Swahili coast
The medieval sites along the Swahili coast represent a cultural tradition with diverse local traditions that can be traced to the ninth century. This has developed into the modern Swahili culture. Currently, there are 173 identified settlements that flourished along the Swahili coast and nearby Islands from the ninth to the seventeenth centuries, which include the sites of Kilwa, Malindi, Gedi, Pate, Comoros and Zanzibar. The most recent excavations at these coastal sites have been used to examine the spread of Islam in East Africa and the development of the Swahili culture. However, the identity of the Swahili, as well as, the people associated with and the development of the culture along the Swahili coast of has been in dispute in both the past and present. The historic use of coral among the Swahili in construction, who used stone as construction material for mosques and tombs, has been associated with the emergence of the use of coral stone for construction in the fourteenth century along the coast for the buildings ascribed with the most importance. Conversely, it has been stated that the sites were founded by Arab or Persian colonists.