An Outline of the Later Holocene Archaeology and Precolonial History of the Ewaso Basin, Kenya
نویسنده
چکیده
Drawing on a range of archaeological, paleoenvironmental, linguistic, ethnographic, and historical data, this chapter outlines what is currently known about the trajectories of pastoralism in the Ewaso Basin from its initial appearance some 4000 years ago until the early twentieth century, by which time new systems of land use and tenure had been established within the context of British colonial rule. Overall, the evidence indicates that many different groups have occupied parts of this area at different times in the past, and that these have encompassed both huntergatherer and pastoralist communities and speakers of various Nilotic, Cushitic, and Bantu languages, among others. There is also good evidence to suggest that the boundaries between different “ethnic,” “subsistence,” and even linguistic groups have been fairly fluid and that cultural intermixing as well as interaction through exchange and other social mechanisms was common. Additionally, at least four broad phases of pastoralist practices can be identified for the period prior to the twentieth century. These phases entailed different forms and levels of mobility, including population migration and seasonal movements, and had diverse environmental consequences, some of which appear to have enhanced biodiversity and ecological resilience whereas others initiated significant changes to the structure of the vegetation mosaic and may have even resulted in localized rangeland degradation.
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