Archaeology of Slavery in East AfricaAuthor(s): Chapurukha M. KusimbaSource: The African Archaeological Review, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Jun., 2004), pp. 59-88Published by: SpringerStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25130793Accessed: 18/06/2009 16:53

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African Archaeological Review, Vol. 21, No. 2, June 2004 (? 2004)

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa

Chapurukha M. Kusimba1

African archaeology has primarily been concerned with precolonial Africa. Con

sequently, the archaeology of colonial and postcolonial Africa has been neglected, in spite of the fundamental importance of how Africa s relationships with Eurasia

after 1488 shaped its history. Although the slave trade was an important aspect of post-sixteenth century experiences of Africans, current research methodologies make the archaeology of slavery in Africa nearly impossible because evidence of

the slave trade or slavery?including slave quarters, cemeteries, holding areas,

shackles, and dungeons?can be interpreted in various ways. In this article I ar

gue that the archaeology of slavery and the slave trade in Africa is possible. Like

history and economics, archaeology is well placed to investigate slavery in Africa as it already does effectively in the Americas. Using the study of defensive rock shelters in Southeast Kenya as an example, I propose that the systematic archae

ology of slavery in Africa is not only possible, but also should break new grounds and develop an innovative methodology for studying slavery.

L arch?ologie africaine a ?t? principalement concern?e par V Afrique pr?coloniale. Par cons?quent, V arch?ologie de V Afrique coloniale et postcoloniale a ?t? oubli?e,

malgr? V importance fondamentale de la fa?on dont les rapports de l'Afrique avec Eurasia apr?s 1488 ont trac? son histoire. Bien que le commerce d'esclaves

soit un aspect important des exp?riences africaines du post-seizi?me si?cle, les

m?thodologies courantes de recherches rendent V arch?ologie de V esclavage en

Afrique presque impossible car l'?vidence du commerce ou de Vesclavage - com

prenant les quarts, les cimeti?res, les camps, des cachots, et des donjons des

esclaves - peut ?tre interpr?t? de diverses mani?res. Dans cet article, j'argue du

fait que F arch?ologie de l'esclavage et le commerce d'esclaves en Afrique est pos sible. Comme l'histoire et les sciences ?conomiques, Varch?ologie est bien plac?e

pour effectuer V ?tude de V esclavage en Afrique comme elle V est d?j? efficacement en Am?rique. En utilisant ? ?tude des abris rocheux d?fensifs au Kenya du sud-est comme exemple, je propose que la syst?matique de V arch?ologie de l'esclavage en

associate Curator, African Archaeology and Ethnology, Department of Anthropology, The Field Museum 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 6060-52496.

59

0263-0338/04/0600-0059/0 ? 2004 Plenum Publishing Corporation

60 Kusimba

Afrique est non seulement possible, mais devrait ?galement permettre de franchir de nouveaux pas et de d?velopper une m?thodologie innovatrice dans V ?tude de I esclavage.

KEY WORDS: slavery, slave trade, warfare, precolonial Africa, East Africa.

INTRODUCTION

Slavery and the slave trade are ancient practices that can be traced back more

than two millennia in Africa. For centuries, humans were part of the cargo in trade

conducted between Africa and Eurasia, along with ivory, gold, and other commodi

ties of legitimate trade (Alpers, 1975; Austen, 1989; Bulcha, 2002; Cooper, 1977;

Curtin, 1984; Freeman-Grenville, 1965; Kopytoff and Miers, 1977; Lovejoy, 2000;

Manning, 1982, 1990; Martin and Ryan, 1977; Ringrose, 2001; Thornton, 1992). Enslaved and free Africans were present in Asia before the European conquest and settlement of the Americas (e.g., DuBois, 1965; Harris, 1971, 1985, 1992).

Political independence spawned much interest in African history and the

role of oral traditions, ethnography, and archaeology in writing that history (e.g., Atieno-Odhiambo, 2001; Falola and Ajayi, 1993; Henige, 1974; Ogot et al, 2002; Oliver and Fage, 1975; Schmidt, 1978, 1983, 1990, 1995; Vansina, 1965, 1990). One of the major research topics in African history in the 1960s and 1970s was the

impact of slavery and slave trade on African societies (Beachey, 1976; Glassman, 1991,1995; Klein and Robertson, 1983; Kopytoff and Miers, 1977; Lovejoy, 2000;

Manning, 1982,1990; Mirza and Strobel, 1989; Rodney, 1969). The role of slavery and the slave trade in the underdevelopment of Africa through depopulation and

warfare and the destruction of indigenous African technologies and economies has

been debated for many generations (C?saire, 1955 [2000]; Gates, 1998; Lovejoy, 2000; Manning, 1990; Mbotela, 1934; Rodney, 1969, 1971; Thornton, 1992).

In contrast to historians, research by East Africanist archaeologists has been

less prolific. With few exceptions (e.g., Donley, 1982, Donley-Reid, 1984, 1986),

archaeologists have devoted little effort to the study of the various dimensions

of slavery and the slave trade. What factors have contributed to archaeologists' disinterest in a topic that, arguably, has great relevance for understanding the

origins of social and political inequality in Africa?

John Alexander (2001) attributes archaeologists' silence to the difficulty of

recognizing material evidence for slavery in archaeological contexts. In his words,

archaeological evidence for slavery is a "near-impossibility, in the present state of

field techniques of recognizing chattel-slavery from material remains unassociated

with documentary evidence" (Alexander, 2001, p. 56). Our inability to integrate field and laboratory techniques so successfully applied in other regions, to study

slavery and the slave trade in East Africa is deeply troubling for the discipline and, on closer examination, unsupportable. It is crucial for East African archaeologists

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa 61

to enter into a debate that may explain the historical roots of the region's under

development. Notwithstanding Tim Insoll's almost complete omission of the role

of slavery in Islam in his Archaeology of Islam (1999), there is overwhelming historical, oral, and eyewitness evidence for slavery's historical importance in the

Islamic world, including much of Africa. Within Islamic Africa, slavery was a

prominent cultural practice underpinned by a naturalizing ideology that ascribed a

subservient "stigma" (Allen, 1976, 1993; Benjamin, 2002; Cooper, 1981; Lodhi,

1974; Mirza and Strobel, 1989; Stigand, 1913). The slave trade and slavery cruelly transformed the lives of African peoples, especially after the late fifteenth century,

moving them from independence to dependent relationships, the strong residues

of which persist into modern times (e.g., Coupland, 1938; Leys, 1975; Nafzinger, 1988; Nwulia, 1975; Rodney, 1971; Sheriff, 1987).

In contrast to East Africa, the archaeology of slavery is an established field in

the Americas, and to some extent, in Southern and West Africa. In the Americas, excavations of plantations, slave quarters, maroon villages, and burial grounds

have greatly improved understandings of enslaved Africans' experiences in the

New World (e.g., Agorsah, 1990, 1993; Andrews and Fenton, 2001; Ferguson, 1992, p. 35; Orser, 1990, 1996; Orser and Funari, 2001; Singleton, 1985, 1995,

1999, 2001). In Southern Africa, the pioneering efforts by Garlake et al (e.g., Newitt and Garlake, 1967) have been augmented by attempts to reconstruct the

daily life of South Africans during the early years of European colonization (e.g., Hall, 1993; Schrire, 1995). South African archaeologists have invested their efforts

into investigating the composition and life histories of enslaved and other peoples in bondage. They have reconstructed migration patterns using isotopic analysis of

bones and teeth (Cox etal, 2001; Cox and Sealey, 1997; Morris, 1992; Sealey etal,

1993, 1995). Acknowledging the violence and dehumanizing practices that often

accompanied slavery and colonization, South African scholars are investigating the vexing and divisive question of ethnocide and genocide of indigenous and

enslaved peoples (e.g., Cox et al, 2001; Morris, 1992). Archaeological research

in South Africa is providing incontrovertible proof of the violent nature of African

encounters with Europeans (Ross, 1983; Shell, 1994). In West Africa, engaging anthropology, history, ethnography, archaeology,

and oral traditions in reconstructing and writing the recent African past is a well

established tradition (Agbaje-Williams, 1978, 1983, 1991; Andah, 1995; Holl,

1990, 1995, 2000, 2003; Stahl, 2001). The impact of trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonial expansion, and trade included migration, resettlements, warfare, and

displacement, followed by assimilation, acculturation, and ethnogenesis (Curtin, 1984; DeCorse, 1998; Inikori, 1997; Kelly, 1997; Manning, 1990; Thornton, 1992).

Post-sixteenth century societal transformations in West Africa were a product of

two powerful forces: (1) the European demand for enslaved African labor and

(2) powerful African states' ambitions to extend and preserve their political supe

riority and independence (Manning, 1990; Stahl, 2001, p. 190-191; Wilks, 1975).

62 Kusimba

Accounts of the oral historians and European observers show that intergroup re

lations among African societies were dynamic. Alliance building for warfare or

defense among neighboring polities was a common political strategy (Cassey, 1998; Stahl, 1999, 2001, p. 196). Rapid settlement shifts to inhospitable and de

fensible locales like hillsides and mountains provided refuge from slave seekers

and warring states (De Barros, 2001; DeCorse, 1998, 2001; Goucher, 1981; Holl,

2003; Kelly, 1996,1997). Investment in local technologies, including textiles and

ironworking, declined as people turned their attention to European imports (Bisson et al, 2000; De Barros, 2001; Fowler, 1990; Goucher, 1981; Herbert, 1993). In

creasing attention by West African archaeologists to historical archaeology and

social history as the study of Alltaggeschichte (history of the everyday) is enabling

archaeologists to document and interpret the "lived past" of West African soci

eties at the height of slavery and the slave trade (Holl, 2003; but see Stahl, 2001,

p. 41).

Archaeological study of recent history is less advanced in East Africa despite the importance of slavery and the slave trade in precolonial and colonial eco

nomic life (e.g., Alpers, 1975, Austen, 1989; Beachey, 1976; Cooper, 1977,1981; Martin and Ryan, 1977; Nwulia, 1975; Sheriff, 1987). Although Linda Donley Reid (1984) did not directly investigate household slavery, her work contains a

kernel for understanding the relations between owners and slaves, particularly

the living conditions and social relations in stratified eighteenth- and nineteenth

century Lamu society. Donley-Reid excavated two elite coral houses in Lamu (Plot 984 and Plot 341) and one in Pate (Plot 4). She also conducted ethnoarchaeologi cal surveys in Shela village not far from Lamu, interviewing current and previous residents of homes from the same period. Based on interviews, surveys, and ma

terial remains, Donley-Reid concluded that household slaves lived on the ground floor at elite residences during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Donley Reid (1984, p. 289) uncovered an underground chamber and an iron shackle in

Plot 341. The chamber had been sealed when the current coral house was rebuilt.

Lamu was a port of illegal slave trade to Arabia after 1845 (Cooper, 1977, p. 117) and the chamber was undoubtedly a slave lockup. Despite informants' insistence

that it was used to discipline and punish boys in Madrasa (Donley-Reid, 1984,

p. 342^43), the shackles more likely functions were for chaining slave captives. Also found in the Lamu dwellings were protective charms and ritual ob

jects including iron nails, cannon balls, stone ballast, hair, Chinese blue and white

porcelain shards, a man's shoe, a glass bottle (for a genie), and bones and skin of

sacrificed goats and chickens (Donley-Reid, 1984, p. 273). The Swahili believed in

the spirits (malevolent and benevolent), witchcraft, and used magic (performed rit

uals) to protect themselves, the household, and their land (Giles, 1989; Middleton,

1992; Nurse and Spear, 1985, p. 22). The numerous love and protective charms,

poison detectors and repellents, and other paraphernalia in Swahili household

attests to tensions and conflict in slave-owning households. Magic, poison, and

witchcraft were the primary means of resistance available to the predominantly

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa 63

female household slaves (e.g. Wilkie, 1995). Open revolt or fleeing were overt

forms of resistance (Glassman, 1983, 1991, 1995; Morton, 1990).

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF SLAVERY FROM TSAVO, KENYA

Donley-Reids' research tells us about the central household role of female

Coastal slaves visible in the archaeological record. Coastal slavery, of course, was part of a complex trade relationship with hinterland societies, who were the source of Coastal slaves and those bound for overseas (Alpers, 1975; Beachey, 1976; Cooper, 1977,1980,1981; Kusimba, 1999a,b; Mbotela, 1934; Mutoro, 1998;

Nwulia, 1975; Robertson, 1997). Our research in the Kasigau area of Tsavo pro vides the material evidence for slavery and the slave trade's impact on African

communities. Located about 150 kilometers from the Coast, Tsavo was an im

portant source of trade goods, including ivory, and persons bound for Coastal

and international slavery. Our excavations at each of the three seventeenth- and

nineteenth-century rock shelters point to social disintegration and violence that

accompanied communities targeted as source areas. Before reporting our finds, let

me first discuss the historical evidence for slave trade in East Africa.

Historical Evidence for Slave Trade in East Africa

Perhaps the oldest known document that alludes to East Africa (ca 50 AD), the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, provides glimpses of an extensive trade network that had already existed for over a thousand years between India, Persia, Egypt, and

East Africa (Casson, 1989, p. 11). The tenth century scholar Al-Mas'udi wrote that

the "best ambergris is that found in the islands and shores of the Zanj sea," and "it is

from this country that come tusks weighing up to fifty pounds and more" (Freeman Grenville, 1962, p. 14-15). Although he described the people of "Zanj" in detail, he does not mention slavery as being a prominent part of commerce. Early Chinese sources are among the few that suggest the exporting of enslaved East Africans. Yu

yang-tsa-tsu (ca 860) and Chu-fan-chih (ca 1266), while maintaining that the main

products of the East Coast were ivory and ambergris, also mentioned the kidnap

ping and selling of women and children from the Berbera coast (Somalia), Mada

gascar, and/or Pemba to foreign traders (Hirth and Rockhill, 1911, p. 128, 129).

Early written documents gave priority to the more lucrative and legitimate trade items and mention slave trade in passing. While reporting that iron was the

primary object of trade and source of their [Mombasa and Malindi] biggest profits, Al-Idrisi (AD 1099-1165) mentioned that foreign merchants would lure children

to their ships with dates and kidnap them (Jaubert, 1975, p. 56, 58). Like Al-Idrisi

and Al-Masudi, Ibn Battuta did not discuss slave trade as a major component of

trade by East Africa merchants (Dunn, 1986).

64 Kusimba

Like Arab sources, European documents rarely refer to slaves and the slave

trade during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. However, one German traveler, who accompanied Francisco d'Almeida to Mombasa and Kilwa, observed in Kilwa

"more black slaves than white Moors" and in Mombasa all the 500 archers were

"negro slaves of the white Moors" (Freeman-Grenville, 1965, p. 107, 109). Tom?

Pires, the Portuguese ambassador to China described the Indian Ocean trade in

the early sixteenth century. From the ports of Zeila and Berbera, he noted, Arabs

obtained gold, ivory, and slaves (Freeman-Greenville, 1962, p. 125). A Franciscan

Friar, who visited Mombasa in 1606, mentioned a boat arriving from Zanzibar

with some slaves (Freeman-Grenville, 1962, p. 155). An English trading captain noted that the governor of Mombasa, Johan Santa Coba, would send small boats

to Kilwa, Pemba, Zanzibar, and Mozambique to obtain gold, ambergris, elephant teeth, and slaves, apparently for himself (Freeman-Grenville, 1962, p. 190). Even

when slaves are mentioned as part of cargo, their importance relative to ivory, gold, and iron was minimal.

The European demand for enslaved East Africans is symbolized by Monsieur

Morice's treaty with the King of Kilwa in AD 1776, in which he promised Morice

1000 slaves annually (Freeman-Grenville, 1965, p. 191; Gray, 1956; Nwulia,

1975). European demand for ivory and plantation labor affected communities as far as Central Africa and set in motion human and elephant depopulation

(Alpers, 1975; Beachey, 1986; Newitt, 1987; Ringrose, 2001; Schweinfurth, 1874; Thorbahn, 1979). As early as AD 1770 slaves destined for the French plantation in their colonies were being procured from Nyasaland [Malawi] (Alpers, 1975;

Nwulia, 1975; Sheriff, 1987, p. 159). Although Europeans initially confined their

presence in Africa to coastal regions between the sixteenth to mid-nineteenth cen

turies, their slave trading enterprise affected all African communities. Interestingly, Thornton (1992, p. 125) downplays the European impact by stating that the de

velopment of slavery in its most repugnant forms was more a product of active

African participation and desires for economic expansion because Europeans pos sessed no means, either economic or military, to compel African leaders to sell

slaves. This interpretation is not shared by many historians and has been widely criticized (e.g., Blaut, 1993a; Depelchin, 1999).

Before the eighteenth century, interior and coastal trade networks dealt in

legitimate items such as ivory, gold, beeswax, cloth, and beads (Horton, 1996; Horton and Middleton, 2000; Kusimba, 1999a; Kusimba and Kusimba, 2001,

2004; Middleton, 1992; Mutoro, 1998; Mutoro and Abungu, 1993; Pearson, 1998;

Pouwels, 2000). Subsistence agriculture, herding, and collecting were the predom inant ways of making a living. Neville Chittick (1969, p. 108-109) argued, "Goods

were brought to the coast by people from the interior; there is hardly evidence of

expeditions inland until the nineteenth century." However, several hinterland com

munities such as the Taita, Hadzabe, Iraqw, Makonde, and Oromo became victims of slave raiding and ethnic warfare for control of trading routes (Bagshawe, 1925;

Obst, 1912). Others, like the Yao, Makua, Nyamwezi, and Akamba transformed

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa 65

themselves into professional ivory and slave hunters, raiders, and traders (Alpers,

1969,1975; Klein and Robertson, 1983; Lovejoy, 2000; Mutoro, 1998; Robertson,

1997). Ivory trade with overseas markets introduced guns to African societies that

helped facilitate slave raids as well as "trade goods that sometimes sharpened the appetite of Africans for additional slave raiding and trading" (Nwulia, 1975,

p. 103). Alpers (1975, p. 63) argues that before the middle of the sixteenth cen

tury, Kilwa had no need to obtain its ivory from the interior through the Yao ivory traders or to organize caravans to look for ivory. The Yao and Nyamwezi became

professional ivory merchants whose need for porters also fueled slave raiding. Obst

(1912) reported warfare between Hadza, Isanzu, Maasai, and Iraqw. The Isanzu

would take Hadza women and children as war captives. It is possible that Isanzu were capturing Hadza for slave trade, since the slave trade route passed through

Hadza country. According to Obst, the Isanzu began to interact peacefully with

the Hadza once the elephants became rare.

Plantation slavery fueled most of the traffic in humans from the mid-nineteenth

century, sending East Africans to Reunion and the Seychelles (Cooper, 1977;

Nwulia, 1975; Sheriff, 1987). Between 1820 and 1830, 15,000 slaves per year were exported from East Africa and 17,000 per year were exported during the

1830s (Nwulia, 1975, p. 24). During the same decade, between 15 to 18 Brazilian

slave ships a year would arrive at Mozambique (Alpers, 1975, p. 211). Although documented evidence is scanty, it is likely that the shipping of enslaved East African to the Americas began as early as the West Atlantic slave trade itself (Alpers, 1975;

Carney, 2001; Littlefield, 1981; Lovejoy, 2000; Nwulia, 1975; Sheriff, 1987). Based on Sheriff's (1987) estimate of 500 slaves per year needed in Oman,

most of the enslaved people would have ended up living on the Coast itself.2 By the 1850s, Omani, Indian, and Swahili entrepreneurs introduced clove plantations into Zanzibar and Pemba and transformed the Coast from a primarily mercantile

and craft economy into a plantation economy (Beachey, 1976; Cooper, 1977, p. 48;

Coupland, 1938, 1968; Glassman, 1983). Cloves were mainly grown in Zanzibar

and grains (millet and sesame) and other foodstuffs (coconuts, copra, and cotton) in

Mombasa, Malindi, and Lamu (Glassman, 1983; Morton, 1978, 1990; Ylvisaker,

1979). Demand for slaves increased upcountry. Opportunistic traders began raiding their neighbors, such as Mataka and Tippu Tip (Alpers, 1969, p. 413^14; Farrant,

1975; Gates, 1998). The impact of slavery was devastating. Interregional trade and commerce

declined. Traditional systems of alliance and networks of exchange were irre

versibly destroyed. Trust amongst former trading partners and neighbors eroded.

Intertribal warfare increased leading to migration, relocation, abandonment, and

2Martin and Ryan (1977) estimate that between 1780 and 1896 424,100 slaves from East Africa were

transshipped to Arabia, Iran, and India. However, during the same period 833,000 were retained on

the East Coast of Africa working on plantations and in elite households, Austen (1989) contends that

during the nineteenth century alone, 313,000 East Africans from the Kenya and Tanzanian coasts were

transshipped to Arabia, Iran, and India.

66 Kusimba

resettlement. Family life was transformed as slave takers often targeted the most

physically healthy and economically productive for enslavement. Starving, law

less refugees raided their neighbors for cattle and food. Large-scale abandonment

of farmsteads, villages, and towns for a new, more precarious way of life became

the order of events in much of nineteenth century East Africa. For example, in his

travels in Tanganyika [Tanzania] and Nyasaland [Malawi], Dr. David Livingstone (1880, p. 56) reported numerous coast-bound slave caravans. He also reported several cases of captives unable to continue the march to the coast being killed

by their captors. Near Lake Nyasa [Malawi], he met a Waiyau chief who sup

plied Arab caravans with slaves: "They almost depopulated the broad fertile tract, of some three or four miles between the mountain range and the Lake, along which our course lay. It was wearisome to see the skulls and bones scattered about

everywhere (Livingstone, 1880, p. 97-98)." MacDonald (1882, p. 76) reported 4,000 people confined on an island in Lake Chirwa, in southern Malawi, hav

ing been "obliged to live there for protection from slavers (MacDonald, 1882,

p. 76)."

The fear and insecurity that loomed in East Africa minimized legitimate ex

change, making warfare for procurement of slaves, livestock, and food inevitable.

However, the degree of social disintegration associated with slave trade has been

underestimated. Oral accounts of Kenyan communities attribute the violence to

the Maasai. Bolstered by missionary reports of the Maasai menace, these accounts

have been uncritically accepted to the point where alternative hypotheses for as

sessing the causes of regional instability have never fully been addressed (Kraph, 1860; Lugard, 1968; New, 1874; Thomson, 1885).

Slave and cattle raiding had forced Tsavo and Taveta peoples to move to

fortified localities in the hills and mountains (Bravman, 1998; French-Sheldon,

1892; Merritt, 1975; Wray, 1912). Migration and relocation created subsistence

insecurities and made people vulnerable to famine and disease. The Mwakisenge famine that had occurred in Taita in the 1880s reported by Hobley (1895) is a case in point. Starving Taita emigrated to Taveta, Chagga, Pare, and Ukambani,

only to find their residents similarly afflicted. Parents reportedly sold children

into slavery for food. People starved to death in houses, on roadsides, in gardens,

everywhere and were left unburied for no one had strength to dig graves; the

number of bodies was too numerous to be disposed by hyena or other scavengers.

Sagala area in Tsavo was one of the earliest and hardest hit areas. People killed one

another in competition for food and many Sagala emigrated to Giriama for relief.

Abandoned settlements reverted to wilderness. At the end of the famine, after the

rains returned, only 1000 of the estimated 10,000 Taita people survived (Merritt, 1975, p. 100-112; Strayer, 1971; Wray, 1912).

Societal disruptions caused by the slave trade, cattle raiding, and persis tent droughts weakened pre-existing regional networks of interaction, exchange,

and crisis management. Insecurity confined people within ethnic boundaries

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa 67

constricting spheres of interaction. Interethnic violence and warfare increased

(Bagshawe, 1925; Fadiman, 1982; Forsbrooke, 1960; Gillman, 1944; Obst, 1912;

Weatherby, 1967). Subsistence economies based on farming and pastoralism de clined. In some cases, smaller ethnically related communities were compelled to

aggregate into large groups strong enough to construct large fortified settlements

equipped with perimeter walls and encircled with moats, thus restraining trade

and economic welfare. The Taita people's response to these crises was to abandon

village settlements in the plains for the hills, where they remained isolated well

into the early twentieth century.

THE IMPACT OF SLAVE TRADE IN TSAVO: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

The Tsavo area is located 150 kilometers inland from Mombasa and was a

major stopping point of caravan trade. It consists of large well-watered hills, the

Taita, Sagala, and Kasigau, and arid plains (Fig. 1). It was home to a mosaic of

ethnic groups including Taita and Akamba agropastoralists, Oromo pastoralists, and Waata hunter-gatherers. These groups were interconnected by relationships of

trade and intermarriage.3

Tsavo's peoples oral accounts discuss waves of migration, settlement, in

termarriages, interregional trade, [local economic] interdependence, and warfare

among various Tsavo peoples whose descendants now claim the area as their home

land (Bravman, 1998; Jackson, 1972; Kusimba and Kusimba, 1998-2002; Merritt,

1975; Morton, 1978; Stiles, 1980, 1981, 1982). The agropastoral Taita accounts also show them arriving in the Tsavo area

during the fifteenth century (Bravman, 1998; Merritt, 1975). Numerous accounts

discuss how the Taita dealt with crises in their new homeland. Informants repeat

edly describe unending tales of droughts, famine, diseases, alliance building, social

disruptions, warfare, and enslavement (Kusimba and Kusimba, 1998-2002). The

Taita relationship to their hunter-gatherer neighbors, the Waata, was based upon institutions of blood brotherhood and probably sisterhood. Individuals signed an

oath in a blood ritual administered by a mganga (shaman), and witnessed by several

members of the groups (see also Herlehy, 1984). Like other Tsavo groups the Taita

supplied ivory, skins, and precious stones to the Coast. They maintained inland

markets and ensured trader security in their territories. These markets were often

located along permanent streams and could have supplied fresh water, vegetables, fruits, and other services to long distance caravan traders. They also served as

collection centers for traders and their goods from further inland.

3This paper is primarily concerned with the Taita peoples for whom primary ethnohistorical and

archaeological research has been carried out by the author.

68 Kusimba

Fig. 1. Map of East Africa showing location of Tsavo National Park.

Informants related incidents of slave raids against Sagala, Ngolia, and Kasigau Taitas during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The alleged slave takers were mainly Arab and Swahili, but Akamba and European dealers were also impli cated. Informants narrated accounts of Coastal traders capturing people by deceit.

They would convince the community elders and chiefs to find them porters, who never returned to their villages. One informant recalled an incident he witnessed as a child when Coastal traders would come to the Rukanga market to trade cloth in exchange for elephant tusks. When there were no tusks, traders would request children instead. He felt that the Coastal traders cheated them. "A human being exchanged for cloth!" They did not realize they were selling their children for cloth

(see Alpers, 1975). Another informant recalled stories from his father about Arab and Swahili dealers.

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa 69

They would come to Kasigau to trade and pretend they just wanted elephant tusks and rhino horns. The Arab traders would ask for porters to help carry it, at

least part of the way to the coast. After trekking with ivory to a certain distance, the convoy would be ambushed and the Kasigau shackled in a chain gang and

marched to the coast. This happened to all the Kasigau communities. The com

munity initially suspected that a party of Maasai warriors ambushed their people on their way home, so they didn't take any action against the Arabs (Kusimba and

Kusimba, 1998-2002). The Taita elders interviewed shared many accounts of relatives who left either

voluntarily or in the employment of Arab and Swahili caravans; none returned.

Thus, narratives of the local peoples potentially reveal a complex history of inter

group social relations characterized by cooperation, conflict, and enslavement. Our

recent archaeological excavations at Mount Kasigau detailing the extent and nature

of conflict during the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries support informants'

accounts.

Fortified Rockshelters of Kasigau, Taita

Tsavo's prominent inselberg, Mount Kasigau, has been inhabited for over

12,000 years (Table I). Almost every aspect of the ecology and even the shape of

the mountain itself have been affected by human activity. While some areas have

been intensively modified, the presence of low intensity activities such as grazing ensures that no part of the mountain is free from human and natural impact.

The variation in landform, environment, and human activity in and around

Kasigau has created varied types of archaeological sites. Many were inhabited con

temporaneously; rockshelters characterized by ephemeral occupational evidence or more substantial architectural features, terrace sites with space for both housing and agriculture; and open-air sites both at the base and on top of the mountain. Pre

viously archaeology in the area was limited to Robert Soper's 1960's description of

three sites (Soper, 1965). We located more than 40 sites, mapped, and extensively excavated eight rockshelters [B7,9, 20,28, and 31, Kl, 4, and 5], a terrace [29B], and an iron-smelting site [K7] (Fig. 2).

Preliminary surveys revealed that a ring of rock shelters, the majority of

which were fortified with dry stone architecture, surrounding Kasigau (Fig. 3). Closer examination of fortified shelters revealed that their locations had clear se

curity implications. First, the shelters themselves were small and could hold only a handful of individuals. Second, while not easily visible from down the hill, they afforded excellent views of the surrounding landscape. People and large wildlife

could be seen from several miles away. Third, they could be easily defended but

they were difficult to approach from the bottom of the hill. In short, location on

rocky surfaces, often at the edge of cliffs, afforded excellent scouting advantages and short-term shelters but they were not particularly suitable for long-term oc

cupation for humans or livestock. The construction of these shelters, however

Table I. The Chronology of the Tsavo Cultural and

Economic

Spheres Including Relationships With the Coast

Time (BP)

Predominant technology

Subsistence

practices evidenced

Residences

Relationship with coast

12000-5000

5000-3000 3000-2000 2000-1000

1000-500 500-100

Late Stone Age

Late Stone Age-Pastoral

Neolithic

Pastoral Neolithic-Early Iron

Age

Early Iron Age-Late Iron Age Late Iron

Age-Colonial Period

Colonial Period

Foraging

Foraging, herding introduction Foraging, herding, cultivation,

local trade

Foraging, herding, cultivation

regional trade

Foraging, elephant hunting,

farming, herding, interregional trade

Elephant hunting, farming, herding slave trade and

warfare

Open rockshelters Open rockshelters

Open rockshelters, villages and

pastoral camps

Open-rockshelters, caves, villages clusters on terraces, pastoral camps and villages Large villages and homesteads, pastoral villages and camps Rocksheiter fortification, migration and relocation

No trade No trade Some

trade Regular trade

Frequent

trade Some trade

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa 71

ETHIOPIA

Fig. 2. Kasigau Archaeological Sites.

small, required a degree of coordination and cooperation necessary for mobilizing labor.

Six site cluster types that characterize the cultural mosaic of settlement were

identified during our archaeological surveys (Table II). First, contemporaneous

Bungule 20 - Front View

Fig. 3. Bungule 20 Rocksheiter.

Table IL Site Clusters of the Taita Interaction Sphere

Site cluster type

Features

Sites

C14 dates (RCYBP)

Hillslope Agropastoralist

Villages

Forager-Food Producer Rocksheiter

Occupations

Plains Mound Settlements Inselberg

Trading Posts

Fugitive Stockade Settlements

Specialized Intensive Economic Activity

Sites

Dry stonework, terracing and irrigation canals, burial cairns, cranial display niches, goat

pens,

food preparation areas, iron and pottery making sites Pottery, metals, lithic artifacts, Indian

and European beads, marine shells and

shell beads, iron artifacts, domestic

and wild fauna

Burial mound clusters, collapsed houses, graves and tombs European trade

beads

Prominent inselbergs?lithic scatters, grinding

hollows,

faunal remains, meat drying and trade areas

Fortification of rockshelters and

construction of settlements with

ditches and palisades Goats, sheep and cattle pens,

ironsmithing sites, agricultural terraces, salt mines, grinding hollows

Bl 28, 29, 30, 31; Ml and Jl Kisio,Muasya,Bl,9. Kl,2,

andK7 Konu Moju

Mudanda,

Maungu,

Rukanga, and Bungule markets

B20,28,

31, Rl Bl,28,31,Kl-7

170 ? 70-380 ? 70 100 ? 25-1000 ? 25 380 ? 70-5330 ? 70

No date yet No dates yet

207 ? 40-300 ? 70 170 ? 70-240 ? 70

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa 73

sites clearly bear out the area's economic and cultural diversity. Evidence of herd

ing, contact with the Coast, and technological specialization varies among con

temporaneous habitations. Second, sites with dramatically different characteristics

and contents are found very close to each other. Site clusters at the southern end

of Mount Kasigau, for example, include evidence of specialized occupations such as fortified rockshelters, iron working, residential, and mortuary sites. Fortified

rockshelters consisted of desiccated dung, which in some cases was more than

50-70 cm thick. They were fortified by dry stonework and had defensible en

trances and exits. In some instances, dry grass left over as fodder remained in the

pens. Two extensive iron working sites, R2 and K7, were discovered as well as two

iron-smelting sites.

Excavations of two rockshelters Bl and Kl revealed intensive ironworking was undertaken in Kasigau. Mortuary sites bearing human skulls were found in

every village. Residential sites were numerous and ranged from open rockshelters to single family and extended family homesteads consisting of a number of huts

surrounded by a hedge. Residential homesteads were often built on terraces, which

also served to demarcate property lines. Each village had its own sites where all

the disinterred skulls of ancestors were collected and maintained. Three such sites, J2, B30, and Ml were located.

All Kasigau sites are dramatically different in their location, situation, and contents. There are clear separations between large domestic settlements and spe

cialized economic and fortified sites. For example, rockshelters are usually sev

eral meters from domestic spheres, a pattern similar to that found at Hyrax Hill,

Engaruka and sites in the Rift Valley (Leakey, 1936; Sutton, 1998a,b). Special ization appears to be defensive, but may also reflect functional differences due to coastal contact in this area (Kusimba, 2003; Kusimba and Kusimba, 2004).

Three major types of residential patterns are dominant?terraced hill slope villages, rocksheiter and cave sites, and open air villages located in the plains. Certainly, large-scale ecological boundaries seem to be associated with particular economic

activities?pastoralists lived on the flat plains, while agriculture was undertaken on

the hill slopes. On the other hand, within an area such as the well-watered, secure,

and tsetse-free zone like Mount Kasigau, a diversity of economic and subsistence

activities were undertaken at different sites, including foraging, herding, farming,

trading, and craft production. How did this mosaic of site types function as a network of local and Coastal

hinterland interactions? Historical evidence coupled with excavation of site clus

ters and radiocarbon dates does provide some clues. Alliances seem to have been

particularly important. According to our ethnohistorical evidence, people pursued multimodal subsistence economies, including combinations of hunting, collecting,

farming, trading, and herding. No particular group could claim to be completely self-sufficient. Intercommunity and interethnic networks of alliances enabled re

source sharing and information exchange.

74 Kusimba

Alliances kept ethnic boundaries fluid and minimized competition and con

flicts that impacted both the cultural and ecological landscape of the region. With out the compliance of hinterland peoples who, after all, produced the bulk of

wealth-creating products needed for the international market, the "big men" of

the Coast would not have successfully acquired their wealth (Kusimba, 1999a,b). The Coastal elite, being aware of their weaker bargaining position, formed al

liances with their nearest rural counterparts in order to secure access to the rural

products they needed for external markets (Nicholls, 1971). Rural peoples in turn

formed networks of alliances with each other to enable the securing of those items

(Kusimba and Kusimba, 2004; Mutoro, 1998; Pearson, 1998; Robertson, 1997). For example, the Taita and Akamba formed blood brotherhoods with the Waata.

Through these fictive ties, the former received hunting poisons and magic for

increasing their success at elephant hunting. Some Waata became clients of the

militarily powerful Oromo in exchange for protection and hunting access (Hobley, 1895). Taita and Oromo pastoralists intensified production of milk, butter, and agri cultural produce to benefit from regional trade. Thus, in the Tsavo region, terraced

rain-fed agriculture, iron production, and pen feeding are the clearest examples of

agricultural intensification. Conversely, the decline in agricultural intensification

suggests a reversal of fortunes that archaeology can witness.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF THE IMPACT OF SLAVE TRADE

Fortified rockshelters are a striking feature of the Kasigau Hills. They testify to the disruptive effects of slave trade and warfare in Taita (Kusimba, 2004).

Below I discuss three shelters B28, B31, and B20 and interpret their significance in understanding precolonial upheavals in Taita.

The Bungule 28 (B28) Fortified Rocksheiter Enclosure

B28 is a rocksheiter formed by three large overhanging rocks. The entrance

to the shelter is up a steep slope over the remains of a human-made wall of stones

that formerly enclosed the entire opened mouth of the shelter stretching over 7 m.

The site commands an excellent view of the surrounding landscape yet it is not

visible from the plains below. The site offers two advantages: (1) visibility from

within and (2) invincibility from without. When in use, the wall must have stood

at least 2 m high in places. The enclosed space is small: 10 m long, 6 m wide, and

1.5 m high. Loess and rock fall has filled many areas, leaving little standing room.

Some sections of the shelter are stained with soot. The surface collections made

in the enclosure consisted of goat dung, small artifacts, porcupine quills, dik dik

(Madoqua kirkii) bones, and twine. The shelter had an entrance and exit allowing air to flow through the site.

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa 75

We opened two trenches at B28. The first was a 4 x 8 m trench in the

interior. The second was a 2 x 2 m midden at the shelter entrance. Based on the

finds recovered, we concluded that the enclosure was inhabited intermittently by

people but was later, more intensively used by livestock, mostly goat and sheep until recently. A wooden partition had later been placed in the shelter to separate areas used by people from those of livestock. One section, Al, yielded a hearth,

maize cobs, calabash seeds, 2 small pink beads, charcoal, bones, terrestrial shells

and seeds, twine, bits of metal, and wooden arrowheads. The second section,

A2, contained large amounts of desiccated animal dung, layered in thick heaps. Several large pieces of wood hammered into the ground were used to tether the

animals. Only a handful of cultural artifacts including charcoal, bones, and shell were recovered in A2 but these were minimal compared to those recovered at Al

and the midden outside. Excavations at the midden revealed slightly large densities

of bones mostly of bovids and ovicaprids. Three radiocarbon dates of 170 ? 70, 180 ? 70, and 240 ? 70 [BP] placed the site into the seventeenth and nineteenth

centuries.

Based on the evidence recovered, it is probable that B28 was a single-function

component of a complex site system. The low densities of cultural artifacts includ

ing pottery, iron, and beads at the site suggested the infrequent use of the site for

habitation. The low proportions of beads underscores the declining of commercial

connections with the Coast. A great deal of effort was expended on the construc

tion of the dry stonewall. The wall foundation running up to 2 m deep suggests the

importance of securing a strong protective structure.

The Bungule 31 (B31) Fortified Rocksheiter Enclosure

B31 is a rocksheiter enclosure located up a steep slope about 5 min walk west

of B28. Located at the top of an almost vertical 20 m slope, the shelter is formed

by one large rock leaning into another, creating a triangular opening. The interior

is 9 x 8 m with a ceiling height of 1.75 m. The entrance consisting of vertical

stone slabs supported by two large Y-shaped wooden beams remains in place. The interior is divided into two roughly equal sections by a fence of interlocked

sticks.

The exterior wall of the shelter has collapsed in many areas, scattering the rock

and wooden beams about the entrance. The wooden beams used in the masonry

construction vary between 8 cm and 10 cm in diameter while those used in the

internal partition are 2-3 cm in diameter. The uses of the shelter were similar to

those in B28. Excavations yielded little fauna and microfauna, a handful of beads, two arrowheads, and large amounts of recent desiccated dung. The sparseness of

the material remains suggests that the enclosure was probably used intermittently

by both humans and domestic animals. Like B28, a great deal of labor, time, and

materials were invested in fortifying the shelter.

76 Kusimba

The Bungule 20 (B20) Fortified Rocksheiter Enclosure

B20 is one of three largest rockshelters we have discovered in Kasigau.4 It is also the most secure on the southern side of mount Kasigau. The site originally

had two separate enclosures: one only partially fortified and the other completely fortified. The fully fortified one covers the eastern half of the site with walls

approximately 2 m thick at the base and 14 m long. The size of the enclosure is

approximately 11 m long, 6 m wide, and 1.75 m high. The ceiling height is variable; as low as 30 cm in some areas. The surface of the enclosure is a thick deposit of desiccated animal dung reaching 80 cm thick in some areas. The partially fortified section with dimensions of 7 m long, 6 m wide, and 1.5^4- m high ceiling covers the

western half of the site. B20's large size, location, elevation, and commanding view of the general landscape most likely contributed to its prominence and desirability. It has a formidable appearance, with impressive dry-stone architecture around a

very large enclosed space (Fig. 3). The most intact of the fortified Kasigau rocksheiter enclosures, B20 is faced

with a large dry stonewall reaching nearly 2 m in height. A vertical wooden frame

supports the wall. Erosion of the terrace and cliff has moved the stonewall, leaving a gap of about 1 m between the ceiling and the wall. The doorway is a tunnel

approximately 1.5 m long running through the wall and is lined with vertical slabs

supporting four heavy beams, which in turn support the rocks' weight. The entrance

emerges into an area protected by a wooden partition that runs parallel to the wall. This entire front portion of the shelter contains cultural debris, including pottery and gourds. Behind the partition, piles of desiccated dung dominate the shelter. The dung extends under the front wall to the paths outside and a clear sheltered area adjacent to the enclosure.

Two distinct activity areas characterize this site. This section is reminiscent of modern pastoralists' calf or goat pens inside larger corrals. This area contains thick deposits of desiccated as well as recent dung. Some sections especially the southern and western subsections are surprisingly clean, exhibiting no dung, and have remains offence posts running along the length of the rocksheiter and served as a fence to prevent people and animals from falling down the cliff.

Excavations carried out in the partially fortified enclosure revealed that B20 had four major occupational phases (Table III). Preliminary analyses of finds con sisting of large quantities of quartz flakes and cores suggest that the site may have initially been inhabited by Neolithic foragers who subsisted on small, largely nonmigratory fauna and microfauna and, occasionally on bovids and ungulates. During the end of the phase a marked dietary change occurred with the large bovids and ungulates comprising 40% of the faunal remains. I attribute this change to in troduction and use of iron, which made the killing of larger mammals easier. The construction of the fortified wall occurred during the third phase. Three samples

4The others are Rukanga 1 (Rl) and Makwasinyi 1 (Ml).

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa 77

Table III. Radiocarbon dates of Bungule 20

ISGS number C-14 age (RCYBP) C-13 (% PDP) Site type

ISGS-5231 120 ?70 -24.5 Fortified

ISGS-5230 150 ?70 -25.2 Fortified

A-0218 207 ?40 -25.1 Fortified

ISGS-4873 290 ?70 -26.8 Fortified

ISGS-4874 300 ?70 -25.9 Fortified

ISGS-5232 330 ?70 -24.8 Fortified

ISGS-5233 380 ?70 -24.8 Fortified

ISGS-5229 790 ?70 -25.3 Not fortified

obtained from the vines and wood holding the dry stone wall were dated to 207 ?

40, 290 ? 70, 300 ? 70 BP, placing the date of construction of the dry wall in the

late sixteenth and early eighteenth centuries. The final phase of rocksheiter use

was recent and was exclusively used as a goat/sheep pen.

Excavations also revealed a detailed process of dry stone construction. This

involved the digging of a foundation and erecting a wooden frame with termite

resistant hardwood beams that were secured with twine. Large rocks were then

placed along the wooden frame. Smaller rocks were fitted into the gaps. Finally, wet clay soil was used as mortar to secure the wall. The resulting structure was a

strong, nearly impenetrable, aesthetically beautiful enclosure.

Interestingly, like B28 and B31, this site lacked cultural artifacts revealing its

intermittent use. Thus, the partially fortified section served multiple functions: (1) as a courtyard for household activities including cooking and milking and (2) as

a convenient area for holding livestock including cattle. Grass and other fodder

would be stowed in this area. Finally, it was an excellent area for resting and even

sleeping. The dung deposits in both enclosures reveal the intensity of pen feeding that was carried out at the site during the final phase of site occupation.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF KASIGAU ROCKSHELTERS

How may we interpret the archaeological data recovered from B20, B28, and

B31? The most obvious uses of the enclosure are for pen feeding of goat and/or

sheep. This was especially true during the final occupational phase. The large piles of desiccated dung within the enclosures and outside show later rocksheiter uses

that can mask the initial intention for fortification. As discussed above, our survey showed that Kasigau appears to have been surrounded by a ring of fortified rock

shelters. Fortification dates only to approximately 300 BP. Based on historical and

oral traditions, this was a time when the European and American demand for East

African ivory and slaves increased (Alpers, 1975; Mutoro, 1998; Pearson, 1998;

Ringrose, 2001; Robertson, 1997; Sheriff, 1987; Spear, 1978, 1981; Thorbahn,

1979). Much of the ivory destined for South Asia was initially exported through

78 Kusimba

ff 0

M ff

IU

400000

300000

S 200000 r o a x IU

0 >

100000

1507 1754

Years 1507-1881

1881

Fig. 4. East African Ivory Exports, 1507-1881.

the Portuguese controlled ports of Sofala. However, a decline in ivory from the

Southeast African hinterland and the increasing distance for procuring ivory in

the eighteenth century forced these ports to increasingly turn to metal and cattle

exports (Newitt, 1987). To meet the shortfall, traders turned their attention to the East African coastal

hinterland resulting into the Northern Coasts gradually becoming the main sup

pliers of ivory after 1750 (Coupland, 1938, 1968; Newitt, 1972, 1987; Thorbahn,

1979, p. 101, 284, 285; Ylvisaker, 1982). The coastal demand, particularly from

the Indian subcontinent was a significant enough factor for changing the ecologi cal and cultural landscapes of the northern hinterlands (Kusimba and Bronson, in

press; Oka et a/., in press). Thorbahn's basic analysis5 of the ivory trade data from archival records seems

to suggest that the volume of ivory trade substantially increased, despite relative

instability in the Indian subcontinent following the collapse of "Islamic Peace"

(Gupta, 1987; Naqvi, 1972; Pearson, 1998; Prakash, 1998). Om Prakash (1998)

suggested that Indian merchants (as well as others) circumvented political barriers

to stay in business using a number of strategies ranging from bribing officials, to

secret business deals, and smuggling (Fig. 4; Oka et ai, in press).

51 am grateful to Barbara Thorbahn for making the Late Frederick Peter Thorbahn's field and archival notes available to me.

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa 79

The scant archaeological evidence recovered bolsters the hypothesis that the

shelters were only used intermittently and for specific purposes. I draw several

inferences from these data. First, Kasigau people had prior experience in dry stone architecture that they applied in rocksheiter fortification. The scanty material

evidence contrasts with the intensity of labor. For example, B20 and the as yet to

be excavated Rl were located on a very steep cliff and required considerable labor

input to construct. Mobilization of labor in these projects required strong leadership and community cohesion. Fortified rocksheiter use was relatively shortlived (i.e.,

from the mid-eighteenth to late-nineteenth century). They were used largely as

goat/sheep pens in the twentieth century. Therefore, it is probable that rocksheiter

fortification was a response to specific circumstances and was constructed for

defensive functions as "maroons" or refugia to which people and livestock retreated

when threatened by enemies.

Informant and historical accounts discussed above show that eighteenth and

nineteenth century East Africa was punctuated by insecurity and instability that

was a consequence of slave trade, warfare, and climate change. Slave raiding

and warfare caused widespread insecurity that affected legitimate regional trade

and alliance networks. Climatic changes, especially prolonged droughts, caused

widespread food shortages leading to regional famine (Kusimba, 2004). These

crises often resulted in widespread famine-related diseases that spread very quickly

through the land as people and livestock emigrated in search for food and pasture or were moved as slaves (Watts, 1997).

Oral and historical accounts and archaeological data provide multiple lines of

evidence that support the hypothesis that rocksheiter fortifications in Kasigau were

defensive. First, the labor invested does not justify their use primarily for penning

goat/sheep. However, once they were fortified, their use gradually evolved to serve

multiple purposes, including protection for people and livestock and pen feeding. Their location in hard to reach but easily defensible areas coupled with their thick

walls would have discouraged even the most determined enemy. Informants' accounts of migration to the top of the Mount Kasigau during

the eighteenth century to escape raids by slave seekers and cattle rustlers were

confirmed by the recovery of a large settlement on the mount top during the 2002 season. One informant stated that once their ancestors settled on the mountaintop

they began to exploit its sweet water and fertile soils over the dry plains, which

teemed with tsetse flies and slave raiders. Scouts used rockshelters to survey the

movement of caravans. Whenever they were attacked, a handful of archers used

these shelters to disrupt the enemy advance while the scouts warned the community up the hill to prepare for war. Even if the raiding party reached the settlements up the hill, they would still have had to fight their way down with their loot. In both

cases, the Taita were likely to have an upper hand in the event of an attack.

In sum, fortification was likely responsive to coastal slave raiding and cattle

rustling. Before the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Kasigau were active

participants in the trade networks, as suppliers of resources for the traders and

80 Kusimba

their cargo. Excavations coupled with oral accounts suggest a shifting scenario in the nature of relationships between Kasigau and the Coast. Increased raids from better-armed and numerically superior enemies, especially after 1800, compelled the Kasigau people to abandon their homesteads in the plains for the security of the hills.

DISCUSSION: AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF SLAVERY IN EAST AFRICA

Slave trade and slavery devastated African people and reconfigured the so

cial, technological, and political economy of African polities. Despite attempts to rewrite African history and equitably apportion blame on slavery, it remains clear that enslavement and transshipment of African people to Asia and the Amer icas depopulated the African continent, fostered instability, and contributed to the

economically crippling wars of post-sixteenth century Africa (Klein, 1993). Slav

ery and the slave trade inspired warfare, caused widespread insecurity, mobility, and exposed people to famine and disease. Enslaved people also spread diseases

amongst themselves and those among whom they now settled (Bagshawe, 1925; Obst, 1912; Watts, 1997). Internal trade and interaction networks were severely weakened, as were networks of alliance. These crises weakened the competitive ness of African economies and paved the way for foreign takeover and control of the African political economy by the nineteenth century.

To what extent may archaeologists contribute to the study of slavery in Africa?

Archaeology can tell us of everyday experiences, responses to enslavement, and

the processes of change and exchange between masters and their slaves (Singleton, 1995). Research in South Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, and North America has

clearly demonstrated archaeology's ability to reconstruct the experiences of en

slaved persons. Archaeologists have successfully shown covert and overt means

through which enslaved peoples recreated their identities (Agorsah, 1990, 1993; Funari, 1999; Orser and Funari, 2001; Price, 1979; Singleton, 2001; Webster,

1999). Pottery and bead analyses in household, field, and burial contexts have re

vealed rich data showing enslaved peoples' attempts to sustain their own cultures and values and/or to distinguish themselves from their masters' culture altogether (Ferguson, 1992; Orser, 1994; Singleton, 1999; Stine et al, 1996; Young, 1996).

Isotope analyses on remains of enslaved persons can enable us to chart migra

tion patterns of the trade and reconstruct individual histories of enslaved persons with precision previously impossible (e.g. Cox et al., 2001; Sealey et al., 1995).

Archaeology in concert with other allied subdisciplines can now demonstrate the

personal histories of life in bondage, show individuals' adjustments to new dietary requirements, the nature of work performed, and how both affected their natural health and longevity. These data are a powerful means for addressing the vexing issues of the dehumanization of the enslaved persons, which was so necessary for

justifying slavery (Morris, 1992, 1996; Ross, 1983; Shell, 1994).

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa 81

Turning to East Africa, there are many areas in which these studies can be

undertaken, for both chattel slavery and resistance to enslavement. The Omani Arabs introduced chattel slavery on the East Coast of Africa in the eighteenth century. Resistance to slavery began even earlier on the Coast, and developed in the

interior as raids and wars for slaves intensified. During the seventeenth to nineteenth

century, the construction of fortified, defensive settlements in the East African interior was most likely a response to prevailing insecurity. Settlement fortification

was a regionwide phenomenon (Chittick, 1965; Fadiman, 1982; Jackson, 1948;

Lofgren, 1967; Perham, 1979; Scully, 1969, 1979; Spear, 1978; Sutton, 1965; Wandibba, 1972; Weatherby, 1967). Many of these settlements developed along the

trade routes (Gillman, 1944; Wakefield, 1870). Accounts show these settlements as responses to regional instability caused by the slave trade and exacerbated by climate change. Settlement aggregation and fortification and abrupt settlement

abandonment common in post-sixteenth century Africa can be fruitfully studied

archaeologically to understand post-sixteenth century African experiences.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Research in Tsavo was made possible by the memoranda of understanding between the Field Museum and the National Museums of Kenya and the Kenya

Wildlife Services. Archaeological investigations were made possible through a

research permit form the Office of the President and excavation permit from the

Ministry of Home Affairs, Republic of Kenya. This research was funded by the US National Science Foundation Grants. I gratefully acknowledge the people of

Kasigau for generously sharing their knowledge. Several Kenyan and American

undergraduate students participated in this research. I am especially indebted to

Stephen Dueppen, Daphne Ghalagher, Rahul Oka, Paul Wahiu, Carrie Burkhard, Jacinta Mutegi, and Kavita Sharma for supervising excavations and conducting ethnographic interviews during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. Without the generous support of Musombi Kiberenge, Chui Nganga, Paul Watene, and Samuel Munyiri of the National Museums of Kenya and Joseph Kisio, Robert Muasya, and Joram

Masimba of the Kenya Wildlife service, the Tsavo research would never have been undertaken. David Western and Isabella Ocholla, formerly of the Kenya Wildlife Services provided the initial encouragement for doing research in the Tsavo region.

Colleagues Antonio Curet, Peter Gayford, Helen Haines, Edward Yastrow, and

Sibel B. Kusimba read and critiqued earlier drafts of this paper.

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