April 2015: Dr. Chap Kusimba, Trade and Civilization in Medieval East Africa

April 19, 2015 at 3pm

Archaeological Institute of America Lecture

Dr. Chap Kusimba

Trade and Civilization in Medieval East Africa

Ongoing research on the East African coast has revised early models that proposed immigration as the primary catalyst of regional cultural transformations. Could bonds, pacts, treaties and alliances that bound cities to their hinterlands and merchants across the sea have served as the kernel upon which global connections, contributions, and complexity arose? Drawing on on-going research investigating Medieval East African port cities, this lecture will illustrate the roles of the individual merchant, the state and the technical conditions for land and sea transport in creating civilizations.