Archaeological Perspective on the Impacts of Caravan Trade Expansion in East Africa: Emerging Alternative Histories

Abstract

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.