Khina Culture: A Mythological Analysis

The Khina culture is a cultivation based agricultural group in central Africa. Living primarily in the Hamr el Bash mountains, these people rely heavily on growing and cultivating crops. What remains in an archaeological context of this culture is sparse, consisting primarily of various forms pottery and the sherds there of. It is the way that these remains are distributed and are found, the artifacts themselves as well as in relation to one another, that opens the possibility to interpretation of how people lived. Using the dispersion patterns of the artifacts, primarily the pottery, in conjunction with the ethnographic accounts amassed over years of observation of the region and the culture, we are able to interpret how this culture and these

With the detailed accounts and observations made, we are able to interpret what sorts of pottery were present, what it was used for and how different types of pots may have been used. At times, the meaning and significance of a pot can be determined if enough of the right sort of ethnographic data is available to be combined with the artifact findings. Given the findings and what was recorded, the Khina culture people appeared to have been a very resourceful people, with little waste produced as pots were repurposed as much as possible. Knowing this is very important to the interpretation of the artifacts found, especially when looking at the potential function of it, in relationship to its location within the site and in relation to other artifacts of its type. A piece of potter that was once used for cooking or as an important storage vessel could repurposed to a somewhat lesser or cruder task and knowing this is imperative in the interpretation of artifact function. the following paragraphs will comprise a summary of the types of pottery found within the site, and their uses as per the various sources of ethnographic data. The ethnographic data are accounts collected around 1920, based primarily on interactions with the Khina culture people

It is hard to say if this is true as it appears to contradict the account in conversation mentioned above, but this can be further proven and analyzed using the archaeological record. This theory of abandonment and replenishing with new pots would be evident in the excavation of large areas, where a large number of pots would be evident in a small area and left as they were, and new pots of similar styles not too far away. A separate account in a report by Jean Courge notes broken pottery spread haphazardly throughout the field, broken and filled with sweet leaf little to attract termites; given the account the termites are then used as the food for the chickens. A creative and necessary methods of acquiring food for the livestock kept as part of the farming operation, the pottery is once again repurposed to the fullest extent