1.1.2. Interpretation
If we combine the chronologies of the wares that offer a more reliable date, we see that they cover a period comprised between 1000 and 1400, with the greatest overlap during the twelfth century. The abundance of sgraffiatos and the scarcity of Yemeni Yellow (despite the overwhelming presence of Yemeni pottery) suggest that the main occupation predates 1250. This would be further corroborated by the absence of incised white cream wares, also from Yemen, very common in Somaliland, and which are dated between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries (probably fifteenth) (Hardy-Guilbert and Rougeulle, 1997: 131–132, Fig. 2: 15–19). The most likely chronology for the site is between the mid-eleventh and mid-thirteenth century, with the main occupation during the twelfth.
The organization of space, the type of structures and the materials provide important clues as to the interpretation of the site. Most of the remains are related to the preparation and consumption of food, including storage and kitchen wares and an enormous quantity of goat, sheep, cattle and camel remains and fish bones. In the NE, 89% of the ceramic assemblage was of ordinary, unglazed pottery. Features are also mostly related with food processing: hearths and dumps with organic and artifactual remains (mainly broken cooking and storage pots). There are no residential structures, which rules out the interpretation of the site as a settlement, and the arrangement of perishable structures in the NE zone is inconsistent with everything we know of the organization of domestic space in medieval Yemen and Somaliland. That common pottery prevails over fine wares, in turn, precludes the interpretation of the site as a purely trading place: in sites identified as markets, fine wares are always more abundant. The ceramic evidence (cooking pots and large jars) tallies well with the preparation of food for a sizeable number of people. Evidence for feasting is particularly suggested by the high number of slaughtered camels. Their remains appear in 13 of 26 features documented in the NE zone: in the hut made with bones they used at least six of these animals. Camels are not everyday meat in the Horn. These animals are slaughtered “on feast days, religious occasions of special significance, and for the important occasions of births, marriages and deaths” (Hartley 1980: 83). Furthermore, the three only permanent structures found at the place correspond with ritual spaces: two graves (a stone ring and a cairn) and a mosque. Bone heaps and pottery scatters are arranged around these features. Feasting in association with mosques and tombs is typical of Sufi rites in the Horn and South Arabia (Lewis, 1998: 89–98. Based on the pottery, we can hypothesize that the participants in the feasts were both from Yemen and locals, as plain, cooking and serving vessels have these provenances. The presence of Yemeni people is further corroborated by the mosque with a mudbrick qibla (wall facing Mecca) and mihrab. Mudbrick structures are unknown in Somaliland but are common across medieval Yemen.
Based on the extant archaeological, historical and ethnographic evidence, we believe that Bandar Abbas can be plausibly interpreted as a place for intercultural religious celebrations, perhaps associated with ancestor cults. Yemenis and locals visited the place repeatedly, feasted together, slaughtered animals and consumed them. Trade was likely also conducted and might have involved fine wares (sgraffiatos and celadons), perfumes and unguents, and adornments.
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