Southern Africa and the Swahili World

The sequel to People, Contacts and the Environment in the African Past, published under the auspices of a thriving and diverse regional archaeology research project, 'Human Responses and Contributions to Environmental Change in Africa'. The book series aims to disseminate the project's results and stimulate debate on current issues relating to the archaeology of the region, from specific and regional perspectives. The editors present an overview study of the Swahili World, and the excavation of Kaole ruins; and there is a chapter in French on the bi-partition of Swahili sites, taking the example of Gede.

Three papers are on Zimbabwean archaeology, one of which presents findings from recent surveys in northern Zimbabwe and their contribution to an understanding of the cultural history and spatial behaviour of pre-historic farming communities in the area. The other papers cover: the merits of using ceramics as material culture to interpret aspects of pre-historic human behaviour in Southern Africa; the history of glass beads and iron metallurgy across the region; and the effect of geo- environmental aspects on the location of sites on the central coast of Tanzania.