Archaeobotanical evidence of crop economies practised along the nineteenth-century caravan route in southern Tanzania
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Date
2017
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Publisher
University of Dar es Salaam
Abstract
This study sought to understand how crop economies of the local communities situated along the caravan routes in southern Tanzania were shaped by the expanding ivory and slave trade during the nineteenth century. Specifically, the study was conducted at two caravan halt settlements, namely Kikole and Mang'ua. Both settlements are known, based on nineteenth-century European accounts as well as artefactual evidence, as having been fully involved in the nineteenth-century caravan trade.
The study had three specific objectives: first, to recover archaeobotanical remains from a selected sample of settlements identified directly along the caravan routes; second, to analyze the recovered archaeobotanical remains with a view to determining the crop species grown at these settlements during the caravan trade; and third, to assess the spatial-temporal changes in the composition of crop species grown and consumed at the studied settlements in the context of caravan trade expansion during the nineteenth century.
Methodologically, the study employed scientific excavation to retrieve soil samples from various archaeological contexts. Soil samples were subjected to flotation using the bucket flotation method. Laboratory analysis was accomplished using a stereoscopic light microscope, and crops identification was made possible through seed reference manuals as well as local flora guides documented from the study area.
The overall results from the laboratory analysis indicate the presence of various crops produced during the nineteenth century, including new crops such as Asian rice, coconuts and maize. It was also noted that there was no specialization in food crop production, rather various crops were all cultivated at the same time. These included finger millet, pearl millet, maize, rice, coconuts, legumes and cotton.
Description
Available in print form, East Africana Collection, Dr. Wilbert Chagula Library, Class mark (THS EAF CC79.5P5M456)
Keywords
Archaeobotanical, crop economies, caravan route
Citation
Mgombere, C.P (2017) Archaeobotanical evidence of crop economies practised along the nineteenth-century caravan route in southern Tanzania. Master dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam.