Overview
FUNDED PLACES FOR UNDERGRADUATES AVAILABLE - CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS
Collaboration between University of York and Rice University, USA.
Songo Mnara is one of the more prominent Swahili stonetowns, nestled in the Kilwa archipelago on the southern coast of Tanzania. Songo Mnara was a central participant in Indian Ocean commerce during the 15th and 16th centuries AD, facilitating exchanges of goods from the African continent with traders from ports in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and western India. The importance of this site is underscored by its inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage site list.
Despite excellent preservation, only cursory recording of architectural features had previously been conducted at the site. Most research in the region had been focused on the more famous and well-known site of Kilwa Kisiwani. Songo Mnara is dominated by the well-preserved remains of more than 40 large domestic room-blocks, five mosques, and numerous tombs. Room blocks wrap around and enclose an open, central area of the site where tombs, a walled cemetery and a small mosque are located. Compared to the 800-year occupation of nearby Kilwa, the relatively short, 200-year occupation of Songo Mnara makes it an ideal candidate to examine household and public spaces from a discrete period in time.
This project seeks to explore the urban space of Songo Mnara, as an example of the structuring of a Swahili stonetown. Fieldwork encompasses a range of different techniques aimed at understanding activities across the site, and includes geophysical survey, excavation, geochemical testing, phytolith and palaeobotanical studies, and analysis of finds such as ceramics, coins, and faunal remains.
Research at Songo Mnara is funded by the National Science Foundation (US) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK). We have also received funds from the Society of Antiquaries of London, the British Institute in Eastern Africa, the Leverhulme Trust and the Social Sciences Research Institute of Rice University.
Activities
Regional activities:
- Geophysical survey extended to Kilwa Kisiwani in 2011
- In addition, survey of the island landscape and of the coastal foreshore were undertaken by affiliated researchers Jack Stoetzel (University of Virginia) and Edward Pollard (Orkney College).
Site-level activities:
- Intensive sampling across open areas, with shovel test pits excavated to access archaeological layers and geochemical samples taken at this level;
- Geophysical survey of the site undertaken by Dr Kate Welham (Bournemouth University)
- 3D laser scanning of the site was undertaken by Professor Heinz Ruther (University of Cape Town)
- Excavations of a series of burials undertaken by Dr Kate Robson Brown (University of Bristol)
Activities within and around structures:
- Comparative excavations between different stonehouses, targetting particular rooms within each;
- Excavation of the central mosque and adjacent graveyard
- Area excavations over features, such as iron-working area identified through geophysical survey and the central well.
Sampling and analysis
- All deposits sampled for flotation and palaeobotanical analysis, conducted by Dr Sarah Walshaw (Simon Fraser University)
- Faunal remains collected and analysed by Thomas Biginagwa (University of Dar es Salaam) and Erendira Quintana Morales (University of Bristol)
- All deposits sampled for phytoliths
- Micromorphological sampling on particular sediments inside and outside houses overseen by Dr Federica Sulas (University of Pretoria)
Participants
Project Directors
Dr Stephanie Wynne-Jones, University of York
Dr Jeffrey Fleisher, Rice University
Geophysical survey
Dr. Kate Welham (Bournemouth University, UK)
Ms Charlene Steele (Bournemouth University, UK)
Geoarchaeology
Dr. Federica Sulas (University of Pretoria)
Palaeobotanical analysis
Dr. Sarah Walshaw (Simon Fraser University, Canada)
Survey
Prof. Heinz Ruther (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Mr Benson Kimeu (British Institute in Eastern Africa, Kenya)
Mr Mark Dover (Bournemouth University, UK)
Maritime archaeology
Dr. Edward Pollard (Orkney College, UK)
