Examining Late Pastoral Neolithic Settlement at Silanga (GvJm52), Lukenya Hill, Kenya

• Published in: Azania Vol. 57; no. 1; pp. 37 - 58
• Main Authors: Hu, Lorraine, McKeeby, Zachary, Muia, Mulu, Munyiri, John, Nelson, Charles M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 02.01.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Cultural factors; East Africa; Excavation; Habitats; Herding; Layout; Livestock; magnetometry; Neolithic; Pastoral Neolithic; Pastoralism; Preservation; Refuse disposal; settlements; Spatial analysis; Kenya
• ISSN: 0067-270X; 1945-5534
• DOI: 10.1080/0067270X.2022.2050566

Close relationships between human and animal living spaces have been a central element of the settlements of pastoralist communities in eastern Africa since the introduction of herding c. 5000 BP. The spatial organisation of pastoralist architecture and material deposits within settlements has been the subject of much ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological research designed to identify variation in social practices and cultural contexts. However, baseline questions regarding settlement layout have proven difficult to examine archaeologically due to poor preservation of household features such as hearths and postholes. New magnetometry data from the late Pastoral Neolithic (PN) settlement site of Silanga (GvJm52) in southern Kenya, combined with unpublished excavation data, delineate several potential structures and middens c. 1900-1600 BP. Our data suggest that living structures may have been associated with individual dumps and corrals, similar to the pattern proposed for the PN site of Luxmanda, Tanzania, and contrasting with centralised refuse disposal at the PN site of Prolonged Drift, Kenya. Findings from Silanga may also contrast with the well-known pattern of centrally located livestock spaces seen in ethnographically documented pastoralist settlements in East Africa. The evidence reported here demonstrates the potential of integrated spatial analyses for examining settlement management practices during the PN.