Bridging the "Kansyore gap": Continuous Occupation and Changing Subsistence Strategies at Namundiri A, Eastern Uganda

Summary

Environmental heterogeneity and climatic instability in the mid-Holocene (~8,000-3,000 BP) are linked to increased socioeconomic diversity in East Africa. Increasing aridity ca. 6,000-5,000 BP encouraged early herders to migrate south into the region, while local hunter-gatherers intensified their reliance on ecologically-rich environments. Kansyore hunter-gatherers of the Lake Victoria basin established specialized subsistence systems that incorporated heavy pottery-use and seasonal site occupation at this time, possibly in response to decreasing rainfall. A gap in the archaeological record, however, limits understandings of Kansyore strategies in relation to environmental reorganization. Evidence from western Kenya suggests Early (~8,000-6,000 BP) and Late phase occupations (~3,500-1,500 BP) associated with changes in the frequency of pottery production/use, ceramic style, and fishing strategies, yet no evidence exists for Kansyore activities between these periods. Recent excavations at Namundiri A in eastern Uganda reveal a long archaeological sequence without breaks in the stratigraphic or material record. Faunal and ceramic data shows clear patterns of subsistence change similar to those observed between the Early and Late Kansyore, suggesting that this Kansyore "gap" is the result of incomplete radiometric data and a dearth of targeted research in the region, rather than a break in occupation during the mid-Holocene.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20526