Hilário Madiquida Archaeological and Historical Reconstructions of the Foraging and Farming Communities of the Lower Zambezi: From the mid-Holocene to the second Millennium AD Department of Archaeology and Ancient History Uppsala 2015 Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Eng/2-0076, Uppsala, Wednesday, 2 December 2015 at 10:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Faculty examiner: Senior Lecturer Dr Munyaradzi Manyanga (Department of History, University of Zimbabwe). Abstract Madiquida, H. 2015. Archaeological and Historical Reconstructions of the Foraging and Farming Communities of the Lower Zambezi. From the mid Holocene to the second Millennium AD. 198 pp. Uppsala: Department of Archaeology and Ancient History. ISBN 978-91-506-2488-5. In this thesis I combine new archaeological surveys and excavations together with the historical and ethnographic sources, to construct a long term settlement history and historical ecology of the lower Zambezi River valley and delta region, in Mozambique. The evidence presented indicates that people have settled in the area since the Late Stone Age, in total eight new archaeological sites have been located in archaeological surveys. Two sites have been excavated in the course of this thesis work, Lumbi and Sena, each representing different chronological phases. Lumbi has a continuous settlement from the Late Stone Age (LSA) to Early Farming Communities (EFC). In this thesis I suggest that Lumbi represents a phase of consolidation which resulted in the amalgamation of LSA communities into the EFC complex around the first centuries AD. Meanwhile, Sena has evidence of both EFC and Late Farming Community (LFC) occupation. The research in Sena provides new evidence of trade and trade networks from the mid second millennium AD and also of the Afro-Portuguese interactions. With these investigations, it is now possible to better understand an area which for a long time has been neglected. The lower Zambesi River valley and delta presents a vast cultural and archaeological heritage which needs conservation work and extended programs of research. Keywords: Mozambique, Zambezi Valley, Late Stone Age, Early Farming Communities, Long-distance trade, Afro-Portuguese, Written sources, Archaeology, Historical Ecology Hilário Madiquida, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, African and Comparative Archaeology, Box 626, Uppsala University, SE-75126 Uppsala, Sweden. © Hilário Madiquida 2015 ISBN 978-91-506-2488-5 urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-265100 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-265100) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have no words to manifest my gratitude for my supervisors. I am immensely grateful to Professor Paul Sinclair for his encouragement and support in the preparation of this thesis, as well as in creating the conditions making it possible. And to Dr Karl-Johan Lindholm I express my deepest gratitude for tireless reading and commenting, organisation and language correction. Without these two personalities this thesis would not be possible. I would like to thank my best friend Professor Innocent Pikirayi for his valuable comments in the thesis, language correction and important considerations about my research at the delta of Zambezi River. I’m deeply grateful to Professor Kjel Knutsson for his help in the flake analyses. A big thanks goes to my family, especially my wife Atalia da Felicidad Chingano and my children Francisco Kiassy Madiquida, Hilario Kiassy Madiquida and David Kinley Hilario, who always supported me and prayed for God to illumine my mind and supported the long months of my absence; to my brothers Francisco Kiassy Madiquida, Josepine Henrique Madiquida, Ernesto Kiassy Madiquida and Rafael Kiassy Madiquida for their moral support and encouragement for me to continue with this training. To my parents, Kiassy Madiquida and Sartina Mwankongue, I can’t find appropriate words to express my gratitude for the support and for always being present to get me up when I'm dropped on the floor. I appreciate the freedom they gave me to explore the world alone, I thank you for your lap that is always available for me to wipe my tears when I'm sad. Thank you for everything you have done for me and for your teaching; you are my true heroes. A special thanks goes to my colleagues and friends who have supported me directly or indirectly, in particular Margarida Inocêncio de Melo who always supported me and gave me joy in sad moments, to Professor Gerhard Liesegang, Professor Alexandre Mate, Dr. Ricardo Teixeira Duarte, Dr. Solange Macamo, Leonardo Adamowicz, Decio Muianga, Mussa Raja, Albino Jopela, Omar Madime, Hamilton Matsimbe, Jossias Humbana, Marta Langa and Katia Filipe for their encouragement, and help in the organisation and support in lecturing, Professor Alexandre Mate for his support in bureaucratic matters and and all departmental colleagues for their moral and practical support during my training. Special thanks are due to Swedish colleagues, particularly Docent Anneli Ekblom and Dr Michel Notelid for reading, comments and correction of the text; on editorial work, illustrations and data analysis, and to Elisabet Green for logistical support. I would also wish to thank the Joaquim Miguel for his aid in the excavations and topographical surveys; Francisco Sorte and Sansão Nhantumbo for drawings of the ceramics and maps, secretaries Dona Amelia Anta Profirio, Etelvina Covane, Claudina Cossa and deceased Alzira, drivers Jacinto Salvador Tovela and deceased Tomas Paulo Manjate. 5 I am deeply grateful to SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency), Swedish Embassy in Maputo and ISP for their support and funding the research and this publication. I also want to thank my institution, Eduardo Mondlane University, in particular Professor Carlos Lucas, Dean of Cooperation Office for their support. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 17 1.1. The greater Zambezi drainage system ....................................................................................... 17 1.2. Research objectives and thesis outline ....................................................................................... 17 1.3. Research history ......................................................................................................................... 19 1.3.1. Late Stone Age (LSA) ............................................................................................................ 20 1.3.2 The Early Farming Communities (EFC) .................................................................................. 22 1.3.3 The Late Farming Communities (LFC) ................................................................................... 24 1.3.4. The formation of Archaeological research in Mozambique.................................................... 25 2. GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND .............................................................................................. 29 2.1. Environmental setting ................................................................................................................ 29 2.2. Climate ....................................................................................................................................... 31 2.3. The Drainage System of the Zambezi Basin .............................................................................. 34 2.4. Geology and soils ....................................................................................................................... 36 2.5. Vegetation .................................................................................................................................. 38 2.6. Fauna .......................................................................................................................................... 41 2.6. The agro-ecological zones ......................................................................................................... 43 2.7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 45 Conclusão .......................................................................................................................................... 46 3. METHODOLOGY AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMES ...................................................................... 49 3.1. Conceptual frames ..................................................................................................................... 49 3.1.1. Historical ecology ................................................................................................................... 49 3.1.2. Historical archaeology ............................................................................................................ 50 3.1.3. Ethnoarchaeology ................................................................................................................... 52 3.2. Methods...................................................................................................................................... 53 3.2.1. Archival research .................................................................................................................... 53 3.2.2. Oral Sources ............................................................................................................................ 54 3.2.3. Archaeology