenda, and with whom I spent as much time looking for elephants as for archaeology. Perhaps more. I would also like to thank the National Museum of Kenya, most particularly Emmanuel Ndiema, Angela Kabiru and John Mwangi, and to the office of the director for research affiliation and support. Thanks also to the National Council for Science, Technology and Industry (NACOSTI) for permission to undertake this work, under permit NA- COSTI/P/14/5093/383. Sticking with Kenya, I am deeply indebted to the BIEA for financial and general support during this research process and throughout my career in African Archaeology. I am deeply indebted to my examiners, Kevin MacDonald and Daryl Stump, for not dismissing me off-hand, and this dissertation is much the better for their insights and suggestions. My studies have been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), with additional and generous support from the UCL Graduate School and the Institute of Archaeology. Lastly, thanks to my parents for their unerring support, without which I might have spent the last decade working in marketing, and to Kate, obviously. 4 Table of Contents 3 Abstract 4 Acknowledgements 5 Table of Contents 9 List of Figures/Tables 13 Anthropogenic landscapes and the archaeology of pastoralism 16 1.1 Herders and the savannah 17 1.2 The archaeology of mobile pastoralism 21 1.3 An ‘archaeo-ecology’ of pastoralism 22 1.3.1 Archaeology and historical ecology in Laikipia 23 1.3.2 Research Design 27 1.3.3 Dissertation Structure 29 Pastoralists in Eastern Africa 30 2.1 African identities 32 2.2 Conceptualisations of pastoralism 34 2.3 Eastern African pastoralism: Origins and spread 37 2.4 The Pastoral Neolithic and the emergence of specialisation 43 2.5 The Pastoral Iron Age (PIA) 43 2.5.1 ‘Old pastoralism’ and the Sirikwa 46 2.6 Maasai 46 2.6.1 Expansion 47 2.6.2 Drought, Conflict and Consolidation 49 2.6.3 The Colonial Period 50 2.7 Mukogodo Maasai 53 2.8 Summary 54 Ecologies and ethno-archaeologies of herding 55 3.1 Anthropogenic landscapes and the ‘pristine myth’ 56 3.1.1 Human-environment interaction in Amazonia 58 3.2 Pastoralist ecologies 59 3.2.1 Savannahs 60 3.2.2 Glades 61 3.2.3 Settlement location: environmental factors 5 64 3.2.4 Impacts of settlement: soils, vegetation and wildlife 64 3.2.4.1 Soils 65 3.2.4.2 Vegetation 66 3.2.4.3 Wild animals and glades 66 3.2.4.4 Edge effects 68 3.2.5 Summary 68 3.3 Herder settlements: demography, function and form 69 3.3.1 Maasai 73 3.3.2 Samburu 76 3.3.3 Rendille 79 3.3.4 Summary 80 3.4 Ethnoarchaeological Approaches to Pastoralist Sites 82 3.4.1 Geo-ethnoarchaeology and enduring indicators 83 3.4.1.1 Soil micromorphology 84 3.4.1.2 Spherulites 84 3.4.1.3 Phytoliths 85 3.4.1.4 Mineralogy and geochemistry 86 3.4.2 Archaeological Applications 89 3.5 Summary 91 Laikipia, Lolldaiga and Maili Sita 91 4.1 Laikipia 91 4.1.1 Topography and Geology 93 4.1.2 Climate 94 4.1.3 Vegetation 95 4.1.4 Archaeology and Pre-Colonial History 100 4.1.5 The Twentieth Century 101 4.2 The Lolldaiga Hills 102 4.2.1 Climate and Vegetation 104 4.2.2 Economy 105 4.3 Prior research: BIEA and HEEAL 106 4.3.1 Maasai Plains 108 4.3.2 Glades and landscape change 111 4.4 Maili Sita 113 4.4.1 Excavations 115 4.4.2 Assemblages 118 4.4.3 2004 Soil Survey 124 4.4.4 Dates 127 4.5 Possible interpretations 128 4.6 Current research agenda 133 Enamel isotopes: Potential and Pilot 6 133 5.1 ‘ You are what you eat…’ 135 5.1.1 Oxygen - δ18O 138 5.1.2 Carbon - δ13C 140 5.1.3 Strontium – 87Sr/86Sr 143 5.2 Enamel Isotopes and herding strategies 144 5.2.1 Scenario A: Enkang (semi-permanent homestead) 145 5.2.2 Scenario B: Manyatta (ceremonial gathering) 147 5.2.3 Scenario C: Seasonal camp 147 5.3 Enamel Isotopes at Maili Sita 149 5.3.1 Strategy 150 5.3.1.1 Tooth selection 151 5.3.1.2 Sampling 152 5.3.2 Results 153 5.3.2.1 Atmospheric δ18O 153 5.3.2.2 Lolldaiga Hills Ranch cattle 156 5.3.2.3 Maasai cattle 157 5.3.2.4 M1/M2 distinction 159 5.3.2.5 Maili Sita cattle 161 5.4 Discussion 164 Soils and Vegetation at Maili Sita 163 5.5 Summary 166 6.1 Methods 166 6.1.1 Sampling Strategy 169 6.1.2 Micromorphology 170 6.1.3 Bulk analyses 171 6.2 Results of the geoarchaeological survey 171 6.2.1 South-North transect (SN1) 180 6.2.2 West-East Transect 183 6.2.3 Patch transect pEW1 186 6.2.4 2010 excavation units 190 6.3 Soil Micromorphology 196 6.4 Discussion 205 6.5 Summary 207 Regional Survey 207 7.1 Arrangement 209 7.1.1 Makurian Fence 213 7.1.2 Ethnographic comparisons 218 7.2 A regional phenomenon? 219 7.2.1 Method 7 220 7.2.2 Results 229 7.3 Discussion 231 7.4 Summary 232 8.1 Reconstructing Ethno-histories 233 8.1.1 Radiocarbon dates and oral traditions 234 8.1.2 Linguistic evidence 237 8.2 Discussion 241 8.3 Summary 244 The archaeo- and socio-ecology of pastoralism 245 9.1 Archaeological implications 248 9.2 The ecology of Maili Sita 251 9.3 Glades as resources 253 9.4 Pastoralist Futures 254 9.5 Summary 256 Conclusions 256 10.1 Mobility and Ecology in Laikipia 260 10.2 Methodological Reflections 262 10.3 Prospects 263 10.4 Final thoughts 265 Glossary 269 References 310 Appendices 8 List of Figures 13 1.1.