ABSTRACT

This paper seeks to challenge the notion of the invisible slave in the archaeological record and investigates the way in which material culture may reflect the movements and practices of enslaved labourers on the East African Swahili coast. Archaeological approaches to enslavement have revealed the nuanced and complex experiences of a group of people often under-represented or absent in historical records, while also grappling with the challenges presented by the ambiguity of the material evidence. This paper presents a case study from the fifteenth-century Swahili site of Songo Mnara in Tanzania, an architecturally and materially wealthy stone town in the Kilwa archipelago. It focuses on the context, use, and spread of beads across the site, and considers the possibility of interpreting some classes — such as locally made terracotta beads — as proxies for the underclass and enslaved in an otherwise wealthy settlement. It presents a key study towards the aim of building a highly necessary methodology for the archaeology of slavery in East Africa and beyond, and suggests that certain types of material culture might be used to explore the activities of enslaved and/or underclass individuals.

摘要

本文试图挑战考古记录中无形奴隶的概念，并研究物质文化如何反映东非斯瓦希里海岸奴役工人的运动和习俗的方式。考古学上的奴役方法揭示了一群人在历史记录中经常被低估或缺席的细微而复杂的经历，同时还应对了物质证据含混不清所带来的挑战。本文介绍了一个案例研究，该案例来自15世纪坦桑尼亚Songo Mnara的斯瓦希里语遗址，该村庄是基尔瓦群岛上具有建筑和物质财富的石头小镇。它着重于珠子在整个站点中的背景，用途和散布，并考虑将某些类别（例如本地制作的兵马俑珠子）解释为下层阶级的代表，并被原本是富有的住所奴役的可能性。它提出了一项重要研究，旨在为东非及其他地区的奴隶制考古建立一个非常必要的方法论，并建议可以使用某些类型的物质文化来探索奴役和/或下层阶级个人的活动。