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Competition and Ceramics on the East African Coast: Long-Term Perspectives on Nineteenth-Century History at the Swahili Port Town of Mikindani, Tanzania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2015

Matthew C. Pawlowicz
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Abstract

The Swahili communities of the East African coast have often been characterized as middlemen, defined by their ability to navigate – often quite literally – the economic networks linking the African Interior and the Indian Ocean rim. Yet diversity has increasingly been recognized between Swahili communities. In this paper I add to the awareness and explication of Swahili diversity through comparative analysis of the archaeology of the southern Tanzanian town of Mikindani. In particular, I work to extend our knowledge of political and economic competition in East Africa backwards from the better documented nineteenth century. For Mikindani, its inhabitants’ changing abilities to access certain kinds of ceramics trace the competitive structures of this part of the coast and provide evidence for their success or failure in navigating a complex economic landscape.

Résumé

Les communautés swahili de la côte de l’Afrique de l’Est ont souvent été considérées comme des intermédiaires capables de naviguer – littéralement – sur les réseaux économiques entre l’intérieur des terres et les franges de l’Océan indien. On a cependant reconnu la diversité de ces communautés swahili. Dans cet essai, j’explique et approfondie nos connaissances sur cette diversité à partir d’une étude archéologique comparative de la ville de Mikindani en sud-Tanzanie. L’une de mes méthodes est de travailler à rebours depuis les sources plus riches du XIX-ème siècle afin de mieux comprendre les rivalités politiques et économiques en Afrique de l’Est. Dans le cas de Mikindani, les changements évidents dans la possibilité qu’avaient les habitants d’avoir accès à certains types de céramiques permettent de comprendre les structures compétitives passées dans cette partie de la côte. Ces sources permettent de mieux comprendre les succès et les échecs des communautés locales à naviguer le contexte économique complexe de l’époque.

Type
Material Culture and Commerce in Precolonial Africa
Information
History in Africa , Volume 42 , June 2015 , pp. 335 - 355
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2015 

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