AHRC-NSF MOU: Swahili Town Planning: The Songo Mnara Urban Landscape

AHRC-NSF 谅解备忘录：斯瓦希里城市规划：Songo Mnara 城市景观

• 批准号: 1123091
• 负责人: Jeffrey Fleisher
• 金额: $ 25.97万
• 依托单位: William Marsh Rice University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-06-15 至 2017-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1123091&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: AHRC; NSF; MOU; Swahili; Town

Archaeological survey and excavation at the ancient Swahili stonetown of Songo Mnara will enable the exploration of aspects of ancient urban planning in coastal East Africa. Dr Jeffrey Fleisher (Rice University) and Dr Stephanie Wynne-Jones (University of York) will lead an international team of specialists from the U.S., U.K., and Tanzania in the investigation of economic and ritual activities at Songo Mnara and of how they related to planned and unplanned parts of the town. Support from the National Science Foundation in collaboration with the Arts and Humanities Research Council in the United Kingdom, allows for three seasons of fieldwork at this site on the southern Tanzanian coast. Swahili stonetowns, found along the eastern African coast, were the home to an indigenous and cosmopolitan form of urbanism that linked Africa with the Indian Ocean world system from AD 700 to 1500. A World Heritage Site, Songo Mnara is recognized as the most impressive of all Swahili townscapes, including more than 40 coral-built houses and room-blocks, 5 mosques and multiple cemeteries. Occupation of the site was brief, from the 14th to 16th centuries AD, coinciding with the golden age of Swahili towns along the coast, and particularly at its neighboring site of Kilwa Kisiwani.This work will contribute substantially to discussions of organizational principles in ancient town plans more generally, and to research on aspects of town layouts that were formed by movement, activity and use, rather than formal planning from above. By exploring the way the actions of people both shaped and were shaped by town plans, this study will provide a holistic case study that addresses current concerns with the plans and spatial practices of ancient complex societies. The fieldwork will explore the urban space of Songo Mnara at four interlinked scales: (1) household activities through excavations within and around buildings; (2) public and communal practices in the open areas and monuments of the site; (3) the site plan will be accurately plotted; and (4) the site will be positioned within its broader island landscape. The exceptional preservation at Songo Mnara allows the construction of a robust dataset to explore how Swahili towns were both planned and unplanned. This will offer insight into the multiple ways that towns plans emerged - through the efforts of powerful people, but also through the more basic and daily acts of those living in and moving through the town. Broader impacts of the project include important training for American, British, and Tanzanian students, both graduate and undergraduate. Additionally, the project contributes to the preservation and conservation of Songo Mnara, which remains an "endangered" World Heritage Site. A long term commitment to archaeological research at the site will provide important opportunities for community involvement, and educational opportunities to demonstrate the unique role that archaeology can play in its preservation and documentation.

对松戈姆纳拉古代斯瓦希里石头城的考古调查和发掘将有助于探索东非沿海古代城市规划的各个方面。 Jeffrey Fleisher 博士（莱斯大学）和 Stephanie Wynne-Jones 博士（约克大学）将领导一个由来自美国、英国和坦桑尼亚的专家组成的国际团队，调查松戈姆纳拉的经济和仪式活动以及它们与该镇规划和未规划部分的关系。在国家科学基金会与英国艺术与人文研究委员会合作的支持下，可以在坦桑尼亚南部海岸的这个地点进行三个季节的实地考察。沿非洲东海岸发现的斯瓦希里石头城是本土和国际化都市主义的发源地，从公元 700 年到 1500 年，它将非洲与印度洋世界体系联系在一起。松戈姆纳拉是世界遗产，被认为是所有斯瓦希里城镇景观中最令人印象深刻的景观，包括 40 多座珊瑚建造的房屋和街区、5 座清真寺和多个墓地。 该遗址的使用时间很短，从公元 14 世纪到 16 世纪，恰逢沿海斯瓦希里城镇的黄金时代，特别是在其邻近的 Kilwa Kisiwani 遗址。这项工作将为更广泛地讨论古镇规划中的组织原则做出重大贡献，并研究由运动、活动和使用形成的城镇布局的各个方面，而不是从上面进行正式规划。 通过探索人们的行为如何塑造城市规划以及城市规划如何塑造人们的行为，本研究将提供一个整体的案例研究，解决当前对古代复杂社会的规划和空间实践的关注。 实地考察将从四个相互关联的尺度探索松戈姆纳拉的城市空间：（1）通过在建筑物内部和周围进行挖掘来进行家庭活动； (2) 场地内的开放区域和纪念碑内的公共和公共实践； （三）准确绘制场地平面图； (4) 该地点将位于更广阔的岛屿景观中。松戈姆纳拉 (Songo Mnara) 的特殊保护可以构建强大的数据集，以探索斯瓦希里城镇是如何规划和未规划的。 这将提供对城镇规划形成的多种方式的深入了解——通过有权势人士的努力，但也通过居住在城镇中和在城镇中流动的人们的更基本和日常的行为。 该项目的更广泛影响包括对美国、英国和坦桑尼亚学生（包括研究生和本科生）的重要培训。 此外，该项目还有助于保护松戈姆纳拉（Songo Mnara），该遗址仍然是“濒临灭绝”的世界遗产。 对该遗址考古研究的长期承诺将为社区参与提供重要机会，并提供教育机会，以展示考古学在保存和记录方面可以发挥的独特作用。