1st century – 3rd century
Southeastern Kenya
Kwale was an Early Iron Age archaeological site approximately 30 kilometres southwest of Mombasa. Its occupation levels yielded pottery, an iron arrowhead, iron slag, and carbonized wood. Four consistent radiocarbon dates place the site in the second and third centuries AD, making Kwale broadly contemporary with early iron-working communities in Rwanda and the interlacustrine region.
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The Story
The Kwale sites lay near the crest of a low hill range rising from the coastal plain, in an area that had formerly been forested. Archaeological material occurred in brown sand over sterile reddish sand and represented a series of single-level occupations. Pottery formed the bulk of the assemblage, while other finds included a corroded arrowhead, iron slag, and carbonized heartwood.
Kwale is important because its pottery belongs to the eastern variety of the Early Iron Age tradition linked broadly with dimple-based wares farther west. The assemblage retained the bevelled rims characteristic of East African Early Iron Age pottery but lacked the elaborate scrolls and complex curvilinear designs prominent in contemporary interlacustrine vessels.
Four radiocarbon dates from the occupation levels placed Kwale in the second and third centuries AD. This chronology made its inhabitants approximately contemporary with the communities represented at Ndora and Cyamakusa in Rwanda and at the Urewe sites of western Kenya. Related pottery was subsequently identified around the lower slopes of the Pare, Usambara, and Ngulu mountains and in the foothills of Mount Kenya.
1st century – 3rd century
Southeastern Kenya
Kwale was an Early Iron Age archaeological site approximately 30 kilometres southwest of Mombasa. Its occupation levels yielded pottery, an iron arrowhead, iron slag, and carbonized wood. Four consistent radiocarbon dates place the site in the second and third centuries AD, making Kwale broadly contemporary with early iron-working communities in Rwanda and the interlacustrine region.
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The Story
The Kwale sites lay near the crest of a low hill range rising from the coastal plain, in an area that had formerly been forested. Archaeological material occurred in brown sand over sterile reddish sand and represented a series of single-level occupations. Pottery formed the bulk of the assemblage, while other finds included a corroded arrowhead, iron slag, and carbonized heartwood.
Kwale is important because its pottery belongs to the eastern variety of the Early Iron Age tradition linked broadly with dimple-based wares farther west. The assemblage retained the bevelled rims characteristic of East African Early Iron Age pottery but lacked the elaborate scrolls and complex curvilinear designs prominent in contemporary interlacustrine vessels.
Four radiocarbon dates from the occupation levels placed Kwale in the second and third centuries AD. This chronology made its inhabitants approximately contemporary with the communities represented at Ndora and Cyamakusa in Rwanda and at the Urewe sites of western Kenya. Related pottery was subsequently identified around the lower slopes of the Pare, Usambara, and Ngulu mountains and in the foothills of Mount Kenya.
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