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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Pottery Production, Iron Working, and Trade in the Early Iron Age: The Case of Dakawa, East-Central Tanzania
Authors:Håland, Randi
Msuya, Chediel S.ISNI
Year:2000
Periodical:Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa (ISSN 1945-5534)
Volume:35
Pages:75-106
Language:English
Notes:biblio. refs., ills., maps
Geographic terms:Tanzania
East Africa
Subjects:archaeology
prehistory
Anthropology and Archaeology
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
History and Exploration
History, Archaeology
pottery
Iron Age
Metallurgy
trade
history
External link:https://doi.org/10.1080/00672700009511597
Abstract:The remains of a Late Stone Age and Early Iron Age occupation site at Dakawa on the Wami River, Tanzania, were investigated archaeologically between 1992 and 1993. This paper examines the possible position of Dakawa during the Early Iron Age in a broader context of production and exchange in East Africa. More specifically, the pottery recovered from the site, which lies c. 200 km inland, is similar to material found at numerous, roughly contemporary sites along the caost. This latter material, referred to variously in the literature as 'Wenje ware', 'kitchen ware', 'Tana Tradition' and 'Triangular Incised Ware', has been dated to c. AD 600-1000, and is widely regarded as being diagnostic of early Swahili settlement. This paper argues that the similarities between the Dakawa and the coastal pottery relate to the emergence of a trading network between the coast and the hinterland. Dakawa is located in a favourable environment rich in resources. Iron ore and the extensive remains of iron smelting are found on the site. Judging from the material remains and the location of the site, it seems that it was important as a point of collection of inland products destined for the coast, such as iron, ivory, ebony and perhaps slaves. App., bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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