Mambrui

Mambrui lies on the Swahili coast north of Malindi. Its archaeological remains show a coastal community connected to Indian Ocean exchange. Excavations recovered abundant locally made earthenware alongside imported Chinese ceramics and pottery from the Islamic world. Glass beads dating from the eleventh to fifteenth centuries provide further evidence of these long-distance connections. Imported objects reached the town through networks linking many ports and intermediaries, and local pottery shows that overseas exchange formed only one part of the material life of this Swahili settlement.