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Munsa

Munsa is an archaeological site in Uganda, located in the southeastern part of Bunyoro , and is commonly recognized by a rocky hill known by the locals as Bikegete which is enclosed within an earthworks system of ancient ditches. The site is located approximately 5 km northwest of Kakumiro township in Bugangaizi County, Kibaale District. Munsa is a Lunyoro name which literally means "in the trenches". The architects of the earthworks are unknown, though it has been speculated that the site can be linked to the Bachwezi. However, there is no evidence for this and it seems likely that association of Munsa with the Bachwezi (or Cwezi) is a recent development.

Excavations of this site has reconstructed the late- Holocene environmental history through evidence of iron-working, human burials, food production, and earthworks. While Bikigete may have been occupied as early as the 9th century AD, radiocarbon and luminescence dates obtained during excavations indicate that the site's ditches were originally dug between the 15th and 16th centuries AD. The age of the outer ditch, Trench C, remains unknown. According to the limited archaeological evidence available, permanent settlement at Munsa was believed to have ceased around the end of the seventeenth century AD. Abandonment of Munsa may have been part of major economic, political, and social upheavals that brought about a shift in settlement patterns from permanent settlements to nomadic homesteads.