Local ceramics of Ngoni settlers in southern Tanzania

Abstract

This analysis of the archaeological ceramics from the earliest Ngoni settlements of Mbinga-Mharule and Ndirima in southern Tanzania aims to determine the cross-cultural influence of Ngoni immigrants in their contact with local ethnic groups. The analysis seeks to establish whether Ngoni immigrants from South Africa during the Mfecane introduced distinct ceramic traditions that the autochthonous groups adopted or vice versa. Attributes analysed were fabric and temper, surface treatments, vessel forms, rim profiles, lip-end styles, and decoration types and their placement on the vessels. The ceramics were compared with those reported from nearby contemporaneous non- ngoni settlements and distant sites in abutting regions of Lake Nyasa. The results suggest that the Ngoni influence on the ceramics of local ethnic groups in southern Tanzania was insignificant. Instead, the Ngoni appear to have adopted the ceramic styles of autochthonous groups, but with adjustments, since they opted for large pots, largely for producing traditional brews. These findings offer some lessons essential in understanding the cultural impacts of other ethnic migrations in the past, present and future.