Kisalian Graves

The Kisalian graves represent one of the largest collections of artifacts ever found in an African site. Discovered in the area where the Baluba exercised hegemony, the Kisalian graves have become identified with the southeast area of the Central African Forest near the shores of Lake Kisale in the Upemba rift.

Initially, 145 graves were excavated, and 2 atypical ones were dated to the 1st century AD. What this means is that the Baluba culture is far older than the usual date given in the 18th century; this is particularly true if the founders of the Kisalian culture were related to the current occupiers of the region. Given that most European anthropologists date the Baluba culture from the time they became known to whites or Arabs, it is important to appreciate the significance of the Kisalian culture.

Kanimba Misago, a Congolese, and others have tried to reconstruct the culture of the region. Indeed, by the end of the 1970s, more than 200 graves were excavated. More than 40 of the sites had radiocarbon dating done on them, and the age of the sites was more precisely established. Scholars have now structured the activity at the grave sites into four broad stages. The first was the Kamilambian tradition dating from the earliest time of the Kisalian culture in the region to the end of the 8th century AD. The second stage was the Ancient Kisalian stage from the 8th century to the 11th century. The third tradition is called the Classic Kisalian, which began in the 11th century and lasted until the 14th century when the Kabambian tradition, the fourth tradition, began according to the artifacts that were found in the graves.