ABSTRACT
Gede is among the best-known Swahili sites, located a few kilometres inland on the southern Kenya coast between Mombasa and Malindi (Map 1, p. xxii). It is rightly famous for its extensive and well-preserved ruins, which have been protected by the Kenyan government as a national monument since 1948. These ruins are enclosed in a forest considered a sacred site by the surrounding community and used for traditional rituals (NMK 2015; see also Prins 1952: 47). Owing to their preservation and ongoing local significance, the ruins have attracted archaeological attention from the mid-twentieth century. Because of the relatively long history of archaeological work at the site, Gede has been studied by researchers operating under several different paradigms. This variety of perspectives has produced a rich understanding of the settlement and of the broader coast, even as it points to evolving Swahili historiography.
