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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Antecedents of the Interlacustrine Kingdoms
Author:Sutton, John E.G.ISNI
Year:1993
Periodical:The Journal of African History
Volume:34
Issue:1
Pages:33-64
Language:English
Geographic term:Uganda
Subjects:archaeology
history
traditional polities
History and Exploration
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Anthropology and Archaeology
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/183031
Abstract:The main interlacustrine kingdoms of Uganda have been presented, on the evidence of their royal genealogies, as stretching back to a 'Chwezi' period some five centuries ago. This view was promoted especially in the Kitara zone, comprising Bunyoro and regions to its south. It has been further argued that the 'Chwezi' period is represented by various impressive archaeological sites, notably at Mubende, Bigo, and Ntusi. Certain of these have been claimed as Chwezi royal capitals of ancient Kitara. Such literal interpretation, let alone royalist manipulation, of oral traditions is now considered too simplistic. Renewed archaeological research since 1987 indicates that Ntusi was occupied from about the 11th to the 15th centuries AD and that the earthworks, including Bigo, and the settlement on Mubende hill fall into the latter half of that span. This cultural grouping thrived on a combination of cattle-keeping and grain cultivation, as is especially clear at Ntusi on fertile ground in the midst of the Bwera grasslands. It may have been the growing strains of a delicately balanced economy as competition increased for cattle and the pastures which led to its eventual breakdown. Two periods of marked change are discernible therefore, one around the middle of this millennium, the other at its beginning. Notes, ref., sum.
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