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David Ruiz Menjivar

PhD Student

BA University of Florida (2022)

 

Specialties

African archaeology, Historical archaeology, Indigenous Studies, Urbanism, Archaoeology of everyday life 

My research interests focus on historical Swahili archaeology looking at the Portuguese period from the 15th-18th centuries in Zanzibar, an area that has been largely understudied in the academic literature. I intend to examine the roles and changes in everyday Swahili life during periods of foreign occupation. Also, I aim to uncover the indigenous influences of Swahili culture during these times of external influence, and provide a view into the role of indiginiety in the Swahili coast. To accomplish this I draw on methods from Indigenous Studies and community based archaeology.