Uncovering southern Africa's global connections: the ENTANGLED Project's recent fieldwork in Mozambique

The ENTANGLED Project, based in the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and led by PI Dr Abigail Moffett, explores the interrelations between coastal communities, Indian Ocean trade, and inland connections in the 700-1500 C.E. in southern Africa.

This region was the south-westerly point of the maritime trade networks that linked the Indian Ocean rim during the Global Middle Ages.

Despite its importance as a source of gold and ivory, little is known about the coastal communities that conducted trade and the connections that linked southern East Africa’s coastline.

The ENTANGLED project approaches the study of early global interactions using an interdisciplinary methodology, combining new fieldwork, cutting-edge archaeological analyses of objects traded and consumed by communities across the Indian Ocean, and historical and ethnographic research aimed at uncovering ontologies of exchange.

Over August and September of 2025, the team undertook exciting new fieldwork at two recently identified archaeological sites in the province of Inhambane, Mozambique.

These sites are Ponta Dundo 4 on Bazaruto island, the largest of five islands on the Bazaruto archipelago, and Ngomene Nhanimela, located 30km inland in the Vilankulo district.

Why are these sites interesting?

Archaeological research in southern Mozambique has been limited, despite early discoveries by previous researchers indicating the importance of this coastline in maritime trade, and new excavations are critical for reengaging in the history of the region.

In 2024, our research team from the ENTANGLED Project were only the second team of archaeologists to visit Ngomene Nhanimela, a previously unstudied Zimbabwe Tradition site with characteristic dry-stone walling enclosing a settlement on a hilltop. Although known to local communities the site is otherwise invisible in aerial imagery, hidden under dense thicket.

Similar sites occur in northern South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique, and are thought to represent the extent and reach of the precolonial state of Great Zimbabwe. Located just 30km to the coast, Ngoneme Nhanimela represents the most coastal madZimbabwe yet to be discovered and may hold clues to the nature and extent of control that the early state exerted over coastal trade.

Our goals this season included examining the spatial layout and extent of Ngomene Nhanimela using a variety of strategies, including strategic test pits to LiDAR drone mapping, gathering carefully documented assemblages from different areas of the site that will help us assess the nature and duration of site occupation, and diving into the local oral histories to better understand connections to heritage in the region. We hope our research will contribute towards new perspectives on precolonial African urbanism.

Ngomene Nhanimela’s dry-stone walling peeking out from under the bushes. Photo: Abigail Moffett.

Solange Macamo and her students excavate a test pit inside the south wall of the Ngomene Nhanimela enclosure. Photo: Abigail Moffett

The team landing at Pangaia on Bazaruto, while local residents prepare fishing nets on the shore. Photo: Abigail Moffett

Trench 1 at Ponto Dundo 4 after a week of excavation. Photo: Joanna Lawrence

For the second half of the field season we moved from the inland to the coast, where we focused our research activities on the Bazaruto archipelago. Known for its unique marine life, (perhaps the most famous species being the elusive dugong), the Bazaruto archipelago also has a rich and underexplored heritage of maritime trade and commerce dating back at least 1000 years.

Guided by oral histories, early Portuguese texts, and our previous visit, our research efforts focused on surveying and excavating different parts of the island to uncover the role of the islands, how they were linked to mainland, and the nature of archaeological occupation and evidence of trade through time.

This research was undertaken in collaboration and with the support of AfricanParks and in close coordination and cooperation with various community leaders on Bazaruto and Benguerra islands.

Fieldwork on the islands was at times hard work: climbing high sand dunes, walking long distances, and of course keeping an eye out for the freshwater crocodiles that inhabit the inland lakes!

Our historical interviews confirmed the centrality of fishing and maritime activities and our stay at the AfricanParks research station at Sitone allowed us to engage with local fishing communities and experience life on the island in a unique way.

Our archaeological research at Ponta Dundo 4, where the majority of our excavations took place, revealed the long occupation of the island and the intensity of connections between the island and the wider Indian Ocean world. Glass beads, East African ceramics and cupreous metals attest to long distance commerce and entanglements.

An international team of collaborators and community partners

One of the big takeaways from this year’s fieldwork was an awareness of how archaeological fieldwork is so much more than just the scientific study of the past. It is a chance to build collaborative research practices, to learn from each other across language and cultural differences and certainly it is a chance to grow. We had a fantastic international team, including our three Project members based in Cambridge University and seven collaborators from Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM) along with representatives from the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism in Inhambane province. We were especially pleased to have seven students on the excavation team this year: Leticia Buanela, Zabiba Bobo, Adriano Sigaúque, and Armando Mangue from UEM, and Clemency Fisher, Emily Bradley, and Sam Woodroff from the University of Cambridge.

Our fieldwork was undertaken in collaboration and coordination with the local communities of Nhanimela and Bazaruto. Along with the participation of community members at the field site and the interviews undertaken by historians Dr Scott Dunleavy and Cláudio Mandlate, we also visited primary schools and hosted a community open day at Ngomene Nhanimela. This relationship between community and project members has been an enriching one and through our continued interactions we have developed new avenues for collaboration. A recently awarded Climate Resilience and Sustainability Research Fund to Dr Abigail Moffett and Associate Professor Solange Macamo will facilitate community led initiatives for environmental protection and heritage management in two regions of Mozambique.

The ENTANGLED excavation team at Ngomene Nhanimela. Photo: Pedro Moiane

The ENTANGLED excavation team at Ngomene Nhanimela. Photo: Pedro Moiane

Published 7 January 2026

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