ABSTRACT

This paper aims to open the discussion on the characteristics of the acoustic landscapes in precolonial Swahili towns on the East African coast, where this theme to date remains unstudied. The paper focuses on assessing some aspects of the acoustic experience in the precolonial period of AD 1200–1600 respective to the towns and to coral-rag houses, which represent one type of building recorded on Swahili archaeological sites. Due to the limited preservation of buildings on the East African coast, and the fact that many of them have been deserted under the growing influence of Omani and European colonialism, both experimental and ethnoarchaeological studies could provide only limited information on any aspect of past sensory experience in these towns. Therefore, this paper defines some major characteristics of soundscapes in this region using analyses of the acoustic capacities and spatial dimensions of the Swahili built environment, while reflecting on selected themes that played a strong part in Swahili social environment, such as trade and Islam. The presented case study from sub-Saharan Africa aims to contribute to the global discussions on sensory experience in urban societies, where examples from coastal tropics are acutely needed.

摘要

本文旨在开启对东非海岸前殖民时期斯瓦希里城镇声学景观特征的讨论，该主题迄今为止仍未得到研究。本文重点评估了公元 1200 年至 1600 年前殖民时期城镇和珊瑚布房屋的声学体验的某些方面，这些房屋代表了斯瓦希里语考古遗址中记录的一种建筑类型。由于东非海岸的建筑物保存有限，而且在阿曼和欧洲殖民主义日益严重的影响下，其中许多已被遗弃，因此实验和民族考古学研究只能提供有关过去感官体验的任何方面的有限信息在这些城镇。所以，本文通过对斯瓦希里语建筑环境的声学容量和空间维度的分析来定义该地区音景的一些主要特征，同时反思在斯瓦希里语社会环境中发挥重要作用的选定主题，例如贸易和伊斯兰教。来自撒哈拉以南非洲的案例研究旨在促进关于城市社会感官体验的全球讨论，其中迫切需要沿海热带地区的例子。