The Archaeology of Portuguese Agricultural Outposts in the Seventeenth-Century Zanzibar Countryside

The related archaeological sites of Fukuchani and Mvuleni in northwestern Unguja Island (Zanzibar, Tanzania) provide a rare opportunity to see inside rural seventeenth-century Portuguese colonial enterprises there, and to think about Portuguese interactions, intentions, and practices with Swahili people living in the nearby countryside. This chapter addresses primarily the archaeological evidence for life in two fortified Portuguese living- and workspaces, used for a short period and likely intended for commercial activities including tobacco cultivation and warehousing prior to shipment. The loop-holed defensive architecture at each site suggests possible tensions with local Swahili and fear of attack by Omanis and other Europeans, while the artifact assemblage provides insight into quotidian routines and social and economic relations with Swahili people. Building on a tradition of critical historical archaeology, findings point to the uneven nature of Portuguese colonialism in the Indian Ocean World, especially on the Kenyan and Tanzanian coasts, and contribute to the growing archaeology of colonial processes in this region.