Islamic consumption networks of the western Indian Ocean

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Islamic material culture", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Patterns of production and use of ceramics in eastern Africa offer a window into practices of consumption. Islamic glazed ceramics, originating in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, are the most plentiful evidence for trade networks and the accumulation of wealth from trade in coastal East Africa from c. AD700 onwards. Locally produced earthenwares suggest additional networks of regional production and exchange. Both categories are ultimately linked to the storage, transport, cooking, and consumption of particular foods. In this paper we consider these consumption practices and what they reveal about Islamic ways of life in the western Indian Ocean. We discuss the form and function of imported and local ceramics and incorporate direct evidence from lipid residues that suggest the contents of each type. Our aim is to understand the ceramic assemblage through the ways it created and structured forms of consumption that were shared across regions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Islamic material culture   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow