ABSTRACT
Chibuene, situated on the littoral of Vilanculos Bay, southern Mozambique (Map 1, p. xxii), is the most southerly trading hub that has been located archaeologically along the Swahili coast. Archaeological excavations have been carried out at Chibuene since 1978 (Sinclair 1982, 1987; Ekblom 2004; Sinclair et al. 2012). The 10 ha site was identified on the basis of a thick cultural layer associated with early occupation phase, which is now being eroded by the sea. Excavations have revealed two occupational phases; the early one is dated from c. 600 to 1300–1400 ce (with most C14 dates clustering between 700 and 1000), and the late occupation phase, c. 1300–1400 to 1650–1700 ce. Here we focus on the early occupation phase when Chibuene was part of Indian Ocean trade networks. More than a thousand glass beads have been recovered, suggesting Chibuene was the entry port for trade goods found throughout the southern African interior from the eighth century onward. Trade was an important component of emergent urban and state development, and Chibuene was a nodal point connecting three different trading networks: the southern African interior, the proto-Swahili coastal network and the wider transoceanic network. Chibuene in the later phase was no longer directly involved in Indian Ocean trade; imports are not found and there was also a change in local material culture, possibly a result of overrule from interior centres (see below).
