Archaeologists at work inside the Old Fort of Stone Town in Zanzibar. Two trenches were dug to a depth of two metres.Photo: Tim Power
Posted on 09/04/2022 8:20:59 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
A UAE-led heritage project is shedding new light on the origins of Zanzibar’s Stone Town.
Archaeologists have discovered evidence of an original settlement at the Unesco World Heritage site in Tanzania that dates back to the 11th century.
It proves the town — previously thought to be an 18th century Omani Arab town — was actually established much earlier by local Swahili people, archaeologists believe.
During a major dig this summer, they unearthed traces of homes, cooking pits and significant amounts of pottery from this era.
They were then able to pinpoint the settlement’s transition to stone buildings by the 14th century...
Stone Town became the powerful capital of the Omani Arab Empire in the 19th century and many major buildings were constructed at this time.
But the Emirati-funded work has shown how the trading centre developed much earlier than previously thought...
Stone Town’s Old Fort, built during the Omani era, was the focus of the dig. The fort could be compared with Abu Dhabi’s Qasr Al Hosn, said Prof Power, as it was the nexus of military and political power and also functioned as a customs house...
This year, two trenches made in the fort’s courtyard were dug to a depth of two metres, uncovering rubbish pits, cooking fires, walls, floors, the remains of a Portuguese church, significant amounts of pottery and even evidence of a mosque — structures that show an intensification of human settlement...
“It is similar to what we found in the UAE,” said Ms Al Marzooqi. “But we also found local Swahili pottery such as cookware.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thenationalnews.com ...
Archaeologists at work inside the Old Fort of Stone Town in Zanzibar. Two trenches were dug to a depth of two metres.Photo: Tim Power
The Ancient World Economy &
the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia & India
by Raoul McLaughlin
Kindle Edition
Slaves? No way ! /s
Zanzibar is a totally KICK ASS name (as opposed to Turkey-yea, or however they now spell it).
Zanzibar...one of the lesser-known popular revolutions of the decolonization era. The only film of it known to exist is from the documentary “Africa Addio”, where members of the minority-but-dominant Arab/Asian population were being led off to execution.
Not to mention Barkley Square.
Nice!
***Zanzibar...one of the lesser-known popular revolutions of the decolonization era.***
I still remember that slaughter, er, that is “Revolution!” Ended with them linking up with Tanganykia to become Tanzania.
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