Archaeology of Malawi

Map of Malawi with regions, major cities and other destinations noted

People first began to be interested in Malawi's prehistoric past in the 1920's. Excavations of sites in nearby countries, Tanzania and Zambia, made archaeologists believe that they may find the same type of material culture in Malawi. In the 1920's, a series of lacustrine beds was found at the northwest end of Lake Malawi. These beds contained fragmentary fossils and were mapped by Dr. F. Dixey.^[1]

Early Stone Age

Mwanganda's Village

Mwanganda's Village is an Early Stone Age archaeological site that is found in Karonga. This site is known for the findings of an elephant butchery site. At this site, archaeologists have found associated animal bones and stone artifacts. In Area 1 of the village, there was evidence of a single elephant carcass. The elephant bones were broken and dispersed into three main concentrations. These bones have been dated back to the late Middle or early Upper Pleistocene times. Area 2 of the village contained evidence for other hunting activities, presumably on different occasions.^[2]

Later Stone Age

Mwana wa Chentcherere II

Mwana wa Chentcherere II rock shelter is a site that has evidence for rock art. This is one of the largest rock painting sites in Malawi and it was excavated by Professor J. Desmond Clark in 1972. This site shows evidence as to how the hunter-gatherers persisted into the Iron Age. Many of the paintings were motifs for sexuality and fertility which shows a very intimate side of women that is not usually shown in the ancient times. The art shows that the people really focused on the body and what they represented in terms of fertility and even had a ceremony called Chinamwali Chachikulu or the "great initiation" when women were experiencing their first pregnancy.^[3]

Iron Age

The Namaso Bay Area is a very familiar area for archaeological research. This region is on the southern shore of Lake Malawi on the edge of the Nankumba peninsula. While excavating, this area was studied to determine the lake levels to check whether similar levels occurred in the earlier times. The beaches were dated using radiocarbon dating and were then connected to the archaeological samples obtained in the study. Comparing the pottery, they determined a new intermediate phase of ceramics proving there was continuity from the Early Iron Age to the Late Iron Age. Later Stone Age hunter-gatherers first occupied the area.^[4]

References

1. Clark, J. Desmond (1966-01-01). "ARCHAEOLOGY IN MALAWI". The Society of Malawi Journal. 19 (2): 15–25.
2. Wright, David K.; Thompson, Jessica; Mackay, Alex; Welling, Menno; Forman, Steven L.; Price, Gilbert; Zhao, Jian-xin; Cohen, Andrew S.; Malijani, Oris (2014-03-01). "Renewed Geoarchaeological Investigations of Mwanganda's Village (Elephant Butchery Site), Karonga, Malawi". Geoarchaeology. 29 (2): 98–120. doi:10.1002/gea.21469. ISSN 1520-6548.
3. Zubieta, Leslie F. The rock art of Mwana wa Chentcherere II rock shelter, Malawi : a site-specific study of girls' initiation rock art. African Studies Centre [etc.], Leiden [etc.]
4. Seitsonen, Oula. "Lithics after Stone Age in East Africa: Wadh Lang'O Case Study." (2004).