부산대학교 도서관

During the last two decades, archaeologists have been drawn to the Mafia Archipelago, Tanzania. Most recent archaeological research in the area emphasises cave sites and two Swahili ‘stone towns’. These sites tend to date either to the second half of the first millennium AD and/or to the first half of the second millennium AD. Less attention has been directed to non-monumental sites on Mafia Island, the primary island in the archipelago. Mlongo, an Early Iron Age (EIA) open-air site, was reported first by Felix Chami 20 years ago. This project revisited Mlongo. During two short field seasons in 2013 and 2014–15, respectively, we determined the spatial extent of the site, recovered and sequenced its ceramics, and identified archaeobotanical remains. Two charcoal samples from the stratum with dense Kwale Ware were dated to the first half of the first millennium AD. The project also documented ceramic traditions not previously recognised at Mlongo: Triangular IncisedWare-early Tana Tradition (TIW-eTT), Plain Ware, Swahili Ware, and Post-Swahili Ware (progressively from the late first millennium AD through recent centuries). Petrographic analysis of a small sample of Kwale ceramics detailed their compositions that are indicative of multiple clay resource groupings. Botanical remains included early pieces of copal (a plant resin) and, later, a few charred remains of sorghum and pearl millet. A feature, interpreted as part of an early structure, was composed of palm fronds. These residues included a coconut endocarp which is the earliest evidence of Cocos nucifera from a nearshore island in East Africa.