Dembeni (archeological site)

Dembeni is an archeological site on the island of Mayotte, dating from the 9th-12th centuries. Discovered by archeologists in 1975, the site represents a settlement heavily involved in the Indian Ocean trade network. Through analysis of pottery, architectural and cultural evidence, it has been determined that two distinct occupations periods occurred over its history, one dated to the 9th-10th centuries and the second to the 11th-12th centuries. A variety of ceramic artifacts from across the Indian Ocean world have been recovered from the site, indicating the settlement's participation in long-distance trade networks. Additionally, the presence of rock crystal fragments may indicate heavy participation in the Middle Eastern rock crystal trade of the 11th-12th centuries. Dembeni was first discovered when American archeologists Susan Kus and Henry Wright uncovered pottery shards there in 1975 during an archeological survey of Mayotte. However, the site did not gain widespread notability until 1976, when a French engineer discovered large pits and gullies filled with ceramics of types undocumented by Kus & Wright. Dembeni is located on the eastern coast of the island of Mayotte, 10 km south of the town of Mamoudzou. It is bordered on the north by the Mro Ironi Bé river and on the south by the Mro Dembeni River, which is the largest river on Mayotte. The archeologically studied area measures 790 m × 390 m, totaling at 21 ha in area. The site faces a large bay which allows for the convenient and safe anchorage of ships. Research on the chronology of Dembeni and culturally similar sites across the Comoro archipelago (together referred to as the Dembeni Phase settlements) was first published by Wright in 1984. Two main approaches were used: serial analysis of pottery and radiometric dating. The presence of large jars with blue-green glaze over applique and opaque white glaze bowls at Dembeni and other sites suggested an occupation period later than 800 CE, and the absence of sgraffito bowls led Wright to suggest that Dembeni was abandoned sometime before 1000 CE.