UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

East Africa before the seventh century
the bow. But as settlement became denser, there was less and less scope
for organized hunting and gathering as a full means of subsistence and
a communal way of life. Many of the hunters were sooner or later absorbed
into Bantu society. But they would have been absorbed as individuals,
through marriage or possibly clientage: it was not possible for a hunting
band or tribe as such to make the cultural change, to 'Bantuize' itself.
With the new technology, the magical control of the soil which thus
began yielding grain foods, 9 pots in which to cook them palatably, and
iron tools and arrow-heads (which, incidentally, could be traded to the
hunters), the Bantu success and superiority were assured. They could afford
to assimilate hunters without any fear of losing their identity or diluting
their culture. There does not seem to have been any need to maintain
artificial distinguishing marks or prohibitions: bodily mutilations or taboos
of a general Bantu sort are not obvious. Their new speech which codified
their way of life was enough. The economy, as seen, was flexible and,
depending on the local situation, could include hunting, fishingor cattlerearing.
Where none of these was possible or sufficient for protein
requirements, this need was presumably satisfied by keeping goats or
growing certain pulses. The normal staple was probably sorghum: this
assumption is based on the observation that this grain with its numerous
varieties suited to different terrains is an ancient traditional one in eastern
Africa and Bantu-land, while in Zambia charred seeds of sorghum have
been recognized in archaeological excavations of early iron age settlements.
10
This interpretation of Bantu expansion and settlement in East Africa
(and in countries to the south and west) at the beginning of the iron age
is based on a combination of linguistic and archaeological evidences, as
well as general ethnographic considerations. The obvious point about the
numerous Bantu languages, especially those outside the Congo forest, is
their close common relationship which points to a quite recent separation
and differentiation, of the order of some one or two thousand years. Another
thing which emerges from a comparative study of Bantu languages is an
acquaintance with iron and the skills of working it from early times. This
9. Rain-making being commonly essential.
10. In some of the previous literature there has been considerable discussion of the role of
bananas in the Bantu expansion. This crop originated in south-eastern Asia and is unlikely
to have been introduced to the east coast of Africa until some time in the first millennium
of our era. It would have become known to Bantu communities therefore after the great
expansion was over. It is, of course, a crop of settled rather than of colonizing peoples,
and in later Bantu history permanent banana gardens have become increasingly important in
wet regions with dense sedentary populations, notably the northern and western sides of
Lake Victoria and several highland masses. In fact, during the last thousand years or so
bananas have been utilized and developed in East Africa more than anywhere else in the
world.
American starch foods - notably maize and cassava - were unknown in East Africa until
very recently.
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