OBSERVATIONS FROM SOME NEWLY RECOGNISED COASTAL SHELL MIDDENS AT PRAIA DE CHIZAVANE, GAZA PROVINCE, MOZAMBIQUE

Archaeological shell middens have been documented at multiple points along Mozambique’s southernmost 600 km of coastline. Recent examination of three previously unrecognised exposures along the coastal shorefront at Praia de Chizavane, north-east of Chongoene, document a further extension to their known distribution in the coastal region of Gaza Province, Mozambique. In addition to the shell accumulations with signs of charring, evidence of human occupation includes numerous potsherds, some with stamping or tool marks and burnished pigment, as well as some which appear to have been repurposed as fishing weights or cast net sinkers. A possible microlith was also recorded. Observed biological remains in the shell middens indicate a diet that included marine and non-marine molluscs, echinoderms, fish and shore birds consistent with known regional utilisation patterns. Preliminary analysis of the most common faunal constituent of the shell middens, the marine bivalve mollusc Perna perna, demonstrates an overall reduction in mean shell size through time in the shell middens. Whether this indicates that human over-exploitation may have historically had a localised impact on the nearshore marine mollusc populations, or was caused by other factors requires further research. From ceramics recovered from the surface, these shell midden exposures document Early Farming Community occupation potentially commencing as early as the beginning of the first millennium AD based on apparent affinity to Matola and/or Gokomere-Ziwa Traditions. Pre-farming horizons may be present, but further research and absolute dating of different horizons is needed to establish their precise dates of formation.