Prueba de Hipótesis

The site of Unguja Ukuu, translated literally as ‘The Great/Old Town of Unguja’, is believed to have been the principal town of Zanzibar Island and a key port of trade in the mercantile networks of the western Indian Ocean during the proto-Swahili period. The site is located towards the south of the island, at the base of a peninsula between the open beach of Menai Bay and the mangrove creek running between the mainland of Unguja and Uzi Island. Previous investigations of the site include a reconnaissance by Major Pearce (1920), fieldwalking and test-pits by Clark and Horton (1985), geophysical survey and excavation by Juma (2004), and further test-pitting for botanical remains by the Sealinks Project in 2012 (Crowther et al 2013a, 2013b).

The site was involved in long distance maritime trade from its earliest occupation, evidenced by finds of imported ceramics, incense, and glass beads (Crowther et al 2015; Wood et al 2016). The site grew to prominence in the late first millennium, and is likely to have been a nodal point in the trade between East Africa and western India. Whilst the numerous test-pit excavations of this site have provided a well-dated occupation sequence, a focus on middens and stone remains means that the spatial organisation of this site is still unclear, and questions have been raised as to whether the harbour of the site lay in the open beach to the west or sheltered mangrove creek to the east (Horton and Clark 1984; Juma 2004). The well-dated archaeological sequence and relatively limited spread of modern development at the site makes this an excellent case study for investigation.

75 Figure 2.16: Proto-Swahili and Swahili coastal settlements of Zanzibar mentioned in text

2.5.3 Fukuchani (c. 550-800 CE)

The proto-Swahili site of Fukuchani was identified during Clark and Horton’s 1984 gazette of Zanzibar sites, and has been surveyed since by Horton and Juma, and as part of the Sealinks Project (Horton and Clark 1985; Juma 2004; Crowther et al 2013a, 2013b, Horton forthcoming). Surface survey indicates a sixth - ninth century occupation next to the shallow beachfront, followed by a later sixteenth century, unrelated house structure to the south (Horton and Clark 1985). The early date and small scale of the site makes this an intriguing case study settlement, and the iron-working remains already reported from the site suggest iron-working close to the beach (Horton and Clark 1985). Previous excavations at this site mean that the occupation sequence is now well-established, but the construction and expansion of a modern village and school on the same site means that the excavation strategy has largely been dictated by non-archaeological concerns (Horton forthcoming).

The spatial organisation of the site is therefore almost entirely unknown.

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2.5.4 Tumbe (c. 600-950 CE)

The site of Tumbe, at the base of a high peninsula in north-eastern Pemba, was first identified by Fleisher and LaViolette during extensive systematic survey of the island in 1993, and subsequently recognised as one of the largest daub settlements known from the proto-Swahili period (LaViolette and Fleisher 1995; Fleisher and LaViolette 2013). Occupied between the seventh and tenth centuries, it also represents the richest settlement on Pemba from the proto-Swahili period (Fleisher and LaViolette 2013). Excavations have revealed the burnt remains of daub structures, mofa ovens, and some evidence of household iron-smithing and lead-casting, which may be related to the crafting of fishing nets, as well as large quantities of ceramic bead-grinders indicating resource processing found along the shoreline (Flexner et al 2008, Fleisher and LaViolette 2013). Wide area surveys carried out in the surrounding countryside have also shown that the site is surrounded by a network of smaller settlements, which may or may not have been directly related to the larger Tumbe (LaViolette and Fleisher 1995; Fleisher 2003; Fleisher and LaViolette). The abandonment of the settlement in the tenth century was followed by the establishment of the new stonetown of Chwaka, just 200m distant and on the same peninsula, in the eleventh century (Fleisher and LaViolette 2013). The site therefore offers an intriguing opportunity to explore a daub settlement with no modern occupation, evidence of shoreline activity, and with a well-defined pattern of settlement in the surrounding region.

77 Figure 2.17: Proto-Swahili and Swahili coastal settlements of Pemba mentioned in text

2.6 Discussion

Having reviewed both the archaeological investigation of some of the major ports of the mainland Swahili Coast and relevant maritime archaeological theory, it is worth summarising the evidence of maritime activity and infrastructure contained within these examples; individual examples of maritime furniture found elsewhere on the coast; and relevant themes to be drawn from this review.

In contrast to the long history of artificially enhanced harbours in the Mediterranean or northern Europe, the Indian Ocean contains few examples of artificial facilities south of the Roman or Ptolemaic harbours of the Red Sea, or before the arrival of the Portuguese and the advent of European and Omani colonial influence from the sixteenth century (Horton 1996; Peacock and Blue 2006, 2007; Sherif 2010; Morhange et al 2014). As well as the traditional focus on urban centres

78 outlined in Chapter One and Section 2.3 above, it may be this lack of artificial facilities that has influenced a casual, and perhaps unintentional, disregard for maritime and harbour spaces in the investigation of Swahili and proto-Swahili settlements (Breen and Lane 2003; Pollard 2008a; Christie 2011; Mjema 2014). The sites of Kilwa and Manda described above represent two of the only East African sites where artificial harbour facilities have been theorised or explored. Manda’s sea walls include openings which Chittick described as possible causeways, and may well have had a secondary function as wharves or to enclose sheltered berths (Chittick 1984; Kusimba pers. comm.).

Pollard’s survey of the intertidal zone and harbour of Kilwa meanwhile, has demonstrated a number of artificially enhanced causeways, and the partial survival of a shipwreck site dating to the eighth – ninth century (Pollard 2008a, 2013; Pollard et al 2016). Apart from these examples of intertidal maritime architecture though, the review has noted evidence of iron-working activity in beach contexts at Manda, Unguja Ukuu, and Fukuchani, as well as iron-working or smithing in household contexts at Tumbe (Chittick 1965, 1974; Horton 1986a, 1996; Horton and Clark 1985; Flexner et all 2008). Crafting activity and resource processing taking place on or close to the beach is also indicated in midden remains found at Fukuchani, Unguja Ukuu, Tumbe, Manda, and Shanga (Chittick 1974; Horton 1986a, 1996; Horton and Clark 1985; Horton and Mudida 1993; Flexner et al 2008).

As well as this aggregated evidence of possible harbour facilities and intertidal or beachfront activity, a number of examples of smaller maritime infrastructure have been identified elsewhere on the coast. Fish-trap fences have been identified during archaeological and ethnographic surveys at Mombasa in Kenya (Quinn et al 2007), Mto Kiswere in Tanzania (Pollard 2013), and at Vanga in Kenya (Quintana Morales 2014), although dating of such structures has not always been possible.

Linear wooden fence traps such as the uzio are constructed in the intertidal zone on mud flats, and channel the fish with the falling tide, providing an efficient subsistence exploitation of the marine environment (Quintana Morales 2012). Other fishing structures less visible in the archaeological record are also hypothesised, including the trap-baskets used on Pemba described in the Periplus, which were lowered from boats apparently to exploit rocky areas, thereby offering a pragmatic alternative to nets, which are likely to snag and tear (Quintana Morales and Horton, 2014). The use of harpoons was recorded on the Swahili Coast by al-Masudi in the tenth century, and net and lines are also represented by lead and ceramic weights in various assemblages, and a recent comparative assessment of the faunal assemblages from a number of Swahili sites demonstrates the successful exploitation of a range of fishing grounds using a variety of techniques by individual settlements (Horton and Mudida 1993; Quintana Morales and Horton 2014; Crowther et al 2016). It is also worth noting that this is not dissimilar to the predicted use of fishing pots, creels, and basket traps in the Red Sea based on excavated faunal assemblages from Myos Hormos (Thomas 2009). Thomas (2012) notes that although these small, portable constructions are the least represented in the archaeological record, nets made of flax, copper and iron fish hooks, floats, and gorges made of

79 tamarisk or mangrove have all been identified under favourable taphonomic conditions in this region.

It is clear from this review then that both the ports and harbours of the Swahili Coast may be identified by an array of maritime activities, faunal and resource remains, and structures in the intertidal zone and on the foreshore. The traditional focus on urban centres or urbanisation processes has meant however that these areas and examples have rarely been subjected to further excavation or analysis, and as such consideration of these sites in terms of the maritime cultural landscape has been limited to a few scholars, and generally to second millennium contexts. The following chapter will therefore go on to describe the inductive research methodology of this thesis with regard to the evidence discussed in this chapter, and with reference to maritime archaeological studies of ports elsewhere in the Indian Ocean.

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Chapter Three