Nathan Anderson
Exeter Associate
About me:
Nathan Anderson obtained his BA in Earth Science and Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2011 and his MA in History of Art and Architecture of Islamic Middle East from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London in 2014. He completed a PhD in Arab and Islamic at the Centre for Islamic Archaeology, University of Exeter in August 2021. His thesis, titled "The Materiality of Islamisation as Observed in Archaeological Remains in the Mozambique Channel", examines religious identity on the frontier of the Islamic world at the end of the first/early second millennium AD focusing specifically on Swahili settlements within the Mozambique Channel. His PhD research involved a series of archaeological reconnaissance visits to Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, and Boeni Bay, Madagascar. He led an archaeological excavation in north-western Madagascar in spring 2019. His research was supervised by Prof. Timothy Insoll, Dr. Emily Selove, and Dr. John P. Cooper of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies.
Nathan’s main research interests are the Indian Ocean, Islamic frontiers, Islamic sects, the Swahili, and material manifestations of community faith. These topics were also examined in his MA dissertation, titled “Swahili Sectarian Origins as Observed in Archaeological Remains”, which compared east African mosque architecture in the late first/early second millennium to structures of suspected/known sectarian affiliation in the Middle East.
In addition to his academic studies, Nathan has worked professionally as an archaeologist for more than seven years. In that time he had leadership roles in both field survey and excavation, as well as experience as a supervisor in an archaeological archive with the Monterey Bay Archaeological Archive. He has conducted phase I (survey), phase II (excavation), and phase III (recovery and processing) archaeological investigations at Kingany and in Boeni Bay, Madagascar, Bilad al-Qadeem, Muharraq, and Samaheej, Bahrain, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, the Californian Mojave desert with RedHorse Corporation and CH2M, in the American bottom with Illinois State Archaeological Survey, and in Tanzania with Rice University, where he habitually employed both archaeological and geological techniques and theories. Notable roles he has held include project lead for cultural monitoring of threatened historic and prehistoric archaeological sites efforts on Edwards Air Force Base, which involved the research of adobe architecture and preservation, and principle investigator of an archaeological expedition at Kingany, Madagascar, which sought to examine the materiality of Islamization within Boeni Bay.
Research Unit:
Centre for Islamic Archaeology
Research Project:
The Materiality of Islamisation as Observed in Archaeological Remains in the Mozambique Channel
This thesis examines the chronologies and mechanisms of Islamisation, western Indian Ocean entanglements, and socio-cultural identity of Islamic settlements in the Mozambique Channel in the centuries preceding the colonial period. A brief introduction to core concepts such as Islamisation, Islamic frontiers, and the Swahili coast, in addition to an overview of the relevant Mozambique Channel archaeological locales is provided in order to contextualise the research. Archaeological remains from coastal Islamic sites in northwestern Madagascar and northern Mozambique, form the principal datasets for this study. Tangible markers of past Islamic practice, detectable as mosques, Muslim tombs, Arabic epigraphy, and specific portable material culture, are identified at the case sites. The artefactual data is arranged according to chronological sequences, informed by typological and absolute dating techniques, in order to better understand and compare relative lifeways across the Mozambique Channel through time.
Multiple possible Islamisation mechanisms are identified for the primary case study, Kingany, Madagascar, based on the archaeological assemblage recovered from the site. These include population movements of Islamic Africans and individual conversions instigated in part by longue durée engagement with Indian Ocean mercantile networks. Findings are then extrapolated to the region at large. Archaeologically attestable manifestations for socially embedded Islam in the Mozambique Channel appear earliest in the Comorian Archipelago in the 10th/11th centuries. However, the early coastal cities of Madagascar, the first of which emerged in the north of the island in the 10th century, embraced Islamic practices within a century of their Comorian counterparts. Archaeological evidence for analogous Muslim communities in Mozambique is absent prior to the 13th century, with the exception of the famous entrepôts of Chibuene and Sofala, though the present state of the scholarship limits interpretation. This study found that exposure to Islam in the Mozambique Channel was initially a byproduct of localised interaction with western Indian Ocean cultural spheres, with secondary Islamisation events likely linked to southward trending population dispersion phenomena beginning in the early-second millennium
Research Supervisory team:
Prof. Timothy Insoll (Al-Qasimi Professor of African and Islamic Archaeology)
Dr. John P. Cooper (Senior Lecturer in Arabic Studies and Material Culture)
Dr. Emily Selove (Senior Lecturer of Medieval Arabic Language and Literature)
Research Wider Research Interests:
Indian Ocean, Islamic frontiers, Islamic sects, the Swahili, and Materiality
Professional/research experience:
November 2019
Samaheej, Bahrain
Bahrain Archaeological Excavation
June 2019 December 2019
Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter
Assisted in the development, organization, and management of the European Research Council funded "Archaeological Perspectives on Conversion to Islam and Islamisation in Africa" conference, held at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter on the 17-18 of December, 2019. This conference was associated with Professor Timothy Insoll's "Becoming Muslim" project.
May 2019
Kingany, Madagascar
Northwestern Madagascar Archaeological Excavation
November 2018
Muharraq, Bahrain
Bahrain Archaeological Excavation
September 2018
Boeni Bay, Madagascar
Northwestern Madagascar Archaeological Reconnaissance
April 2018 May 2018
Cabo Delgado, Mozambique
Northern Mozambique Archaeological Reconnaissance
November 2017
Bilad al-Qadeem, Bahrain
Bahrain Archaeological Excavation
October 2016 April 2017
Redhorse Corporation, Edwards Air Force Base, California
Staff Archaeologist
-NHPA Section 106/110 compliance archaeological monitoring.
January 2015 October 2016
CH2M Hill, Edwards Air Force Base, California
Staff Archaeologist
-Phase I archaeological investigation within the Mojave Desert. Extensive survey of peripheral regions of base, locating sites of interest, ranging from Lake Mojave Period to late Cold War.
-Phase II investigation of sites with the intent of establishing a Piute Ponds Archaeological District. Systematic and thorough excavation conducted to recover artifacts, and related archaeological materials, additional crew leadership responsibilities. Documentation and processing of collected finds, and CA state forms.
-Project Lead for cultural monitoring of threatened historic and prehistoric archaeological sites effort on Edwards Air Force Base. Photo research and documentation of adobe ruins and artifact deposits to establish baseline conditions to facilitate future preservation. Composition of study findings for cultural site monitoring effort conducted during 2015-2016.
-NHPA Section 106/110 compliance archaeological monitoring.
April 2012 August 2013
Illinois State Archaeological Survey, University of Illinois
Archaeological Field Technician
-Phase III archaeology. Excavation of cultural features and recovery of associated artifacts. Complete site mitigation in preparation for the construction of the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge.
-Documentation, analysis, and cataloguing of archaeological materials associated with Mississippian District, related to Cahokia (UNESCO World Heritage Site). Habitual use of both archaeological and geological theory.
June 2011 July 2011
Songo Manara, Tanzania
Rice University Summer Field School
- Team led by Jeffrey Fleisher and Stephanie Wynne-Jones. Excavation of domestic and public spaces, including a mosque and associated graveyard within Songo Mnara (UNESCO World Heritage Site). Archaeological inquiry conducted to better understand the use of space within a medieval Swahili settlement.
October 2010 December 2011
Monterey Bay Archaeological Archive (MBAA), University of California Santa Cruz
Student Intern/Curator
-Instruction and demonstration of base level analysis of artifacts within MBAA collection, supervision and management of student interns and volunteers, processing of artifacts and cataloguing them into FileMaker database, general organization and cleaning of artifacts and MBAA dig-storage.
Education:
January 2017 January 2021
University of Exeter
PhD in Arab and Islamic Studies
Thesis title: The Materiality of Islamisation as Observed in Archaeological Remains in the Mozambique Channel
Supervisors: Prof. Timothy Insoll, Dr. John P. Cooper, Dr. Emily Selove
January 2013 January 2014
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
M.A. History of Art and Architecture of Islamic Middle East
-Graduated with Distinction; M.A.
Dissertation: “Swahili Sectarian Origins as Observed in Archaeological Remains”
January 2008 January 2011
University of California, Santa Cruz
B.A. Earth Science/Anthropology
-Graduated with honors in the major
Professional Development:
2021-12-11
Conferences/Symposiums-American Society of Overseas Research Annual Meeting
"An Archaeological Examination of Islamization at Kingany, Northwest Madagascar", American Society of Overseas Research Annual Meeting, Virtual Component, December 2021.
2021-08-19
Conferences/Symposiums-Society of Africanist Archaeologists Annual Meeting
"Archaeological Investigations into Islamisation in Northern Madagascar: Interpretation of Finds from Kingany Site II", Society of Africanist Archaeologists Annual Meeting, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, August 2021.
2020-10-03
Conferences/Symposiums-Global Islamic Archaeology Showcase
"A cosmopolitan entrepôt on Jazrat al-Qumr: The Materiality of Islamisation as Observed in Archaeological Remains in Northern Madagascar", Global Islamic Archaeology Showcase, Centre for Islamic Archaeology, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, October 2020.
2020-03-23
Graduate School Skills Workshops-Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Stage 2
Workshop focused on teaching design, resources and activities for interactive learning, assessment marking and feedback, and reflection.
2020-01-11
Conferences/Symposiums-IOW-Arch: Indian Ocean World Archaeology
"The Materiality of Islamization as Observed in Archaeological Remains in Northern Madagascar", IOW-Arch: Indian Ocean World Archaeology, held at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, January 2020.
2019-12-00
Conferences/Symposiums-Archaeological Perspectives on Conversion to Islam and Islamisation in Africa
Assisted in the development, organization, and management of the European Research Council funded "Archaeological Perspectives on Conversion to Islam and Islamisation in Africa" conference, held at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter on the 17-18 of December, 2019. This conference was associated with Prof. Timothy Insoll's "Becoming Muslim" project.
2019-09-27
Graduate School Skills Workshops-Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Stage 1
Workshop focused on identifying learning outcomes, fostering classroom inclusivity, participation incentivization, and seminar design.
2019-09-24
Conferences/Symposiums-Centre for Islamic Archaeology Research Seminars
"Excavation in Boeni Bay: Results from the 2019 Field Season at Kingany, Madagascar, and the Implications for Islamisation in the Mozambique Channel”, Centre for Islamic Archaeology Research Seminars, Centre for Islamic Archaeology, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, September 2019.
2018-02-22
Conferences/Symposiums-PGtips: Archaeology Post Graduate Seminar Series
"Examining the Quirimbas: Islam and the Proto-Swahili. A Material Based Approach", PGtips: Archaeology Post Graduate Seminar Series, Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, February 2018.
2018-02-00
Conferences/Symposiums-Centre for Islamic Archaeology Research Seminars
"Examining the Quirimbas: Islam and the Proto-Swahili. A Material Based Approach", Centre for Islamic Archaeology Research Seminars, Centre for Islamic Archaeology, Institute of Arab and Isamic Studies, University of Exeter, February 2018.