HEAAT · Historical East African Archaeology and Theory: A framework for historical archaeology and identity formation

Historical East African Archaeology and Theory: A framework for historical archaeology and identity formation

The project ‘Historical East African Archaeology and Theory: A framework for historical archaeology and identity formation’ (HEAAT) aimed to develop a multidisciplinary, theory-focused and data-driven framework and research agenda for East African historical archaeology. The central case study was based on a 200-year, high-resolution record of material culture and socio-cultural landscape history to investigate processes of identity formation and change among the Ilchamus community in Kenya’s Baringo County. The project and the research were managed and undertaken by the MSCA Fellow Dr Nik Petek-Sargeant out of the University of Cambridge (UoC). Historical archaeological research remains less well established in Africa than in other parts of the world, especially in East Africa. There has been little investment in East Africa in archaeological theory, stifling critical dialogue over what historical archaeology should be and do, and how it can contribute to understanding the emergence of modern identities. However, recent advances point to the 19th century as being formative for reshaping identities. HEAAT tapped into these themes by amassing an extremely detailed record of socio-cultural and socio-ecological change in the Baringo region and East Africa more broadly that will lead to a better understanding of the social dynamics that formed contemporary communities. The project design and data collection were co-created with the Ilchamus, with the express goal of grounding in practice a new agenda for historical archaeology that privileges the internal dynamics of African societies and addresses issues communities see as pertinent. HEAAT’s outcomes are important because they demonstrate the necessity of giving appropriate weight to the local dynamics from which modern social, economic, and political systems and relationships arose. It also shows how those histories would be incomplete without considering the material expressions of their identity, livelihoods, crafts and social structure and the changes they underwent. Finally, there is a need for an (East) African historical archaeology research framework and agenda, which puts at the forefront community interests and histories and builds a tangible bridge between ‘now’ and the communities' pasts.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union