Traces of Clay: Exploring Slave and Migrant Identities in Medieval Swahili Zanzibar

Contenu

Titre

Traces of Clay: Exploring Slave and Migrant Identities in Medieval Swahili Zanzibar

Créateur

Rødland, Henriette

Sujet

Esclavage -- Zanzibar

Résumé

Abstract

The East African coast has long been recognized as a cosmopolitan region, where different cultures and peoples met and exchanged ideas, goods and knowledge. The culture that developed there from the seventh century ce was shaped by these relations, often referred to under the term Swahili, and many of the coastal residents engaged in Islamic practice, long-distance trade, conspicuous consumption of valued goods, and spoke a common language. This paper investigates the presence of slaves and migrants from the East African interior, through pottery assemblages uncovered at two eleventh- to fifteenth-century ce sites in northern Zanzibar: Tumbatu and Mkokotoni. These are groups of people not usually discussed in relation to medieval Swahili towns, and slavery has been especially difficult to study archaeologically on the coast. Through a material culture of difference, I argue that enslaved and non-elite migrants can be recognized and allow for a fuller understanding of socio-economic and cultural complexity in Swahili towns.

Est une partie de

Cambridge Archaeological Journal

Date

2025

volume

36

numéro

1

pages

1-14

Titre abrégé

CAJ

Traces of Clay

doi

10.1017/S0959774325100292

uri

https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0959774325100292/type/journal_article

issn

0959-7743, 1474-0540

Langue

eng