Browsing by Author "Katto, Philbert"

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    Archaeological Perspective on the Impacts of Caravan Trade Expansion in East Africa: Emerging Alternative Histories
    (UDSM, 2020) Biginagwa, Thomas; Katto, Philbert
    The last two decades have witnessed an increase of archaeological research interest in the East African caravan trade, a topic that was traditionally exclusive to historians. Long-term empirical evidence currently generated by archaeologists continues to consolidate our understanding of the caravan trade, and helps to question some inferences previously drawn from colonial libraries. This paper presents archaeological evidence unearthed from the Northern and Southern caravan routes located in the corresponding areas in the contemporary northern and southern Tanzania. The paper engages material evidence to re-examine some of the consequences of the caravan trade commonly reported in historical writings. Doing so, the paper demonstrates the utility of considering material culture records in studying and re-writing Africa’s recent past.