Pots, people and practice: ethno-archaeological research among the potters of Mafia Island

Dr Stephanie Wynne-Jones (British Institute in Eastern Africa) and Dr Bertram Mapunda (University of Dar-es-Salaam) on behalf of the British Institute in Eastern Africa

Summary

The Mafia archipelago, off the coast of southern Tanzania, appears to be cut off from the effects of global markets and the import of cheap manufactured goods; the islands are home to a variety of ‘traditional’ crafts including boatbuilding, the weaving of mats, rope-making and potting. This is one of the only regions of the East African coast where a thriving economy of ceramic manufacture still exists; homogeneous and recognisable ceramic styles can be identified which display a marked continuity from earlier periods, as well as stylistic links with other areas of the coast during the twentieth century.

Yet the recent history of the archipelago has been anything but static, with wider social and economic movements having a profound effect on the islands’ demography and internal economy, as well as on their relationships with other areas. In particular, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw large-scale immigration, forced and unforced. In this dynamic and changing society, in which numerous tribal and linguistic identities coexist, the continuation of distinctive island methods and styles of craft production cannot be seen as passive survival, but must be recognised as an active process, continually reaffirmed within changing historical and social contexts.

This paper presents the results of ethnoarchaeological research among the potters of Mafia, examining the complex links between identity, practice and ceramic style. The focus is on the processes by which styles are created, and how archaeologists can use these insights to access identities among the equally dynamic societies of the past.