Discovered skulls in Kenya ‘point to slave settlement’

By Standard Team  

KENYA: Archaeology and ancient heritage experts say skeletons and ruins accidentally uncovered by excavators near Kijipwa in Kilifi County could lead to a major find.

They are warning against hasty conclusions, saying that only carbon dating and other scientific techniques will determine the ethnicity and race of the site’s former inhabitants, when it existed and the age of the fossils and ruins discovered at the weekend.

Reports that the site was an ancient slave holding centre or that the fossils were remains of slaves in a mass grave have caused anxiety, excitement and anger.

The slave angle is spurred by the fact that the site is close to ancient slave trading routes on the Kenyan coast. The skulls or fossils unearthed range from about 40 to 100. Reports indicate some of the artefacts have been stolen or vandalised and stored in private homes. The National Museums of Kenya acknowledges holding a handful of them.

African settlement

Experts believe the ruins of the ancient mosque still standing and human skulls found at the site represent the remains of an abandoned settlement known as Kitoka, which existed about 1,000 years ago.

 “It was a very huge find with potentially huge archaeological deposits,” said Jambo Haro, the head of coastal archaeology at the National Museums of Kenya in Mombasa on Sunday, referring to what he believes was “a Swahili or African settlement” populated by Muslims. The area is recognised as a heritage site and is under the protection of the national museum.