Economic Changes through Time along the Tanzanian Swahili Coast, as Seen through the Examination of Non-ferrous Metals and Metallurgical Technologies

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeological Science and African Archaeology: Appreciating the Impact of David Killick" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Historic Swahili towns along the East African coast played prominent roles in the triangular Indian Ocean maritime trade linking East Africa with India and the Persian Gulf/Red Sea, but the impact and extent of economic changes through time in these towns are still poorly understood. Examining non-ferrous metals, many imported and reworked locally, can serve as a proxy to understand the impact of Indian Ocean trade on local economies, with particular regard to the consumption of semi-exotic materials and finished goods. Copper-based metals (and even lead metals) were commonly imported and worked locally, but some may have been produced locally or regionally. Therefore, studying these metals and their metallurgy from Swahili sites in Tanzania can provide insights into socioeconomic aspects such as organization of production and workshops, consumption patterns as well as networks connecting these sites to the hinterland and the Indian Ocean world. To that end, copper-based metals were examined from several Swahili archaeological contexts along the Tanzanian coast dating from the seventh century CE to the sixteenth century CE. Results of chemical and isotopic analyses identified imported metals from multiple locations, while discussions of potential indigenous metal production are also presented.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeological Science and African Archaeology: Appreciating the Impact of David Killick   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36899.0