Abstract

This dataset catalogues observations of foodstuffs and food systems in eastern Africa over a period of three centuries (1497-1840 CE). It compiles 2,695 reports of the presence/absence of foodstuffs, domesticates, and non-food crops across 278 sites. These observations were supplemented by information on foodstuff quantity in >650 instances, with >250 unique detailed extracts on methods of production and relative dietary, social-cultural and economic importance. Importantly, this combination of the breadth and depth of ‘big qualitative data’ within the historical record enables data on the materiality of foodstuffs to be investigated alongside social-cultural perspectives (e.g. gender, belief systems, the effects of colonial ways of knowing on indigenous knowledges), and the possible drivers of transitions and transformations in African food systems.