Akshay Sarathi
  • Lecturer
Research Areas
  • Archaeology

Biography

Courses Taught:

  • ANTH 201 – Introduction to Anthropology
  • ANTH 204 – The Prehistoric World

Research Interests

Specialty:

Indian Ocean Studies – urbanism, subsistence, trade and exchange, migration, state formation, East Africa, pastoralism, maritime cultures, networks

Archaeological Methods – archaeometry, compositional analysis (both bone and other artifacts), proveniencing artifacts, ethnoarchaeological analogy, zooarchaeology, archaeomalacology, ichthyoarchaeology, behavioral ecology, foodscapes, paleoclimatology, economic and urban modeling, heritage management.

Current Research Projects:

  • Zanzibar Archaeological Project – Founder and Administrator
  • The Nautical Archaeology Digital Library – Contributor and Administrator
  • Seafaring in East Africa (SEA) Project – Founder

Educational Background

  • PhD Anthropology (Archaeology), University of Wisconsin-Madison (2020)

Selected Publications

  • As Editor

    • Sarathi, A. (ed) 2018. Early Maritime Cultures on the East African Coast and the Western Indian Ocean. Archaeopress, Cambridge.

    As author

    • Kenoyer, J.M., Kusimba, C.M., Sarathi, A. et al. 2024. Carnelian beads from Manda, Unguja Ukuu and Kwa Mgogo: New insights on the stone bead trade between South Asia and East Africa, 7th to 15th Century CE. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 16, 83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-024-01966-x
    • Bojakowski, P. T., Sarathi, A., Berrocal, R. P., Ali, A. K., Othman, H., & Othman, B. 2024. Mtepe: Documentation and Analysis of a Sewn-Boat Reconstruction from Zanzibar, Tanzania. African Archaeological Review, 139-159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-024-09577-6
    • Seetah, K., Manfio, S., & Sarathi. A. 2023. Connecting the dots: situating small islands in the historical archaeology of the Indian Ocean studies. In, Hauser. M., &, Haines. J. (Eds). Historical Archaeology of The Indian Ocean. Florida University Press.
    • Sarathi, A., Walz, J., Dussubieux, L. 2022. Glass Beads at Unguja Ukuu in the Late 1st Millennium CE: Results of the 2018 Excavation in Zanzibar, in: Dussubieux, L., Walder, H. (Eds), Glass Bead Technology, Chronology, and Exchange - LA-ICP-MS Glass Compositions from the Field Museum’s Elemental Analysis Facility, Studies in Archaeological Sciences series, University of Leuven Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2z9fzr0.19
    • Sarathi, A., Kenoyer, J. M., & Walz, J. R. 2022. An Early Islamic Rock Crystal Amulet Seal from Unguja Ukuu, Zanzibar. Journal of African Archaeology. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10013
    • Faulkner, P., Sarathi, A., Crowther, A., Smith, T., Harris, M., Ali, A.K., Haji, O., LaViolette, A., Norman, N., Horton, M., & Boivin, N. 2022. Human-ecodynamics and the intertidal zones of the Zanzibar Archipelago. Front. Earth Sci.10:982694. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.982694
    • Chami, M., Walz, J.R. and Sarathi, A., 2022. Expectations of Community: Meaningful Uses of Caves (beyond Archaeology) in Contemporary Zanzibar. Journal of African Cultural Heritage Studies, 3(1), pp.1–7.
    • Sarathi, A. 2018. Marine Mollusc Exploitation at Kuumbi Cave, Zanzibar: 17kya-1500CE. In Early Maritime Cultures on the East African Coast and the Western Indian Ocean, edited by Akshay Sarathi. pp.171-184. Archaeopress, Cambridge.
    • Li, J., Zhang, S., Bunn, H.T., Sarathi, A., Gao, X. 2017. A preliminary application of dental cementum incremental analysis to determine the season-of-death of equids from the Xujiayao site, China Earth Sci. (2017) 60: 1183-1188

    In Press

    • Sarathi, A., Walz, J., Dussubieux, L., (In press) Glass Beads at Unguja Ukuu in the Late 1st Millennium CE: Results of the 2018 Excavation in Zanzibar, in: Dussubieux, L., Walder, H. (Eds), Glass Bead Technology, Chronology, and Exchange – LA-ICP-MS Glass Compositions from the Field Museum’s Elemental Analysis Facility, Studies in Archaeological Sciences series, University of Leuven Press.
    • Seetah, K., Manfio, S., &, Sarathi. A. (In press). Connecting the dots: situating small islands in the historical archaeology of the Indian Ocean studies. In, Hauser. M., &, Haines. J. (Eds). Historical Archaeology of The Indian Ocean. Florida University Press.