Caracterização geográfica das origens urbanas, no interior e na costa, em Moçambique: Songo e Somaná

Abstract

The present work demonstrates the relevance of the Zambezi Valley and the Indian Ocean Coast, from a geographical perspective, for the emergence of the first urban centers in Mozambique. Archaeological sources are used to clarify that the two regions maintained links commercials during the 1st and 2nd millennium AD. The Zambezi Valley region established commercial contacts with other peoples, across the coast of the Indian Ocean, during this period. It was from these commercial contacts and through the existence of natural resources in these regions that Farmers and Pastors Communities have developed, during the late 1st millennium and early 2nd millennium AD, giving rise to the origins urban. In this period, communities in the interior preferred to install their dwellings at the top of the mountains, in some cases, in the Zambezi Valley, such is the case of the Songo wall, attributed to the Zimbabwe-Khami Tradition. This rampart consists of two types of buildings, namely: the wall itself and the dhaka houses, made of . In this tradition there are two types of construction techniques: Free-standing Wall (Stones that formed the wall, in the interior of which the ruling elite's dwellings were built) and Retaining Wall (platform constructions, on top of which the dwelling houses that belonged to the elite ruler). Songo followed the latest platform construction style and positioned itself as an urban center located in the province of Tete, in the district of Cahora Bassa, in the Vale do Zambezi, being the object of study in this thesis. Along the African coast, as in Mozambique, we find groups known as Coastal communities, with maritime habits and lifestyle. These communities built the their cities on the coast. Most of its cities have a unique style of classic architecture of the Swahili culture, characteristic of East Africa. These cities were built using coral stone as their characteristic architectural element. O example used in this work is Somaná, an ancient Swahili city, located in the District of Nacala- a-Velha, in Nampula Province, on the edge of the Indian Ocean.