Archaeologists working on Zanzibar’s famous Stone Town have discovered that the settlement was not built by Omani Arabs, who were major traders in the area in the 18th century. Instead, it was established by local Swahili people, the National reports.
“Our excavations found walls of houses, stone architecture and established it was urbanized in a much earlier period than historically thought,” said Tim Power, an archaeologist with UAE University, in an interview with the National. “We can now say that the town was built centuries before the Omanis arrived.”
The UAE University conducted the dig in collaboration with New York University Abu Dhabi, the Royal Agricultural University in the U.K., and the Department of Antiquities in Zanzibar.
A major dig that took place over the summer uncovered layers upon layers of the Stone Town’s past. Remains of a mosque were discovered, as well as remains of a Portuguese church.
Many Christian graves were unearthed from when the fort held an Augustinian mission. Chinese pottery shards were also discovered, a holdover from the Golden Age of Islam, when Zanzibar’s Stone Town was a major trading hub.
“It was like the Venice of East Africa,” Power told the National. “There was a major trade in ivory, ebony wood and slaves. Omani Arabs also developed clove plantations and it became the leading supplier of cloves in the world.”