Reconstructing Swahili Foodways: the Archaeology of Fishing and Fish Consumption in Coastal East Africa, AD 500-1500
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Reconstructing Swahili Foodways: The Archaeology of Fishing and Fish Consumption in Coastal East Africa, AD 500-1500 Eréndira Malinali Quintana Morales A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements of the degree of PhD in the Faculty of Arts Department of Archaeology and Anthropology October 2012 WC: 68,665 Quintana Morales Abstract This study investigates fishing and fish consumption throughout the development of Swahili settlements (AD 500 to 1500) along the East African coastline. Zooarchaeology provides an effective methodology to investigate how fish, as a principal food item, interlink culture and environment and shape life in these past coastal communities. I hypothesise that fishing and fish consumption practices are integrated parts of Swahili culture; thus, forms of fishing and fish consumption—and the material traces associated with them—reflect the cultural and environmental conditions of Swahili life at different scales. I consolidated published and unpublished reports of faunal remains from excavations on the Swahili coast and identified the faunal remains from two 14th to 16th century Swahili towns, Songo Mnara and Vumba Kuu, to explore subsistence practices at regional and local scales. These faunal data form the basis of analyses that explore trends such as changes in the relative proportions of the principal food items over time, the range of exploited marine habitats around settlements, and the distribution of differently-sized fish across a town. My interpretations of these patterns are aided by ethnoarchaeological observations and interdisciplinary perspectives from the fields of marine ecology, ethnography and paleo-climatic studies. The results indicate that the development of offshore fishing and an increasing consumption of domesticated bovids occur at particular settlements during a key period of growing urbanism and overseas trade in the Swahili region. Faunal remains from Vumba Kuu and Songo Mnara show evidence of different fishing and fish consumption practices within and between settlements that are linked to the variety of available natural resources and social spaces. These results demonstrate how local environmental and cultural conditions influence fishing and fish consumption practices, contributing to our understanding of the complexity and diversity of life within Swahili communities and across the Swahili region. ii Quintana Morales Acknowledgements My journey into the world of Swahili fish began at the University of Bristol with the support of an Overseas Research Scholarship. A grant from the British Institute in Eastern Africa allowed me to complete my first ethnoarchaeological field season, and two grants from the Mellon Mays Program provided funding to carry out zooarchaeological analysis in Kenya and resources during the writing process. This project would not have been possible without the friendly assistance of members of the National Museums of Kenya and the Coastal Archaeology Department in Mombasa. I am grateful to Ogeto Mwebi and the staff at the Osteology Department in Nairobi who helped me navigate through the comparative skeletal collection. I also thank the staff at the British Institute for providing logistical support throughout the duration of my project. I was wamly received in the Archaeozoology Laboratory at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris, where I carried out a portion of the faunal analysis. I give many thanks to Paola Aburto Brom and family for welcoming me in their home during my stays in Paris. I received invaluable assistance in the field from Mwatime Abdallah, “Chai” Mjahiya Rashid, and Najma, and I owe many thanks to the residents of Vanga, Jimbo, and Jasini for their patience and willingness to share their thoughts and experiences with me. Special thanks to Mohamed Mchulla and family for being a home away from home. I am especially grateful to Mark Horton, Alistair Pike, Philippe Béarez, Stephanie Wynne-Jones, and Jeffrey Fleisher, who have provided instrumental guidance and support throughout this project. I wish to thank my parents, Pedro Francisco Quintana Ascencio and Maria Cristina Morales Hernandez, and my sister Amarantha Zyanya Quintana Morales, who are a source of inspiration and whose endless love and encouragement allow me to take on many challenges such as this one. Very special thanks to Brad Ochocki for helping me accomplish this goal in countless ways. iii Quintana Morales Author’s Declaration I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the Regulations of the University of Bristol. The work is original, except where indicated by special reference in the text, and no part of the dissertation has been submitted for any other academic award. Any views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author. SIGNED: ............................................................ DATE: ...21 October 2012... iv Quintana Morales Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................... iii Author’s Declaration ........................................................................................... iv List of Figures ....................................................................................................... ix List of Tables ....................................................................................................... xii List of Abbreviations ......................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1: Food Consumption in the Swahili World ........................................ 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 1.2 A zooarchaeological approach to food consumption .................................... 2 1.3 Subsistence at the intersection of environment and culture .......................... 2 A case for the Swahili in this debate ........................................................................................ 3 1.4 Brief overview of the Swahili Coast ............................................................. 4 The coastal environment ........................................................................................................... 4 History of research on the Swahili coast .................................................................................. 5 Overview of Swahili History .................................................................................................... 8 1.5 Food consumption in the Swahili world: an introduction ............................. 9 The lexicon of fishing and subsistence ................................................................................... 10 Written sources on food consumption .................................................................................... 11 Material evidence of eating: burned seeds, bowls, and bones ................................................ 13 1.6 Summary ..................................................................................................... 15 1.7 Thesis aims .................................................................................................. 16 Organization of thesis ............................................................................................................. 17 Chapter 2: Diet and Society Revealed through Fish Remains ........................ 21 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 21 2.2 Why fish? .................................................................................................... 21 2.3 Reference collection .................................................................................... 22 2.4 Taphonomy: from the sea to the lab ............................................................ 26 2.5 Data analysis ................................................................................................ 28 Primary data: elements ........................................................................................................... 29 Primary data: taxonomic identification .................................................................................. 35 Primary data: modification ..................................................................................................... 35 Secondary data: taxonomic representation ............................................................................. 37 Secondary data: size and age estimation ................................................................................ 39 2.6 What do fish bones tell us? .......................................................................... 41 Interpretation: seasonality ...................................................................................................... 41 Interpretation: technology ...................................................................................................... 42 Interpretation: social organization .......................................................................................... 44 Interpretation: fishing intensity .............................................................................................. 45 2.7 Summary ....................................................................................................