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This lecture will present the results of a large-scale excavation project on the southern Swahili coast. The site of Songo Mnara was one of the grandest towns on the coast, with coral-built palaces, mosques and houses on a scale not seen elsewhere. It was deeply connected with networks of religious learning, trade and movement in the Indian Ocean world. Yet Songo Mnara is not mentioned in any histories. Even its more famous neighbor, Kilwa Kisiwani, is known from only a handful of sources. The stakes for archaeology here are therefore high, as we are able to recover whole urban worlds that are only known through their material remains. Excavations at Songo Mnara have used a massive range of cutting-edge techniques to explore the ways people lived on the 14th and 15th-century Swahili coast, for the first time recovering details of local practices and value systems. This lecture presents the results of this work, as part of a consideration the Swahili urban phenomenon more generally. It precedes the publication of a major site monograph, due 2020-2021.
Please note that due to COVID 19 restrictions this event will be online only.
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