Chibuene

Chibuene is a Mozambican archaeological site, located five kilometres south of the coastal city of Vilanculos South Beach. The site was occupied during two distinct phases. The earlier phase of occupation dates to the late first millennium AD. The second phase dates from around 1450 and is contemporaneous with the Great Zimbabwe civilization in the African interior. During both phases of its development Chibuene was a trading settlement. Trade goods obtained from the site include glass beads, painted blue and white ceramics, and glass bottle fragments. The later phase of settlement has yielded remains of medieval structures as well as evidence of metallurgy. Crucibles have been found that were presumably used to melt gold obtained from trade with the Great Zimbabwe civilization. There is evidence that Chibuene traded extensively with the inland settlement of Manyikeni. Mozambique has jointly inscribed these two properties on their tentative version of the World Heritage List.

The archaeological site was occupied from approximately AD 600 to AD 1700 continuously and into the present, intermittently. This site participated in the Indian Ocean trade network and is currently the most southern located site on the eastern African coast. Archaeological samples at the site revealed that Chibuene's occupation contained two major periods of occupation. The objects presented in the lower deposits contained glazed and unglazed pottery, glass, iron fragments, and beads made of shell and glass. The upper layers contained a distinguishable change in ceramic typology. In addition, two types of imported glazed pottery have been recovered from the site. The main subsistence pattern of the inhabitants of the site appeared to derive from the coast which included fish, marine mammals, and reptiles. Additionally, contemporary farmers in the region produce maize, sorghum, manioc, beans, and peanuts.

The lower layers of occupation contained the presence of early Matola pottery typically associated with early farming communities in the region. In addition to glass beads which revealed the locations importance as an entry point for glass which later found its way into the interior by the end of the first millennium AD. The site likely contributed to glass beads presented in sites within Shashe River and Limpopo River regions, the Zimbabwe Plateau, and Botswana to about AD 1000. The considerable amount of glass and shell recovered in the lower occupation deposits suggested the site trading extensively within the Indian Ocean trade network in the late first millennium AD.

Manyikeni, a Zimbabwean traditional style of stone walled settlement 10 km west of Chibuene, possibly gained control of the site after AD 1200. This is attested by the increased similarity of later occupation deposits containing pottery similar in character to Manyikeni. In addition, this is corroborated by the presence of marine shell and imports from Indian ocean trade in the context of Manyikeni deposits suggesting the coast and hinterlands were connected through trade networks. Chibuene acted as the way point for entry of materials and resources from the eastern coast and the trade network it provided.

The current estimate for the development of the site is estimated to be around 400 AD as a farming community on the southern coast of Mozambique. Contemporary annual and seasonal rainfall reveals very high variability in the region with most of the rainfall arriving in December and February, averaging 832 mm/per year. The summer rainfall season experiences decadal cycles of wet and dry phases. The high variability of rainfall appears to have remained consistent throughout the last 1600 years. Pollen evidence from the surrounding lakes of Nhaucati and Xiroche suggests a lengthy period of drought between 1400 and 1700, peaking in 1700. This drought accompanied a dramatic change in vegetation cover from forest savanna mosaic to forest savanna woodland. Furthermore, the surrounding area contains relatively nutrient poor dunal sand, susceptible to erosion.

Agriculture was introduced to the region around 400 AD to the present. Poor soil and the unreliability of rainfall reduced the viability of agriculture as a reliable subsistence pattern. Throughout the course of the occupation of Chibuene, the inhabitants practiced a broad subsistence economy with the utilization of domestic animals, marine fauna, and wild plant life to augment agricultural production. Of particular significance to the site was the distinctive emphasis on marine fauna in the diets of the inhabitants. The 1995 excavations from a Swedish sponsored team revealed a rather high proportion of fish remains in comparison to sites in South Africa. The faunal remains of shark and turtle were notable features of the site. Shark fishing and turtle hunting are subsistence strategies more associated with East African, or Swahili coast, sites beginning in the first millennium, revealing a closer affinity of Chibuene to sites further north than the southern interior. The oldest layers of the site contained a high volume of shellfish. In addition domesticated animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens are represented at the site which attests to an association with southern African sites. Despite the availability of domesticated animals, it appeared that shellfish consisted of the bulk of the protein utilized by the inhabitants of Chibuene.

The introduction of domesticated chicken illustrates the site’s importance for trade between the Indian Ocean and the southern interior as a possible route of entry for the black-feathered variety of chicken resembling those of India. Thus, the inhabitants of the site made extensive use of their location along the southern Mozambican coast. The poor soil composition and inadequate rainfall only allowed variable agricultural output, causing the inhabitants to procure other means of sustenance. Chibuene inhabitants made use of domesticated animals from southern Africa and successful shark and turtle hunting practices from neighbors from the north in order to adequately exploit the resources of the particular region they inhabited with easy access to the coast and variable land for pasturage in addition to invaluable trade resources procured from the Indian Ocean trade network.

In the initial years of occupation between 400 and 700 AD clearing of land for agriculture remained relatively small. The years following saw a degree of agricultural intensification between 600 and 1000 AD, but there is no evidence for clearing on a massive scale. Trade played an important role in this period for procuring valuable commodities such as glass and additional food stuffs. Faunal assemblages revealed much more of an emphasis on cattle herding in these early years, although not on a large-scale due to the low availability of pastoral lands. Cattle were possibly traded with the interior to procure extra grain stuffs in times of need. In these years, the landscape was covered in riverine forests and savannah.