A comparative fabric attributes analysis of EIW pottery from Kwale (Mombasa), Limbo. Mafia and Kwale (Kisiju) sites

This research is about establishment of sources of pottery manufacture and relaships between Early Iron Working (EIW) sites of Kwale (Mombasa), Limbo, Mafia and Kwale (Kisiju). It is founded on previous research focus of using pottery physical attributes such as decorative motifs and linguistic evidence to explain origin and spread of Bantu speaking communities. This focus failed to adequately provide sufficient evidence to explain why pottery with similar typological attributes could be found in different regions. Additionally, from the time when the Kwale (Mombasa) site was excavated in 1966; there has not been any attempt to properly establish its stratigraphic nature. In an attempt to address these problems, excavation was conducted at Kwale (Mombasa) site and comparative data were acquired from previos researches by Felix Chami at Limbo, Mafia and Kwale (Kisiju) sites. This study employed petrological analysis to investigate relationships of pottery and clay temper from similar EIW sites so as trace source of pottery fabric attributes from each of the examined sites correlate with local clay samples suggesting that pottery attributes should not be superficially taken to represent exchange or migration of populations, rather, emphasis on all aspects of pottery studies including petrological, physical and fabric attributes together with clay sources need to be examined if past human interactions are to be properly deciphered