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Archaeological Investigations of Economy and Trade in Tsavo, Kenya
Chap and Sibel Kusimba, Anthropology Department
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(click to enlarge)
Human Skulls in Kajire, Sagalla Hills. Chap and Sibel's team has found six sites bearing Human skulls of the ancestors of the Taita Peoples.
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In the year 2000, Chapurukha Kusimba and Adjunct Assistant Curator of African Anthropology Sibel B. Kusimba returned to Tsavo for three months to continue archaeological and ethnographic research in the Tsavo National Park and surrounding areas. Chap and Sibel are investigating the impact of regional and international trade on the ecology, economy, and interaction in the Iron Age of the Tsavo area of southeastern Kenya. Tsavo was one of the major sources of ivory, skins, and slaves which formed the basis of wealth in the Swahili city-states on the Kenya Coast. Ivory became a major commodity and form of currency in an increasing world economy from the fifteenth century. Historical evidence suggests that Tsavo communities of agriculturalists, agro-pastoralists, pastoralists, and foragers were bound by alliances but also competed for cattle, land, and traded objects like beadwork, Coastal shells, foodstuffs, ceramics, cattle, and textiles. In three field seasons, Chap and Sibel (working with a number of American, and Kenyan students and Field Museum voulnteers) have identified over 200 sites, including an extensive iron production complex, rockshelter agropastoralist and hunter-gatherer settlements, open-air sites, and sites of extensive mortuary activity.
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