Reconstructing the 1891 Lugalo battlefield in Iringa Region, Tanzania
Survey and analysis of German Mauser rifle and Maxim gun cartridge casings
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6041750 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Frank Masele (0000-0001-9897-8688, University of Dar es Salaam, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 577-611 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Azania Archaeological Research in Africa (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0067-270X • E-ISSN: 1945-5534 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0067270x.2025.2526974 |
| OpenAlex | W4412636511 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 45 |
This paper presents the findings of an archaeological survey carried out at the Lugalo battlefield. The German punitive military expedition to subdue and besiege the heavily fortified Hehe capital of Kalenga, armed with Mauser rifles, artillery pieces, and Maxim machine guns, suffered a painful and humiliating defeat at the hands of the Hehe warriors, mostly armed with spears and shields, in 1891. A small, yet important, assemblage of battle-related artefacts recovered stands as a testament to an important historical event in Tanzania. The artefacts provide an opportunity to test historical and oral accounts of the battle against archaeological evidence. Forensic firearm identification procedures indicate that the German military expedition under the command of Captain Emil von Zelewski used Models M71 and M71/84 Mauser rifles during the battle. Besides, a .45-calibre casing confirms the Maxim guns were in the hands of the von Zelewski column but were not deployed given the unpreparedness and the prevailing adverse conditions during the military engagement. The rugged mountainous terrain, large rocks and dense vegetation at Lugalo provided the Hehe warriors under the general command of Chief Mkwawa with important military tactical advantages over the German expeditionary corps marching in a long column. The spatial distribution of battle-related artefacts over the battlefield hints at the epicentre of the ambush and positions of the Hehe and German troops and provides some detailed insights into the course of the military engagement
Aerial Survey · Ancient history · Archaeology · Battlefield · Cartography · Cartridge · Environmental planning · Geography · German · Maxim · Political science · Rifle · Tanzania · African history and culture studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History
How Europe underdeveloped Africa
Military Geoscience
The Politics of War Memory and Commemoration
Sound and Vision
The Mountain is their Monument
African Military History
A Modern History of Tanganyika
Nothing Ever Dies
An historical review of forests and warfare from the Romans to the twenty-first century
The Identification of Firearms
A German Rifle Casing and Chief Mkwawa of the Wahehe
Contexts for Conflict
Survey and Excavation of the Anglo-Zulu War Fort at Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Protecting a Bloodstained History
An Archaeological Study of Talamanca Battlefield
Years after the Hehe-German Battle of Lugalo in Iringa Region, Tanzania
The Archaeology of Historic Battlefields
The post-civil war Battlefield Pattern
Simulating archaeologists? Using agent-based modelling to improve battlefield excavations
The 1891 Battle of Lugalo
Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle
On Heroes and Uhuru-Worship
An Archaeological Identity of the Majimaji
Firearms identification in support of identifying a mass execution at El Mozote, El Salvador
Teaching revolutionary archaeology
An Archaeology of Resistance
Conquest and Resistance to Colonialism in Africa
The Mkwawa complex
Maji Maji
The Tools of Imperialism
The Character and Objects of Chaka’
Connexions between ‘Primary Resistance’ Movements and Modern Mass Nationalism In East and Central Africa. Part I
Mkwawa and the Hehe Wars
Sources of Conflict in Southern Africa, c. 1800–30
Knowledge about archaeological field schools in Africa
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |