Indoors versus outdoors at Songo Mnara: Insights from intra-site geoarchaeology and archaeobotany.

How do we investigate daily life at a Swahili stone town? Beside material culture, what do we know about Swahili domestic practices? This paper presents the preliminary results of ongoing geoarchaeological research at Songo Mnara combining tailored intra-site soil macro- and micromorphological analyses and the study of phytoliths. The aim is to explore the use of indoor and outdoor space as well as to investigate the plant cover associated with the settlement. Research has targeted two houses, a graveyard, a
well and two large open areas in between buildings. The preliminary results indicate a differential use of space inside the houses. Systematic chemical mapping of the outside areas suggests a patterned exploitation of the open spaces. The approach is new within the context of Swahili archaeology and an emerging one beyond Africa.