East Africa and Madagascar in the Indian Ocean world

The Indian Ocean has long been a forum for contact, trade and the transfer of goods, technologies and ideas between geographically distant groups of people. Another, less studied, outcome of expanding maritime connectivity in the region is the translocation of a range of species of plants and animals, both domestic and wild. A significant number of these translocations can now be seen to involve Africa, either providing or receiving species, suggesting that Africa’s role in the emergence of an increasingly connected Indian Ocean world deserves more systematic consideration. While the earliest international contacts with the East African coast remain poorly understood, in part due to a paucity of archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological studies, some evidence for early African coastal activity is provided by the discovery of early hunter-gatherer sites on offshore islands, and, possibly, by the translocation of wild animals among these islands, and between them and the mainland. From the seventh century, however, clear evidence for participation in the Indian Ocean world emerges, in the form of a range of introduced species, including commensal and domestic animals, and agricultural crops. New genetic studies demonstrate that the flow of species to the coast is complex, with more than one source frequently indicated. The East African coast and Madagascar appear to have been significant centres of genetic admixture, drawing upon Southeast Asian, South Asian and Middle Eastern genetic varieties, and sometimes yielding unique hybrid species. The biological patterns reflect a deeply networked trade and contact situation, and support East Africa’s key role in the events and transformations of the early Indian Ocean world.     

Revisiting Kalundu Mound,Zambia: Implications for the Timing of Social and Subsistence Transitions in Iron Age Southern Africa

African Archaeological Review - Novel trajectories of food production, urbanism, and inter-regional trade fueled the emergence of numerous complex Iron Age polities in central and southern Africa....     

Intersections, Networks and the Genesis of Social Complexity on the Nyali Coast of East Africa

This paper examines intersections between different societies occupying the Nyali Coast region of southern Kenya from the late first millennium ad to the mid-second millennium ad. We explore interaction between societies at three scales: between hunter-gatherers and farmers in the coastal hinterland, between the hinterland and the coast and between the coast and the wider Indian Ocean. The patterns indicate that local intersections in the hinterland between hunter-gatherers and farmers went hand-in-hand with both the emergence of larger settlements in the hinterland and on the coast, and participation in a pan-Indian Ocean trade network.     

Blind tests in microscopic residue analysis: comments on Wadley et al. (2004)

In this comment, we critique a recent paper by Wadley, Lombard and Williamson entitled ‘The first residue analysis blind tests: results and lessons learnt’ (Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 1491–1501) as a means of assessing the role and utility of such blind tests. We find that apart from not being the first residue analysis blind tests, the tests conducted by Wadley et al. exhibit problems at each stage of experimental design. Most of the issues identified can be attributed to loss of experimental control, including lack of documentation of residues prior to blind testing and contamination of their samples. We suggest possible means of avoiding these issues in future microscopic residue analysis blind tests.     

POTENTIAL MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY AND FRACTIONAL CONVERSION STUDIES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOILS AND SEDIMENTS*

Potential magnetic susceptibility (χ_MAX) and, hence, fractional conversion (χ_CONV) are shown to be critical in interpreting low‐frequency mass‐specific magnetic susceptibility (χ_LF) data. Results presented from 29 sites in the UK and one in Hungary encompass six types of investigation: Quaternary sedimentary stratigraphies, archaeological contexts, surveys of old ground surfaces, topsoil surveys of lithic scatter sites, topsoil prospection surveys and ‘natural’ topsoils. The findings highlight the wide range of χ_MAX values that may be encountered; identify factors affecting χ_MAX; demonstrate that χ_CONV provides a measure of enhancement resulting from burning; and identify environments in which χ_LF analysis is likely to be problematic.