Papers by Zach McKeeby
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2024
The Machile River and its surrounding tributaries in Western Zambia formed a significant locus of... more The Machile River and its surrounding tributaries in Western Zambia formed a significant locus of Iron Age life in Zambia and served as a conduit for the localized movements of people, things, and ideas in south-central Africa over much of the last two millennia. Within this dynamic corridor, the early 2nd-millennium CE Kanono site represents a short-lived but well defined Middle/Late Iron Age farming community that integrated local crafting practices with global and regional orientations, during a period of dramatic political and economic changes across southern, central, and eastern Africa. Combining high-resolution geophysical survey and the results of targeted excavations at Kanono, we trace the emergence, growth, and abandonment of the village between the mid-thirteenth and early fifteenth centuries CE. We argue that changes seen in the village relate to the formation of a bounded co-residential community built around unilineal descent, which may have leveraged prestige in iron working into other forms of prestige – namely wealth in people and access to exotic goods. Approaching the archaeological record at Kanono from the perspective of household archaeology and daily life allows for an evocative ‘peopling’ of south-central African political economies.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2024
In recent years the use of near-surface geophysical surveyespecially magnetometryhas been on the ... more In recent years the use of near-surface geophysical surveyespecially magnetometryhas been on the rise across sub-Saharan Africa, illustrating its utility at both large and/or built-up sites with stone architecture, as well as smaller and more ephemeral village sites in equatorial and subtropical regions of the continent. This article describes geophysical surveys and excavations at Nanga and Kanono, two Iron Age village sites in the Machile Valley, Western Zambia, undertaken between 2019 and 2022. Surveys allowed for detailed analyses of village layouts and showed the relationship between domestic areas and areas of iron production. Subsequent groundtruthing of both domestic and iron production areas elucidated differential spatial patterns of iron production stages (i.e., smelting and smithing) between village sites dating to between 800 and 1400, and allowed for the identification, excavation, and analyses of several Early Iron Age smelting furnaces. while the other, Kanono dates from about 1300-1400CE. The spread in dates straddles a period of gradual but widespread cultural change in Zambia, and southern Africa more broadly, from a suite of Early Iron Age traditions to a set of Later Iron Age practices beginning after c.1000
Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa
After c. AD 700 the Machili Valley in Western Province, Zambia, is exemplary of the type of ‘in-b... more After c. AD 700 the Machili Valley in Western Province, Zambia, is exemplary of the type of ‘in-between’ places that made up large portions of the African continent where states did not develop, but that were anything but isolated and undifferentiated. Limited archaeological surveys in the 1950s to 1970s situate the Machili Valley into a larger context of Iron Age life in Zambia in particular and in south-central Africa more broadly. This paper details early results from survey work in Machili conducted in 2019 that employed a combination of geophysical and shovel test survey methods to re-survey previously documented sites, identify new ones and study localised variations in iron production practices in the valley. Results suggest geographic and temporal changes in settlement patterns and iron production practices, as well as in the spatial relationships between domestic areas and iron smelting and smithing locations among Early Farming Communities in Zambia.
Quaternary International
Abstract “Nderit Ware,” a type of pottery famous in eastern Africa for its remarkably intricate b... more Abstract “Nderit Ware,” a type of pottery famous in eastern Africa for its remarkably intricate basket-like bowls, is associated with evidence for the region's earliest pastoralism during a time period known as the Pastoral Neolithic (PN, c. 5000-1200 cal BP). This paper reviews the changing ways archaeologists have conceptualized “Nderit” pottery over the past eighty years. The “Nderit” ware type was defined in relation to initial finds in central Kenya, decades before archaeologists discovered Nderit had greater antiquity as a technology/artistic tradition in northwest Kenya's Turkana Basin. Ceramic assemblages from pillar sites surrounding Lake Turkana – including Lothagam North (GeJi9) and Jarigole (GbJj1) – reveal a more variable and complex history of ceramic production and use than previously recognized. Nderit's first known production and use is associated with the region's earliest food producers, mobile pastoralists establishing themselves around a dramatically shrinking Lake Turkana. These findings carry important implications for reconstructing the cultural history and material lives of early herding groups moving within and beyond the Turkana Basin, and expand our frame of reference for understanding the origins of pottery production by mobile, small-scale groups worldwide.
Quaternary International, 2020
“Nderit Ware,” a type of pottery famous in eastern Africa for its remarkably intricate basket-lik... more “Nderit Ware,” a type of pottery famous in eastern Africa for its remarkably intricate basket-like bowls, is associated with evidence for the region’s earliest pastoralism during a time period known as the Pastoral Neolithic (PN, c. 5000-1200 cal BP). This paper reviews the changing ways archaeologists have conceptualized “Nderit” pottery over the past eighty years. The “Nderit” ware type was defined in relation to initial finds in central Kenya, decades before archaeologists discovered Nderit had greater antiquity as a technology/artistic tradition in northwest Kenya’s Turkana Basin. Ceramic assemblages from pillar sites surrounding Lake Turkana – including Lothagam North (GeJi9) and Jarigole (GbJj1) – reveal a more variable and complex history of ceramic production and use than previously recognized. Nderit’s first known production and use is associated with the region’s earliest food producers, mobile pastoralists establishing themselves around a dramatically shrinking Lake Turkana. These findings carry important implications for reconstructing the cultural history and material lives of early herding groups moving within and beyond the Turkana Basin, and expand our frame of reference for understanding the origins of pottery production by mobile, small-scale groups worldwide.
Iron Production in the Machili Valley, Zambia, 700-1500 CE: A Preliminary Report of the 2019 Field Season of the Machili Valley Research Project, 2019
Five thousand years ago a novel type of pottery, Nderit ware, appeared in the Turkana region of n... more Five thousand years ago a novel type of pottery, Nderit ware, appeared in the Turkana region of northwestern Kenya. Around the same time, Turkana also experienced the onset of early herding and the construction of megalithic pillar sites as early herders in the Sahara were pushed south and east due to increasingly dry conditions in the Central Sahara (Marshall & Hildebrand 2002). 2013-14 excavations within the platform of the largest of the pillar sites, Lothagam North, found differential distribution of Nderit decorative types. Spatial analysis of the Lothagam North ceramics show that pot sherds were deliberately broken and deposited into the burials, perhaps for ritual or symbolic reasons. The distribution of ceramic decorative types indicates intrasite spatial differences in funerary ritual. Considering Lothagam North in tandem with other pillar and habitation sites around Lake Turkana reveals regional patterns of cultural variation as well as fluctuation, with decorative designs dropping out of usage only to reappear later in southern and central Kenya.
The Fort Plain Erie Canal general store was one of hundreds in New York State that lined the Erie... more The Fort Plain Erie Canal general store was one of hundreds in New York State that lined the Erie Canal throughout the nineteenth century. Dismantled in 1988 by the New York State Museum, excavations were undertaken in 2000 and 2001, but no formal site report was published. In 2016, a community archaeology project commenced with youth from the surrounding area to re-excavate the site in conjuncture with the return of the canal store to the town of Fort Plain. Special care was taken to follow the State Museum excavation grid so as to create a continuous assemblage that could be studied along with earlier 2000/2001 results. Youth were instructed in archaeological methods and theories while engaging in research to study their local community and its heritage.
schoharierivercenter.org
The Schoharie River Center 2047 Burtonsville Road Esperance NY, 12066 (518) 875-6889 ... A Rapid ... more The Schoharie River Center 2047 Burtonsville Road Esperance NY, 12066 (518) 875-6889 ... A Rapid Bio-Assessment of the Normanskill Creek Relative to the Duanesburg Sanitary Landfill Schoharie River Center Environmental Study Team 2008 ... NYS DEC Family-Level ...
Thesis Chapters by Zach McKeeby
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Papers by Zach McKeeby
Thesis Chapters by Zach McKeeby