The Glass Beads of Songo Mnara, Tanzania

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Ancient Glass around the Indian Ocean" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The archaeological site of Songo Mnara lies on a small island of the same name just to the south of Kilwa Kisiwani in Tanzania. It was occupied mainly in the fifteenth century CE and its assemblage of 7,444 glass beads provides us with a unique view into Indian Ocean trade to East Africa in this period. A comprehensive study of the morphological properties of the assemblage was followed by chemical analysis using LA-ICP-MS of 140 samples that represented all bead types present. Our results identified four major glass types, including several sub-types, which suggest the beads (or at least the glass used to make them) originated in diverse regions including South Asia, Central Asia, China, and Europe. There is evidence that some beads, particularly the unique decorated folded beads, which are found exclusively at Songo Mnara and neighboring Kilwa, were made locally using glass from imported beads and tubes. In addition, excavations were conducted at multiple locations, including elite stone houses, commoner thatch houses, mosques, burials, and wells, enabling us to examine access to these exotic imports across the site.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)   •
• Current Research on Ancient Glass around the Indian Ocean

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35801.0