Food resources at Chibuene amd

Theme 3 of the HRAC-programme focuses on long-term use of natural resources with regard to agriculture, cattle, marine organisms, metals, housing and trade. However, people do not usually live only on crops, cattle or marine products. Many people combine cultivation with herding, fishing, gathering and/or hunting. The combination of such activities in a production system is influenced by the environment. Although few societies today are more than 50% dependent on wild resources (Cotton, 1996) the utilisation of wild plants and animals can be an important complement particularly in subsistence economies with restricted crop production and limited opportunities for trade. The archaeological sites of Chibuene and Manyikeni are located in Southern Mozambique (fig. 1). Chibuene is situated at the coast and its earliest occupation is dated back to 700 ad with involvement in the Indian Ocean trade (Sinclair, 1987). Recent research has focused on the recovery and analysis of pollen cores (Ekblom, in prep.). The site of Manyikeni comprises a stone enclosure, and situated c.50 km from the coast, west of Chibuene. It is the c. 350 km from Great Zimbabwe, The occupation of Manyikeni ranges from 12 to 17 century and its development is likely to be strongly linked to the development of Chibuene. Investigationsn at Manyikeni include documentation of the environment and potential resource use (Garlake 1976, Sinclair 1987; Morais 1988) among others animal bone material has been analysed (Barker, 1978). The sites are located in different vegetation systems with Chibuene belonging to the Zanzibar-Inhambane Floral Mozaic and Manyikeni to the Zambezian Woodlands (White, 1977). The vegetation in Chibuene area has been characterised by littoral thicket and forest on recent dunes, however, the latter being considerably reduced because of intensive land use. Soils are sandy and uniform. Sub-littoral forest and woodland surround Manyikeni, the archaeological site itself being covered by grasses notably Cenchrus ciliaris (see below). The rainy period lasts from October to March with a mean annual precipitation of 800 mm at Chibuene and 600 mm at Manyikeni (Wild and Barbosa, 1967; FAO 1973; Sinclair, 1987; Massinga, 2001). Rains are often scattered and may also occur during the dry season from April to September, making it sometimes worthwhile for farmers to sow their crops outside the main planting period of October to February. This study focuses on present food consumption patterns of villagers living near the archaeological sites of Chibuene and Manyikeni. The fieldwork took place during two weeks in October 2000 with a multi-disciplinary research team representing agronomy, archaeology and botany. The cultural representative from Vilanculos who came from the Manyikeni area was an important facilitator. In open-ended and semi-structured interviews it was possible to assess both quantitatively and qualitatively the extent to which plants, animals and waterliving organisms contribute to the total food resources available and consumed during a year. Special attention is paid to the use of edible wild plants. The results show that there are significant differences in food acquisition strategies between inhabitants of Chibuene and Manyikeni (fig. 17). At Chibuene the market economy is important and mainly based on fishing. Marine resources are essential not only directly (with crabs being the most frequently eaten product) but also indirectly. High quality fish is sold on the market and with the money gained it is possible to buy maize from July to March – a product which otherwise would not have been available owing to limited local crop production. Accordingly the high frequency of consumption of cultivated plants (fig. 18a) does not always correspond to locally produced plants. This situation is similar to the one met at the coastal site of Ambinanibe in Madagascar where people maintain a high consumption of rice which is bought with income from lobster being sold (Berger, 1999). At Manyikeni people live entirely in a subsistence economy. The proportion of food resources from wild plants and animals is very high even in relation to a global comparison (Cotton 1996). Agriculture is maintained at a low level owing to environmental constraints of water deficiency and poor soils. Research at Manyikeni has shown that wild plants and crops contribute equally to the food supply not the least during the critical periods at the beginning of the rainy season. Trade does not seem to exist today probably because of poor infrastructure and lack of trading goods. This is different from the situation in Anosy, Madagascar where fish was brought from Ambinanibe and sold on the market in the inland in exchange for rice. Although the wild plants contribute much more at Manyikeni they should not be neglected at Chibuene (table 1a and b). Their importance has also been documented elsewhere (Meneses, 1998). Many plants occur in both areas such as Black-and Green monkey orange, Strychnos madagascariensis and S. spinosa. The latter is very common around Chibuene (Massinga, 2001) and is an indicator of cultivation, connected to fields (where farmers working their ‘machambas’ spit out the pips). In Madagascar it has been regarded as an indicator of degradation in the mountain slopes of Anosy resulting from overgrazing. This is not at all the case at Chibuene or Manyikeni where cattle are rare today. S. madagascariensis is an important plant during periods of famine because it can be processed and stored for several years (fig. 11). Another important ‘famine plant’ at Manyikeni is tamarind T. indica which produces pods all year round. The pods are soaked in water and mixed with ash (to reduce the acidity). The same procedure is used in the drylands of Androy south of Anosy, Madagascar (Berger, 1998). Game and honey (fig. 13 and 14) are still exploited at Manyikeni although some animals such as sable antelope now have to be hunted far away. The Chibuene area has an increased population as a result of displacements during the civil war. Intensification of cultivation has resulted in game and honey no longer being available in the area. However many people still remember these resources being used previously. The research points out the importance of a wide range of food acquisition strategies. In both areas with the cultivation of crops and fruits, agriculture still provides the main food resource. However, its potential today is threatened in particular in Chibuene because of intensified cultivation with short-term fallows. Here the fishing (including collecting of oysters and shells) contributes to the daily diet and also provides a buffer against low yields and crop failure. At Manyikeni the buffer comes from hunting and gathering. Cattle and minor domestic animals contribute little to the food supply today but their ceremonial importance is significant. The production systems in the past are likely to have been similar to the ones of today but also more diversified. Regarding Chibuene hunting and gathering obviously played an important role already one generation ago and must have done so in earlier times with fewer people and more forests in the area. Cultivation could have been maintained (although at low productivity) even during periods of draught because of the possibilities to grow crops and vegetables around the lakes where the soils are fertile. At Manyikeni agriculture would have been limited in particular during periods of lower rainfalls. The production system is likely to have been based on hunting and gathering. The role of domestic animals and in particular cattle was probably more important in the past.The palatable fodder grass Cenchrus ciliaris (fig. 9) covers the area around Manyikenienclosure. This grass has not been found elsewhere in Southern Mozambique and one theoryis that it has been introduced with cattle from southern Zimbabwe or Botswana where thegrass is common (Sinclair, pers.comm.). The soils are suitable for grazing and a large numberof cattle bone from young animals have been found at Manyikeni by Barker (1978) who alsopoints out that the lack of water must have restricted the possibilities to keep breeding herds(with adult cows) during the dry season. The bones indicate a high consumption of beef,possibly only for the elite because the findings from the more peripheral sites had fewer cattlebones and many more bones from ovi-caprines. This does not necessarily mean that the dailyconsumption of meat was high. 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