Global InformationKisalian Graves information
The Kisalian Graves are a series of burial sites located in the Northern part of the Upemba Depression, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are a part of a larger collection of archaeological sites all dating back to the Iron Age of the region.
Ceramic materials and radiocarbon dating of the graves allow archaeologists to form a chrono-cultural sequence, further dividing the region's Iron Age into distinct phases. The Kisalian Graves date from the Early Kisalian phase (700 - 900 CE) to the Classic Kisalian phase (900 - 1200 CE). Nearly 200 Kisalian graves have been found in the following five cemeteries: Sanga, Katongo, Kamilamba, Kikulu, and Malemba-Nkulu.[1] The grave goods found in the burial sites strongly suggest long-distance trade, metallurgy, social hierarchy, and symbolism within the Kisalian phases. Many of the practices of the Luba people, who currently reside in the Upemba Depression, can be traced back to the Kisalian phases. Linguistic analysis of the Proto-Luban speakers in context with these graves also shows that many of the burials could have been ritualistic slave sacrifices.[2]
- ^ Garenne-Marot, Laurence (2019-12-15). "Typologie du mobilier métallique fondée sur les techniques de mise en forme". Afrique: Archéologie & Arts (in French) (15): 23–52. doi:10.4000/aaa.2432. ISSN 1634-3123. S2CID 213580757.
- ^ Rødland, Henriette; Wynne-Jones, Stephanie; Wood, Marilee; Fleisher, Jeffrey (2020-10-01). "No such thing as invisible people: toward an archaeology of slavery at the fifteenth-century Swahili site of Songo Mnara" (PDF). Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa. 55 (4): 439–457. doi:10.1080/0067270x.2020.1841978. ISSN 0067-270X.