ABSTRACT

The expansion of the caravan trade in eastern Africa during the nineteenth century is considered to have had significant ecological, economic and social consequences. While available historical documentary and oral sources provide valuable evidence concerning the scale, timing and spatial extent of these, as well as information about some of the key actors and agents, there remain significant gaps that have the potential to be filled by targeted archaeological research. This paper presents one such study, which aims to establish how influential the expansion of the caravan trade was on local animal economies, with particular reference to a sample of known caravan halts on the northern route on the Pangani River, Tanzania. The results of zooarchaeological analysis of faunal assemblages recovered from four sites suggest that the impacts may have been less than has often been argued by some historians. The study also provides fresh insight on the continuing importance of wild resources, especially rodents, in local diets in the late nineteenth century and on local herd management strategies.

摘要

19 世纪东非大篷车贸易的扩张被认为产生了重大的生态、经济和社会后果。虽然现有的历史文献和口头资料提供了关于这些事件的规模、时间和空间范围以及一些关键参与者和代理人的信息的宝贵证据，但仍然存在有可能被有针对性的考古研究填补的重大空白。本文介绍了一项此类研究，旨在确定大篷车贸易的扩张对当地动物经济的影响有多大，特别参考了坦桑尼亚潘加尼河北部路线上已知的大篷车停靠点样本。对从四个地点发现的动物群的动物考古分析结果表明，这些影响可能比一些历史学家经常认为的要小。该研究还提供了关于野生资源（尤其是啮齿动物）在 19 世纪后期当地饮食中的持续重要性以及当地畜群管理策略的新见解。