The multiple territories of Swahili urban landscapes

Abstract

Houses are linked to the urban landscape in multiple ways. They provide urban form, and shape movement and interaction. This article analyses these connections through the concept of territories, defined as areas linked to particular activities and/or groups, at the fourteenth–sixteenth-century Swahili town of Songo Mnara. Detailed excavation and survey at the site has provided information on ritual and economic activity within and between households. Here we use these data to identify inclusive territories, which served to delineate some of the communal spaces of the town and to link these with exterior landscapes and more exclusive territories linked to particular families and houses. Finally, we discuss a series of economic territories linked to production, which crosscut some of the divisions evident between elite and non-elite activities. We argue that the urban landscape can be defined and understood through the ways these territories combined and overlapped.