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

对古老的斯瓦希里石城松戈·姆纳拉的考古调查和挖掘将使人们能够探索东非沿海地区古代城市规划的各个方面。杰弗里·弗莱舍博士（赖斯大学）和斯蒂芬妮·温恩-琼斯博士（约克大学）将带领一个由来自美国、英国和坦桑尼亚的专家组成的国际小组，对松戈·姆纳拉的经济和仪式活动进行调查，并研究它们与该镇规划和非规划部分的关系。在美国国家科学基金会和英国艺术与人文研究委员会的支持下，在坦桑尼亚南部海岸的这个地点进行了三个季节的实地考察。沿着非洲东部海岸发现的斯瓦希里石城，是一种本土和世界性的城市主义的发源地，从公元700年到1500年，它将非洲与印度洋世界体系联系起来。作为世界遗产，Songo Mnara被认为是所有斯瓦希里城镇景观中最令人印象深刻的，包括40多座珊瑚建造的房屋和房间，5座清真寺和多个墓地。该遗址的占领时间很短，从公元14世纪到16世纪，与沿海斯瓦希里城镇的黄金时代相吻合，特别是在邻近的基尔瓦基西瓦尼遗址。这项工作将大大有助于更广泛地讨论古代城镇规划的组织原则，并研究由运动、活动和使用形成的城镇布局方面，而不是从上面正式规划。通过探索人们的行为是如何塑造和被城市规划塑造的，本研究将提供一个整体的案例研究，以解决当前对古代复杂社会的规划和空间实践的关注。田野调查将在四个相互关联的尺度上探索Songo Mnara的城市空间：(1)通过建筑内部和周围的挖掘进行家庭活动；(2)在该遗址的空地和古迹内进行的公众和社区活动；(3)准确绘制站位平面图；(4)该基地将位于其更广阔的岛屿景观中。Songo Mnara的特殊保存使得构建一个强大的数据集可以探索斯瓦希里城镇是如何规划和非规划的。这将让我们深入了解城镇规划形成的多种方式——通过有权势的人的努力，也通过那些生活在城镇里和通过城镇的人的更基本的日常行为。该项目更广泛的影响包括为美国、英国和坦桑尼亚的研究生和本科生提供重要的培训。此外，该项目有助于保存和保护Songo Mnara，它仍然是“濒危”的世界遗产。对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文物方面所能发挥的独特作用。

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.