Excavation of the Later Stone Age Site of Madola - Kiwangwa, Bagamoyo, Tanzania

Abstract

ABSTRACTReports on the Later Stone Age (LSA) assemblages along the coast of mainland Tanzania and the surrounding islands date back to the 1960s. However, most of these involved sketchy descriptions of lithic materials from varied contexts, including excavations and surface collections. Most were also by-products of accidental discoveries during other research endeavours, since no one had focused their research on the Tanzanian coastal Stone Age. Excavation of the Madola LSA site in Kiwangwa Village was aimed at addressing this problem, as well as building up a database for the Tanzanian coastal LSA industry. Unlike most areas of the Tanzanian coast where lithic artefacts occur in light scatters, the Madola site consists of a richer artefact assemblage that is comparable to those of inland sites, despite variation in artefact types and quantities. The Madola LSA assemblage predates 14,404 ± 86 BP, with quartz as the predominant raw material and bipolar flaking the main method used to produce artefacts. The site was later occupied by Plain Ware makers, after which it was abandoned until modern times.