The Origins and Early History of the Chewa, Malawi

An Archaeological Perspective
Erscheinungsjahr 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77582-249-3
Verlag: UCT Press

Buch, Englisch, 256 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 168 mm x 245 mm

The Chewa are the largest ethnic group in Malawi, representing a third of the population of approximately 19 million, and their language, Chichewa, is Malawi’s national language. Yet the last book on the history of this group was published in 1944, and was based on oral history, or tradition. As with much African history, it started to be recorded only in the late 19th century. This is the first book to use not only oral history, but also documents written by early Portuguese explorers, traders and government officials, as well as archaeology, to piece together the early history of the Chewa.

The author is an archaeologist, who discovered the first major Chewa settlement, Mankhamba, near the southern part of Lake Malawi. His excavations have enabled a more scientific chronology of the migrations of the Chewa into what is today Malawi and have provided physical proof of their early history as well as their material and spiritual culture and way of life.

There are several historians and archaeologists working in the area of early Malawian history, but their work remains largely in the domain of academia and is inaccessible to the general public. Professor Yusuf Juwayeyi has written and documented a very readable history of the Chewa as revealed by archaeology, and demonstrates the value of combining oral tradition together with archaeology to arrive at a more accurate picture of the history of a pre-literate society. With many illustrations, this book will be appealing not only to historians, archaeologists and anthropologists, but also the general reader interested in African history and in Malawi’s history in particular.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Afrikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Geschichtswissenschaft: Theorie und Methoden

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Section One: Introduction
- 1. Introduction
- 2. The Bantu origins of the Chewa
- 3. The origins and migrations of the Chewa according to oral tradition
- 4. The expansion of the Chewa
- Section 2: The archaeological background
- 5. The practice of archaeology
- 6. The archaeology of the southern Lake Malawi area
- 7. The discovery and excavation of the Mankhamba site
- Section 3: The archaeological finds
- 8. Ceramic and stone objects
- 9. Metal objects and beads
- 10. Faunal remains
- Section 4: The Chewa at Mankhamba and their way of life
- 11. The Chewa at Mankhamba
- 12. Long-distance trade and the rise of the Maravi State
- 13. The demise of the Maravi State

Über Autor(innen)

Yusuf Juwayeyi is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Faculty Advisor to the African Students Association at Long Island University, New York. He was at one time Director of the Department of Antiquities in Malawi and the National Commissioner for Culture. His research is in archaeology and physical anthropology in Malawi, specifically on prehistoric economies of the Later Stone Age and the Iron Age.