The Excavations at Kilepwa: An Introduction to the Medieval Archaeology of the Kenya Coast

Extract

Fifty miles due north of Mombasa and two miles south of Gedi, a large Arab walled town where excavations have been carried on since early 1948 by the Royal National Parks of Kenya, is Mida Creek (fig. 1). In the middle of the creek are two mangrove-fringed islands with the passage into the inner basin lying between them. At the south-east end of the smaller but higher island, overlooking the passage, are the ruins of a small township. As part of the investigation of the major site of Gedi, a limited exploration of these ruins was undertaken, the results of which are here recorded. It will be appreciated that without the knowledge gained from the work at Gedi it would have been impossible to write this paper.