Traces of Clay: Exploring Slave and Migrant Identities in Medieval Swahili Zanzibar

Article Article scientifique Article Traces of Clay: Exploring Slave and Migrant Identities in Medieval Swahili Zanzibar eng 2025-12-22 author Rodland Henriette 0000-0001-6335-3493 444841 Administration de la section de biologie (BIAD) 1-14 10.1017/s0959774325100292 0959-7743 https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0959774325100292/type/journal_article <p>The East African coast has long been recognized as a cosmopolitan region, where different cultures and peoples met and exchanged ideas, goods and knowledge. The culture that developed there from the seventh century ce was shaped by these relations, often referred to under the term Swahili, and many of the coastal residents engaged in Islamic practice, long-distance trade, conspicuous consumption of valued goods, and spoke a common language. This paper investigates the presence of slaves and migrants from the East African interior, through pottery assemblages uncovered at two eleventh- to fifteenth-century ce sites in northern Zanzibar: Tumbatu and Mkokotoni. These are groups of people not usually discussed in relation to medieval Swahili towns, and slavery has been especially difficult to study archaeologically on the coast. Through a material culture of difference, I argue that enslaved and non-elite migrants can be recognized and allow for a fuller understanding of socio-economic and cultural complexity in Swahili towns.</p> Dewey 590 44 Département de génétique et évolution 162 false 1230 Laboratoire Archéologie africaine & Anthropologie Cambridge archaeological journal c7ddadbc-c720-4ca6-a3c2-838809d3c90a Article (Published version) Public Article_scientifique_from_crossref.pdf 695558 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 053ef1c5ba5f3f250b9f00eede68caceb72b1a6d23997c88ec8a54139a98fc73 openAccess Faculté des sciences / Section de biologie / Département de génétique et évolution

Title	Published in	Access level	OA Policy	Year	Views	Downloads

Traces of Clay: Exploring Slave and Migrant Identities in Medieval Swahili Zanzibar	Cambridge archaeological journal			2025	5	98

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Rodland, Henriette