The original PhD research by Quintana Morales was funded by an Overseas Research Scholarship at the University of Bristol, with additional support from a British Institute in Eastern Africa Grant, a Mellon Mays Travel and Research Grant, and a Mellon Mays Predoctoral Research Grant. Quintana Morales carried out ethno-archaeological fieldwork in 2009 and 2010 under the research permit NCST/5/002/R/363 granted by the National Council for Science and Technology, Kenya, during which she received invaluable assistance in the field from Mohamed Mchulla, Mwatime Abdallah, Mjahiya Rashid, and Najma Ruwehy, and Philippe Béarez, as well as the patience and kindness of the residents of Vanga, Jimbo, and Jasini. The excavations at Shanga and on Zanzibar were conducted under the auspices of the British Institute in Eastern Africa. Osteological identification was conducted by Nina Mudida and the team from the National Museum of Kenya. We wish to thank two anonymous reviewers and the editors for their careful reading of the manuscript.