Finding Their Place in the Swahili World: an Archaeological Exploration of Southern Tanzania
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Finding Their Place in the Swahili World: An Archaeological Exploration of Southern Tanzania Matthew Christopher Pawlowicz Richmond, Virginia MA, University of Virginia, 2007 BA, Yale University, 2004 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Phi losophy Department of Anthropology University of Virginia August 2011 i Abstract This dissertation studies the functioning of large-scale systems of interaction and exchange on the East African Swahili coast by exploring their influence in the region around the town of Mikindani in southern Tanzania over the past two millennia. Evidence of connections across those systems – to the Middle East, South Asia, China, and the Mediterranean – exists in the form of trade goods, cultural and religious similarities, and historical documents. Such connections have been thought crucial to the development of Swahili urban society, with coastal centers exploiting a middleman position in Indian Ocean trade to obtain socio-political prominence. I selected the Mikindani region as a place to evaluate such linkages because it provided an opportunity to investigate Swahili life away from major centers in more modest towns and villages akin to the majority of coastal settlements, extending the analysis beyond the elite traders to include regional participants with different forms of involvement. In pursuit of these subjects, data from archaeological survey and excavations in the Mikindani region are used to describe its communities’ socioeconomic organization and interregional connections. These data show that after sharing in many first- millennium coastal developments, Mikindani’s inhabitants did not participate in the Swahili florescence of the early second millennium CE and obtained none of the characteristic imported ceramics of the time. Instead, they began to draw deeper connections with neighboring communities to the interior, epitomized by the development of a new style of local ceramics. This absence from Indian Ocean trade was not indicative of economic failure however, as settlement expanded amidst a generally self-sufficient regional economy. This unexpected development – unique among studied ii East African Swahili coastal regions – echoes archaeological studies that have emphasized the agency of marginal or “peripheral” areas within the structures of large- scale systems. It also prompts reappraisal of the popular notion of the Swahili as a mercantile society focused on Indian Ocean trade by drawing attention to coastal variability, identifying additional paths to socioeconomic success, and recognizing that elements thought “characteristic” of Swahili culture – including participation in trade – were part of social and economic strategies that were adopted, or not, to suit regional circumstances. iii Table of Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements iv List of Figures vii List of Tables xiii Chapter 1. Introduction to Mikindani and the Swahili Coast 1 Chapter 2. Understanding the Mikindani Region: Context and Methodology 29 Chapter 3. Interregional Analysis and the Swahili Coast 95 Chapter 4. Regional Analysis in Archaeology: Lessons for the Mikindani Region 132 Chapter 5. The Ceramic Traditions of Eastern and Southern Africa: Description and Implications for Regional Trends 167 Chapter 6. Environment and the Historical Ecology of the Mikindani Region 261 Chapter 7. Local Ceramics from the Mikindani Region 319 Chapter 8. Imported Goods and Interregional Trade in the Mikindani Region 376 Chapter 9. Production Activities and Small Finds 416 Chapter 10. Spatial Analysis of the Mikindani Region 442 Chapter 11. Conclusion, Mikindani in the Swahili World 507 Appendix A. Sites Recovered During Phase II Survey 545 References 577 iv Acknowledgements In doing this work I have depended on many individuals and institutions that have helped enable its completion. First, I thank my parents Chris and Joan Pawlowicz for their unstinting support in all of its various forms. I am also deeply indebted to my teachers and mentors. First, Adria LaViolette has provided unflagging support and guidance as my dissertation supervisor. She has helped me take rather nebulous ideas and transform them into a concrete project providing real insight into part of the African past. She is also responsible for introducing me to Tanzania, for which I owe her a great debt. I thank Jeffrey Hantman for pushing me to think deeply on a range of archaeological subjects both inside and outside of the classroom, from habitus and identity, to connecting theory and methods, to what it might mean when Mikindani starts to diverge from expected Swahili patterns. Pati Wattemaker not only introduced me to zooarchaeological analysis, which was sadly under-utilized in this project, but also pushed me to think systematically about social complexity. Fred Damon inspired me to explore questions of large-scale systems and to pursue an integrated approach to the environment. Fraser Neiman provided instruction in both statistics and GIS, and managed to remain good-natured throughout. Sarah Walshaw led me through the basics of archaeobotanical analysis. Steve Macko collaborated with me on stable-isotope samples from Mikindani and provided insightful comments on this work. Bertram Mapunda from the University of Dar es Salaam provided intellectual and logistical guidance while I was in Tanzania. I also owe a deep debt to my archaeology professors at Yale who introduced me to archaeological finds, theories, and practice: Thomas Tartaron, Marcello Canuto, Richard Burger, Harvey Weiss, Frank Hole and v especially Rod McIntosh, who inspired an enduring fascination with the archaeology of Africa. I also owe a great deal to the people who assisted with the project’s fieldwork. I appreciate the assistance of the members of the Tanzanian Commission for Science and Technology and the Department of Antiquities, especially Paul Nyello, who was directly attached to the project. I am grateful for the yeoman’s effort put in by my field crew from Mikindani: Jailan Muksini, Mohammed Yusuphu, Afisi Abdala, Chikongo Akilombe, Menligho Chikon, Hamisi Rangi, Hamisi Ntipa, Salum Mfalme, Swalehe Asani, Hamza Ali and William Constantine. Jailan deserves special thanks for his editorial assistance with the Swahili text of lecture on the project presented at Mikindani. The project also benefited from the assistance of several Tanzanian and American students: Wilfred Ruhega, Darya Presnyakova, Jack Stoezel, Mary Wakeman-Limn, and Alexandra Kelly. Finally, throughout the 14 months in the field I benefitted from the support and friendship of the people of Mikindani and the surrounding area; I am eternally grateful for how I was welcomed and feel blessed to have had so many positive interactions with people who often regarded me as an odd man with a strange occupation. My fieldwork and writing was supported by several institutions. Fieldwork in Mikindani was supported by a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (ID# 0746163), an Explorers Club Washington Group Exploration Grant, and funds from the Jefferson Scholars Program of the University of Virginia. Space for field laboratories in Mikindani was provided by two NGOs operating locally, EdUKAid and Trade Aid Tanzania. Preliminary research in the area and the vi writing of this dissertation was supported through separate grants from the University of Virginia’s Department of Anthropology. This work has also benefitted from discussions, critiques and encouragement from various colleagues, faculty members, and friends. First among these are the members of my family, especially my brothers Jeremiah and Dan, each of whom also provided volunteer labor. I also thank the members of my writing group and fellow archaeologists Lydia Wilson Marshall, Elizabeth Bollwerk, and Bea Arendt. Felix Chami from the University of Dar es Salaam was also a source of stimulating discussion. Karen Moon provided valuable information regarding historical sources for Mikindani. Others deserving thanks include David Sapir, James La Fleur, Joe Miller, Simon Bickler, Steve Plog, Rachel Most, Bob Swap, Sara Bon-Harper, Todne Thomas Chipumuro, Karenne Wood, Guy Lopez, Angela Bennett, Chris Hewlett, Clare Terni, Michael Wairungu, Phil Trella, Loren Intolubbe-Chmil, James Ngundi, Lyndon Estes, Gwen Kelly, Lauren Lippiello, Beth Hart, Nikolas Gestrich, Peter Coutros, and Annalisa Christie. In Mikindani I also benefitted from discussions with Martin Guard, David Wedick, Tim Dench, Isobel Pring, Kate Methley, and especially Mzee Mohammed. I would also like to extend thanks to my several housemates during my time in Mikindani, whose friendship I depended on: Tim Dench, Ben Everard, Sally McCartney, Romy Campbell, Kennet Christensen, Alexandra Sinclair, Laura Mills, Ginny de los Angeles, Marta Krajnik, Lukasz Wozniak, and Leila Reid. Finally, my deepest thanks go to Jackie, who has been there throughout this effort and has managed to keep me sane the entire time. vii List of Figures Figure 1.1 The Swahili Coast, Showing Location of Mikindani 4 Figure 1.2 Swahili Coast Showing the Different Named Divisions of the Coast 5 Figure 1.3 Western Indian Ocean showing monsoon trade routes 6 Figure 2.1 Geologic map of Mtwara Region 32 Figure 2.2 Study region around Mikindani 44 Figure 2.3 Schematic of the approximate areas covered by the five microenvironments 46 Figure 2.4 View of coastal microenvironment 48 Figure 2.5 Example of lowland plain microenvironment