A team of Kenyan and Chinese archaeologists, carrying out a two-month excavation in and around the coastal Kenyan town of Malindi, have unearthed new evidence of 16th century maritime trade links between China and East Africa. The dig is being carried out at three locations – including the Khatib mosque, where the Islamic Chinese admiral Zheng He is thought to have prayed – and archaeologists hope to find evidence of even older trade links. According to Kenyan newspaper The Standard, the archaeologists are “digging deeper in the hope of retrieving items dating back to 9th and 10th centuries.”
Malindi is one of Kenya’s most popular coastal resorts. It is also known for the nearby ruins of Gedi, a Swahili town that once traded with Venice, Spain and India, as well as China. Once excavations at Malindi are complete, the team will be joined by another ten Chinese archaeologists from Peking University’s School of Archeology and Museology and will begin the underwater excavation of a 600 year old junk, wrecked near the island town of Lamu, also in Kenya. In preparation for this, two officials from the National Museums of Kenya have been trained in underwater archaeology. The Chinese government is reportedly spending 200 million Kenyan shillings (US$2.45 million) on the project.
Iain Manley
Iain studied journalism at the University of Cape Town, where communists were skinny professors who wore tweed. He arrived in China in 2007, at the end of an overland journey from London, documented at his overland travelogue. His first book, about the pirates, prostitutes and opium peddlers of old Singapore, was published last year, just before he left China, to travel back to South Africa, overland.
To get in touch, follow him on Twitter at @iainmanley
or send an email to manleyiain@gmail.com.
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