Kilwa Kisiwani ('Kilwa Island') is an island, national historic site, and hamlet community located in the township of Kilwa Masoko, the district seat of Kilwa District in the Tanzanian region of Lindi in southern Tanzania. Kilwa Kisiwani is the largest of the nine hamlets in the town of Kilwa Masoko and is also the least populated hamlet in the township with around 1,150 residents.
Historically, it was the center of the Kilwa Sultanate, a medieval Swahili sultanate whose authority at its height in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries stretched the entire length of the Swahili Coast. At its peak in the Middle Ages, Kilwa had over 10,000 inhabitants. Since 1981, the entire island of Kilwa Kisiwani has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with the nearby ruins of Songo Mnara. Apart from its significant historical reputation, Kilwa Kisiwani is still home to a small and resilient community of natives who have inhabited the island for centuries. Kilwa Kisiwani is one of the seven World Heritage Sites in Tanzania. Additionally, the site is a registered National Historic Site of Tanzania.
Geography
Kilwa Kisiwani Island lies 9 degrees south of the equator. The island is 23 km (14 mi) in circumference, and the total land area is 12 km2 (4.6 sq mi). On the western part of the island is the Mavuji River estuary. On the southern part of the island lies the Sagarungu sound, and to the east lies the Indian Ocean.
Economy
The island is located with the Kilwa Masoko township authority. The main economic activities on the island are cultural tourism, fishing and subsistence agriculture. Economic growth is limited due to the island's isolation. There are no rivers and the main source for water is wells. Many of the island's freshwater wells have been used for over a millennium. The island is served by small boats to and from Kilwa Masoko. The island's only electricity is generated from solar power and has a small capacity. There are no roads on the island, thus most transport is on foot or by motorcycle.
To protect the historical integrity of the island, non-island residents are strictly prohibited from visiting the island without a permit from the tourist information center in downtown Kilwa Masoko. Much of the historical artifacts and buildings on the island have not yet been excavated.
Historical significance
Kilwa Kisiwani is a former Swahili City State site located along the Swahili Coast on the Kilwa Archipelago. Recent excavations and Carbon-14 dating of the site have confirmed its founding at the start of the 9th century CE. As in other areas of the East African coast, seasonal wind reversals (or monsoons) affected trade on the island.
In 1331 CE, Moroccan traveller and scholar Ibn Battuta visited Kilwa and described it as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Trade connections with the Arabian Peninsula as well as India and China influenced the growth and development of Kilwa, and though there are Islamic words and customs that have been adapted to the culture, its origins are African. Many of the Swahili settlements showed complex layouts that reflected social relations between groups. However at Kilwa, there are many questions still left unanswered about the town's layout after the Portuguese Empire sacked and burnt it to the ground in July 1505.
The Swahili cemeteries are located on the edge of the town, which is common for the Swahili region, and large, open spaces were likely used for social gatherings. An important city for trade, around the 13th century there were increased fortifications and a greater flow of goods. For these to take place, a form of political administration overseeing the city was needed, controlling the movement of goods and people. Much of the trade network was with the Arabian Peninsula. Kilwa Kisiwani reached its highest point in wealth and commerce between the 13th and 15th centuries.
Evidence of growth in wealth can be seen with the appearance of stone buildings around the 13th century, before which all of the buildings were wattle-and-daub. The socio-economic status of the individuals residing there has been inferred from the type of structure they were living in. Among Kilwa's trade exports were spices, tortoiseshell, coconut oil, ivory, cotton cloth, and incense (e.g. frankincense and myrrh), as well as gold. At around this time, Kilwa had seized control of the trade of gold at Sofala, Mozambique. The wealthier residents of Kilwa owned exotic textiles and foreign ceramics, though items such as luxury clothes are not preserved in the archaeological record. For approximately 500 years, Kilwa minted its own coins. This lasted from about 1100-1600 CE, and the coins have been found across the region, including Great Zimbabwe.
The local diet was dominated by seafood, supplemented by produce from the surrounding land. Due to the impact the sea had on Kilwa, including abundant marine resources and trade opportunities, the archaeological investigation of the harbors and ports is considered to be of high importance. The topsoil that covers the limestone at Kilwa was of poor quality, and so food sources on land came from the areas of higher ground. However, the soil in the Kilwa region was suitable for growing cotton, which could be used in sail manufacturing. Spindle whorls from the 12th century have been found, indicating that cotton was used and processed in this area.
Ceramics
At first, most of the focus was placed on the archaeology of Kilwa's ports and harbors, however, more and more emphasis is being placed on Kilwa's hinterlands. Ceramic artifacts are plentiful at the site and can be divided into two groups: regional and coastal. All of the ceramics with regional distribution were locally produced, but the area of distribution is limited. These unglazed ceramics were referred to as Kitchen Wares, though their uses were not necessarily just as cooking vessels. All of the varieties of locally produced pottery found in the region were also uncovered at the site of Kilwa itself.
While the Kitchen Wares could be seen throughout the region, there were ceramics that were mostly seen within Kilwa itself. These included modeled forms and red-burnished wares. The distribution pattern of the red-burnished wares was coastal. Other ceramic types that were seemingly restricted to town were the imported ceramic vessels from the Arabian peninsula and China. Imported ceramic materials are not found in rural areas. They were used as a sign of social status by the elite, kept in wall niches specifically crafted for their display. These imported ceramics played important symbolic roles along the Swahili Coast. The symbolism attached to the imported ceramics was so strong that it carried on to modern Swahili culture. The lack of imported goods in the hinterlands indicates that, while Kilwa was undergoing a process of urbanization, the other local communities did not undergo a dramatic transformation.
Ancient DNA analysis
A study by Brielle et al. in 2023 completed ancient DNA analysis of several samples from the ruins of Kilwa. Ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis was completed for 80 individuals from six medieval and early modern (1250–1800 CE) coastal towns and an inland town after 1650 in order to determine the proportions of "African-like, Persian-like, and Indian-like" DNA sequences. More than half of the DNA of many of the individuals from coastal towns originated from primarily female ancestors from Africa, with a large proportion — sometimes more than half—of the DNA coming from Asian ancestors. The Asian ancestry includes components associated with Persia and India, with 80–90% of the Asian DNA originating from Persian men. Peoples of African and Asian (predominantly Persian) origins began to mix by about 1000 CE. Samples were taken from two boxes of human remains located in the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) in Nairobi, originally excavated in the 1950s and 1960s by Chittick.
After 1500, the sources of male Asian DNA became increasingly Arabian, consistent with increased interactions with southern Arabia. From medieval times until the modern day, subsequent interactions with different Asian and African people have changed the ancestry of the present-day people living on the Swahili coast compared to the medieval individuals whose DNA was sequenced.
Potentially dating from 1300-1600 (more precise radiocarbon dating techniques were unable to be completed in time for these samples), analysis was completed of the individuals' mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), autosomal DNA, Y chromosome DNA, and X chromosome DNA. Analysis of mtDNA in the individual, demonstrating maternal ancestry patterns, showed a L* haplotype. The L* haplotype is predominantly found in present-day Sub-Saharan African populations. Y chromosome analysis, demonstrating paternal ancestry patterns, showed that the individual was carrying the J2 haplotype, a DNA pattern found in Southwest Asian or Persian individuals. X chromosomes, containing larger maternal influence, were compared with the 22 autosomal chromosomes, which contain equal maternal and paternal influence. X chromosomes contained more indicators of African ancestry compared to the autosomal DNA, further adding to evidence of African ancestry on the maternal side and Persian or Southeast Asian ancestry on the paternal side.
Preservation
In 2004, Kilwa Kisiwani was inscribed in UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger. There is a serious rapid deterioration of the archaeological and monumental heritage of these two islands due to various agents like erosion and vegetation. The eastern section of the Palace of Husuni Kubwa, for example, is progressively disappearing. The damage to the soil caused by rainwater wash is accentuating the risks of collapse of the remaining structures on the edge of the cliff. The vegetation that proliferates on the cliff has limited the progression of the rain-wash effect but causes the break-up of the masonry structures. A team of CHAM volunteers ensured the protection of the ancient city between 2001 and 2007.
The World Monuments Fund included Kilwa on its 2008 Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites, and since 2008 has been supporting conservation work on various buildings. In 2014 it was removed from the list.
Repatriation of ancestral human remains
Archaeological excavations and removal of human remains
During the late colonial period, archeological excavations in the Kilwa region of present day Tanzania resulted in the removal of human skeletal remains for research purposed. Among the archeologists working in the region was Neville Chittick, wo became Tanganyika's first conservator of antiquities in 1957 and subsequently conducted research on the archeology and history of Swahili civilization.
According to research published by Open Restitution Africa, Chittick removed unidentified human remains from graves in the Kilwa District during the late 1950s. Following his appointment as director of the British Institute in Eastern Africa in 1962, the remains were transferred to Kenya, where they were retained the institutes storage facilities in Nairobi.
The remains were reportedly intended for further scientific analysis, including possible examination in Britain, but this research was not completed. They remained in the institute's custody for several decades with limited documentation concerning heir original burial locations and community affiliations.
Early returns and renewed repatriation efforts
The return of the ancestral remains from Kilwa to Tanzania begam in 2016 when the British Institute on Eastern Africa facilitated the return of a smaller group of human remains and cultural materials to the National Museum of Tanzania, although a larger collection remained in Nairobi.
Renewed efforts began in August 2022, during the 16th Congress of Pan African Archaeological Association for Prehistory and related Studies in Zanzibar. At the conference, Kennedy Gitu, a research fellow associated with the British Institute in Eastern Africa discussed the remaining collection with Emmanuel Yacobo, director of the National Museum in Tanzania. The discussion led to a collaborative initiative to catalogue the remains and arrange for their return. In September 2022, the researchers submitted documentation to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism in Tanzania requesting authorization for the transfer. The process also required an engagement with the National museum of Kenya concerning the movement or archeological materials across national borders.
Return to Tanzania in 2023
In March 2023, the remaining human remains from Kilwa were transported by road from Nairobi, Kenya to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in a repatriation coordinated by the British Institute in Eastern Africa and the National Museum of Tanzania. The British Institute provided logistical and financial support or the transfer, including packing and transportation. Following their arrival, the remains were placed in the custody of the National Museum of Tanzania.