Maritime East Africa (49,293–28,578 BCE) Upper Pleistocene I — Lowstand Shores, Forager Refugia, and Reef Flats

Geographic and Environmental Context

Maritime East Africa includes littoral and nearshore islands from Somalia through Kenya and Tanzania to northern/central Mozambique and southern Malawi, plus Lamu–Pate–Mombasa, Zanzibar–Pemba–Mafia, Kilwa Kisiwani–Songo Mnara, the Comoros, Madagascar, Seychelles, and the Mascarene Islands.

• Anchors: Lamu archipelago, Mombasa–Kilifi, Zanzibar–Pemba–Mafia, Kilwa Kisiwani–Songo Mnara, Comoros (Ngazidja, Nzwani, Mwali), Madagascar highlands/coasts, Seychelles/Mascarene atolls.Sea level ~100 m lower, exposing broad Somali–Kenyan–Tanzanian shelves

• Sea level ~100 m lower, exposing broad Somali–Kenyan–Tanzanian shelves.

• Lagoons diminished; tidal flats and coral benches stretched far offshore.

• Madagascar isolated but unpeopled; Seychelles/Mascarene uninhabited volcanic/atoll systems.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

• LGM: cooler, drier, but upwelling supported marine productivity.

• Inland savannas contracted; mangroves shrank.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Littoral foragers in Somalia/Kenya harvested shellfish, crabs, turtles.

• Fish taken in estuaries; dugouts possible in rivers.

• No Madagascar/Seychelles/Mascarene settlement.

Technology & Material Culture

• Flake–core stone tools; shell scrapers; bone points.

• Beads from shell/ostracods.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

• Seasonal shuttles between estuaries and reefs; Red Sea/Horn linked culturally.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

• Early shell beads/ochre body paint indicate symbolic networks.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

• Mobility along coast buffered aridity; fallback on reefs.

Transition
By 28,578 BCE, a durable littoral foraging adaptation persisted along the coast, absent offshore settlement.