Urewe

Last updated

Approximate distribution of Urewe sites Urewe Culture Map.png
Approximate distribution of Urewe sites

The Urewe culture developed and spread in and around the Lake Victoria region of Africa during the African Iron Age. The culture's earliest dated artefacts are located in the Kagera Region of Tanzania, and it extended as far west as the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as far east as the Nyanza and Western provinces of Kenya, and north into Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Sites from the Urewe culture date from the Early Iron Age, from the 5th century BC to the 6th century AD. The Urewe people certainly did not disappear, and the continuity of institutional life was never completely broken.[ citation needed ] One of the most striking things about the Early Iron Age pots and smelting furnaces is that some of them were discovered at sites that the local people still associate with royalty, and still more significant is the continuity of language. [1]

Contents

Chronology

This civilisation emerges in the region during the transition from the second to the first millennium B.C. and seems to have thrived in various sites well into the second millennium A.D. It underwent its greatest period of expansion, allied to an important metalworking activity, from the first to the sixth century A.D. and covered the Kivu region (in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) to the west up to Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi in north-west Tanzania and south-west Kenya.

Urewe seems to be a fully developed civilisation recognizable through its distinctive, stylish earthenware and highly technical and sophisticated iron working techniques. Their pottery incorporated such distinctive features as dimples and concentric lines. However, minor local variations in the ceramic ware can be observed.

The origins of the Urewe culture are thought to ultimately be in the Bantu expansion originating in Cameroon. [ citation needed ] Research into early Iron Age civilisations in sub-Saharan Africa has been undertaken concurrently with studies on Niger–Congo linguistics on Bantu expansion. The Urewe culture may correspond to the Eastern subfamily of Bantu languages, spoken by the descendants of the first wave of Bantu peoples to settle East Africa. The inhabitants were likely cattle herders and millet and sorghum farmers.

Language

The people of the Urewe Culture spoke the Proto-Great Lakes Bantu language. [2]

The Urewe civilisation in Burundi and Rwanda

Urewe ceramics are modest in size, measuring from 30 cm up to a maximum of 36 cm in height. Three distinct shapes have been observed: vases, small vases, both closed s-shaped pieces, open-bowls on which stereotyped patterns have been crafted: and bevelling on the rim, hatching on the neck surface for ease of handling, the body decorated with a ribboned pattern of crafted geometrical designs, and a dimple base finish. The decorative markings are adapted to and emphasise the shape of the vase with its 4 components, often seen on the little vase in simplified form. Conversely, these '4 component' patterns are all stuck on the bowl; regardless of its '3 components' shape. One proposed hypothesis suggests the bowl was developed later than the vase. Support for this comes from the identification, in terms of Bantu linguistics, of a new term first appearing around 1000 B.C. meaning "frying pan" probably serving as a clue to a change in cooking techniques reflecting adaptation to a more sedentary lifestyle when Bantu-speaking people began to settle in the Rwanda and Burundi hills.

The ironsmelting furnace associated to these Urewe ceramics comprised a basin filled with fresh green leafy branches and herbs which served as a filter for the slag deposit at the base. Above the basin was a cone-shaped shaft, not unlike a chimney, made by superimposing rolls of damp clay. The decorated furnace, with its fluted patterns on the upper roll and deeply incised criss-cross or s-shaped patterns on the outer surface, may be reminiscent of the rim or neck of the ceramic pottery. Analyses carried out on the ironworking residue have not yet provided data on the efficiency of these furnaces, or whether they were a measure of their technical nature. Iron ore and fuel were readily available. The word "ubutare" meaning "iron" still crops up in many place names. The wooded crown cover was used to produce charcoal. As new wood was always used for this purpose, radiocarbon dating of this material is relatively reliable.

Favorable environments and changes due to climatic variations and human activity

Environmental studies combine the tree species identification of charcoal collected from iron smelting furnaces and open hearths, palynological analyses of high altitude and valley peat bogs as well as in archaeological structures as well as phyto-sociological and geomorphologic data. The settlement period of the Urewe civilisation should be seen in the context of a cooling and drying out period in about 1000 BC. Those members of the Urewe civilisation who settled in Rwanda and Burundi did so exclusively in the hills region (central plain) in a 1700 and 1300 meters high zone on clay soils on primary substrate which are some of Africa's richest. The undulating countryside, covered with woodland savanna (tree cover vegetation, sparser on the slopes and denser in valleys and on crests) together provided good living conditions (moderate temperatures and average rainfall, protected from carriers of human and animal disease) encouraged a variety of activities. The Urewe would have lived a relatively sedentary life as farmers, devoting themselves to agriculture (including cereal growing) and small-scale cattle rearing. They do not appear to have supplemented their diet by hunting and fishing as will be the case in these areas in the late Iron Age, and which occurred in the early Iron Age in those more east-lying Urewe civilisations around Lake Victoria, influenced perhaps by contacts with nomadic communities along the east African Rift Valley.

Combined human activities, land clearance, ironworking, cereal growing, etc., led to the deforestation of fringes of the great forest which once covered the north–south backbone as well as the forest corridors along the water sources which caused soil erosion on the slopes. This phenomenon led to the extensive erosion of Kabuye hill near Butare as a result of their occupation of the site for about 500 years.

The hilly region of Rwanda and Burundi was probably a well frequented route from the northern to the southern hemisphere in Africa and would therefore have regularly experienced the relative overcrowding of people fleeing the drought-ridden Sahel regions which impeded soil regeneration. On the contrary, the impact of human activity, combined with consecutive periods of hot, dry climatic conditions have only served to aggravate soil degradation up to modern times.

Since the 7th century, the appearance of simpler, roulette-decorated, ceramic pottery as well as new types of iron furnace, heralded a major change towards the late Iron Age. However, the Urewe civilisation did manage to survive in isolated pockets at least up to the 14th century.

Archaeologists in the field area

The authors and major institutions linked to research into the Urewe civilisation in the Great Lakes region are: Mary Leakey (Owen collection published in 1948), Jean Hiernaux (excavations and publications 1960–70), Merrick Posnansky (excavations and publications 1960–70), David Phillipson (Synthesis of the Early Iron Age in Eastern Africa in 1976), the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA), in Nairobi, under the aegis of J.E.G. Sutton (within the Bantu Studies Project, excavations and publications 1960–70), Peter Schmidt (excavations and publications 1970–80, synthesis 1997), Marie-Claude Van Grunderbeek, Emile Roche and Hugues Doutrelepont (excavations 1978–87, publications up to the present day). New on-site research is ongoing in the Great Lakes region on the initiative of London University in collaboration with the BIEA.

See also

Related Research Articles

The Hutu, also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great Lakes Twa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bantu expansion</span> Postulated millennia-long series of migrations

The Bantu expansion was a major series of migrations of the original Proto-Bantu-speaking group, which spread from an original nucleus around West-Central Africa. In the process, the Proto-Bantu-speaking settlers displaced, eliminated or absorbed pre-existing hunter-gatherer and pastoralist groups that they encountered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uvira</span> City in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Uvira is a city strategically located in the South Kivu Province of the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is situated between Lake Tanganyika and the Mitumba Mountains, spanning approximately 16 square kilometers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chagar Bazar</span> Archaeological site in Syria

Chagar Bazar is a tell, or settlement mound, in northern Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria. It is a short distance from the major ancient city of Nagar. The site was occupied from the Halaf period until the middle of the 2nd millennium BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vix Grave</span> Celtic burial mound in Côte-dOr, France

The Vix Grave is a burial mound near the village of Vix in northern Burgundy. The broader site is a prehistoric Celtic complex from the Late Hallstatt and Early La Tène periods, consisting of a fortified settlement and several burial mounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Le Cailar</span> Commune in Occitanie, France

Le Cailar is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. It is located at the confluence of the River Vistre and the River Rhôny. It was an important port during the Iron Age at a time when lagoons connected to the Mediterranean Sea covered the adjoining low-lying land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron metallurgy in Africa</span> Iron production in Africa

Iron metallurgy in Africa developed within Africa; though initially assumed to be of external origin, this assumption has been rendered untenable; archaeological evidence has increasingly supported an indigenous origin. Some recent studies date the inception of iron metallurgy in Africa between 3000 BCE and 2500 BCE. Archaeometallurgical scientific knowledge and technological development originated in numerous centers of Africa; the centers of origin were located in West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa; consequently, as these origin centers are located within inner Africa, these archaeometallurgical developments are thus native African technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Archaeological Museum, France</span> Museum in Saint-Germain-en-Laye

The National Archaeological Museum is a major French archaeology museum, covering pre-historic times to the Merovingian period (450–750). It is housed in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the département of Yvelines, about 19 kilometres (12 mi) west of Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mayombe</span>

Mayombe is a geographic area on the western coast of Africa occupied by low mountains extending from the mouth of the Congo River in the south to the Kouilou-Niari River to the north. The area includes parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, the Republic of the Congo and Gabon. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mayombe is part of the north-western province of Kongo Central on the right bank of the River Congo, and contains the cities and towns of Lukula, Seke Banza, Kangu and Tshela.

Cécile Michel is a French epigrapher and archaeologist.

Patrice Brun is a French archaeologist, a professor at Pantheon-Sorbonne University where he teaches European early history as well as theories and methods of archeology.

André Pelletier is a French historian and archaeologist, a professor and specialist of ancient Rome.

Corinne Debaine-Francfort is a French archaeologist and sinologist, a researcher at the CNRS specialised in the archaeology on Eastern Central Asia and in the protohistory of north-west China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dardana Fortress</span> Archaeological site Kosovo

The Dardana Fortress is an archaeological site of the Bronze Age, Iron Age and late antiquity in present-day eastern Kosovo. It is located on a hill to the northwest of Kamenica. It was a hilltop settlement and fortress of the Dardani in classical antiquity. It was rebuilt in the late Roman period as part of the fortification system in the Roman province of Dardania. The site was discovered in the 1970s, but excavations did not start in earnest until 2012. One of the very earliest finds at the site is a funerary stele found accidentally at the foot of the hill in 1992. Its interpretation has helped shed light on Illyrian burial customs, and excavations at the site have contributed to knowledge about the trade patterns between Dardania and the Mediterranean region. Similar sites have been discovered in recent years in the Kamenica region.

Rwanda's prehistory is a relatively unexplored concept as compared to other regions of Africa. Most archaeological works regarding Rwanda past 1994 are associated with conflict and ethnic violence. However more recently, archaeologists have been attempting to focus on archaeological works from the first and second millennia A.D. For example, some archaeological research has been focusing on the Nyiginya Kingdom, which is the pre-colonial predecessor of the current Rwandan state. Other research has been focusing on the excavations of the earliest agricultural sites, likely from the Iron Age, as well as ceramics to indicate chronology of when certain agricultural groups migrated to Rwanda.

René Neuville was a French prehistorian and diplomat posted to the French consulate in Jerusalem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Déchelette</span> French archaeologist (1862–1914)

Joseph Déchelette was a French archaeologist, prehistorian, and museum curator. He particularly distinguished himself as an early scholar of ancient ceramology. He is among the first to have made the connection between the La Tène culture and the Celtic civilisation. He authored an important work covering the full range of the prehistory of France, Le Manuel d’archéologie préhistorique, celtique et gallo-romaine (1908–14).

The Armorican Tumulus culture is a Bronze Age culture, located in the western part of the Armorican peninsula of France. It is known through more than a thousand burial sites covered by a tumulus or otherwise. The culture is renowned for some exceptionally richly endowed burials of chieftains of the time, which are contemporary with the elite of the Wessex culture, in England, and the Únětice culture, in Central Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mont Lassois</span> Rock formation in Côte-dOr, France

Mont Lassois is a relevant outlier located in the commune of Vix, near Châtillon-sur-Seine in the north of Côte-d'Or. Dominating the upper Seine valley for approximately 100 m and crowned by a 12th century church, Saint-Marcel of Vix, classified as a historic monument, it is currently the subject of excavations and notable archaeological discoveries concerning the Hallstatt civilization.

Aurore Didier is a French archaeologist and researcher. At the French National Center for Scientific Research, she is in charge of the ‘Indus-Balochistan programme’, and director of the French Archaeological Mission in the Indus Basin. Her primary interest is South Asian protohistory, specifically the Bronze Age in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands and the Indus Valley Civilization.

References

  1. Wrigley, Christopher (16 May 2002). Kingship and State: The Buganda Dynasty. Cambridge University Press. p. 71. ISBN   9780521894357.
  2. Schoenbrun, David L. (1993). "We Are What We Eat: Ancient Agriculture between the Great Lakes" . The Journal of African History. 34 (1): 1–31. doi:10.1017/S0021853700032989. JSTOR   183030. S2CID   162660041.

0°02′51″S34°20′15″E / 0.04750°S 34.33750°E / -0.04750; 34.33750