By Maureen Mudi
It is a sensation archaeological find that has excited the imagination of historians across the world.
Archeologists who had been excavating the ruins of an ancient settlement near Mombasa have dug out fossils that show it could be one of the oldest cities in sub-Saharan Africa that existed before Jesus Christ.
A 23-year search at ruins known as Mtwapa yielded result in a dense forest, off Mtwapa trading centre, just metres from the Indian Ocean coastline, on the outskirts of Mombasa town.
A team of international archaeologists have been digging day and night since they stumbled on human skeletons in what appears to be a communal grave next to ruins of an early settlement.
The excavators have in the past few weeks extracted 25 skeletons from what they believe was a cemetery outside the lost city.
"It has been a painstaking exercise but the wait is over and we are delighted that we can confirm these are very old ruins," Professor Chapurukha Kusimba, a Kenyan from the Illinois University in the US, said.
Natural History
Prof Chapurukha Kusimba shows a section of the expansive Mtwapa ruins. Inset, one of the skeletons found there, thought to be over 2,000 years old. Photo: Maarufu Mohamed/Standard |
"The city is one of the oldest in Sub Saharan Africa and probably among the earliest settlements in the world," he said.
Archeologists believe about 15,000 people were inhabitants of the city, which is a few metres from the famous historical Jumba la Mtwana ruins.
They believe the city existed through various eras, from BC to AD (after Christ), ending up with colonisation by Arabs who converted the inhabitants to Islam.
Initial conclusion after the find appears to confirm that the Inhabitants were African who were later colonised by Arabs.
The Mtwapa ruins covers about 22 acres in diameter, ringed with a thick stone wall.
Since 1986, the lost town had become the subject of intensive research by archaeologists who now see its discovery as a breakthrough in their efforts to trace the background of Africa’s early inhabitants.
Little has been documented about the new discovery, which is a protected area by the National Museums of Kenya (NMK).
The professor says the main aim of the research is to study all the history that the excavation can yield and shed light on the city’s past. "Despite reports that the early inhabitants were Arabs, we are strongly convinced they were of African origin since an initial study of their way of life, as seen from the ruins, compares with others found elsewhere in sub Saharan Africa," said the professor.
The skulls do not resemble those from Arabic communities, but bear similar characteristics with Africans.
"Their feeding culture was similar to that of old African communities and they removed some of their teeth and sharpened others, a common African tradition," he said.
Site Gazetted
According to the Assistant Director and Curator at the Fort Jesus museum, Jimbi Katana the site was gazetted way back before Kenya attained independence due to its historic importance.
The NMK and officials from Illinois University will rebury the dead after conclusion of the research.
If proven that the inhabitants were Africans, it will be a sharp contradiction to historical records that the region’s early inhabitants had been Arab. "They may have been ancestors of Watwafi, Wachonyi, Giriama, Ribe, Mvita, Oromo, Taita among others who inhabit the coastal region," said Kusimba.
At one tomb where there were 19 burials, there are layers of floors indicating different times that the community lived through.
But they were converted to Islam as skeletons were buried facing Qibla (the Mecca direction for Islamic prayers) with the knees bent at the joint.
At the scene, there is a ruin of a mosque that acted as their worship centre and a borehole where they used to fetch water, he said.
"We believe the inhabitants were attacked by some kind of water or airborne disease since most of the graves are for young children," the professor noted.
"We have dug through several layers until we reached the underneath natural corals and we have established the Islamic culture was introduced at the fourth layer, way after the locals had established themselves," he said.
The streets were narrow and buildings had a unique and rich architectural design with thick walls that acted as sound mufflers with rooms being measured by arms’ stretch.
"They realised, since the area was hot and humid, having narrow streets would ensure they got the beach breeze that would keep their houses cool, since they had no windows," said the historian.
The inhabitants who had lived in the area for over 3,000 years interacted with Muslim traders from Iran, Turkey, India and later the Omans who came after the Romans.
The graves are said to date back to the 13th Century and the city’s wall had three gates. The wall’s main function was to prevent animals from invading them, said the professor.
After the excavation the researchers will take out three teeth from each skeleton, and some few bones to act as samples.
One of the teeth will be used to extract ancient DNA for biological identity while the second will be for an isotope (chemical) analysis including the migration patterns and history.
Dating purposes
The last tooth will be for dating purposes and would determine when they died.
"We shall just extract a few parts including the teeth and some bones in order to get their genealogy," said the professor.
Prof Kusimba, the author of six books on the ‘Rise and Fall of Swahili States’ urges Kenyans to be interested in learning the diversity of old history.
He is also studying the link between the Coastal beaches.
