Waja

Human Environmental Interactions at Kansyore Island and Nsongezi Landscape,

Western Uganda
Kyazike Elizabeth

Department of History and Political Science

Kyambogo University
P.O.BOX 1. Kyambogo
Email:[email protected]

Abstract
This paper examines human-environmental interactions using faunal data from
Kansyore Island and Nsongezi in south-western Uganda. This was guided by three
specific objectives that were: explore the nature of the interaction between the
ceramic-using forager fishers (Kansyore) with their environment; discuss how the
subsistence and settlement patterns on the Kansyore landscape can be depicted from
the faunal data and account for the lack of domesticated fauna despite the existence of
herding and farming signatures like Urewe ceramics.Archaeological, survey,
excavation, ethnographic inquiries and documentary review identified a rich faunal
assemblage of bones and shells at Kansyore Island. An examination of the skeletal
composition, bone modifications and physical characteristics led to the identification
of wild animal taxa and fish bones, while both land and marine shells abound.Human
activities were a key determinant of site formation processes at Kansyore Island.
Accordingly, the humans adapted their needs to the dictates of nature that fashioned
the subsistence strategies and settlement patterns that addressedcritical questions of
cultural change and adaptability during the Holocene at Kansyore Island. The lack of
domesticated fauna further confirmed that Kanyore Island and Nsongezi belong to the
early Kansyore Phase.
Keywords: Kansyore; Human; Interaction; Later Stone Age; Early Iron Age;
Landscape.