Regional Connections in Northern Ethiopia and Eritrea: Relationships between the Eastern, Western, and Central Highlands

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Traditionally, archaeological research in the northern Horn of Africa has had a strong focus on external relationships. Connections with the Mediterranean, Sudan, and especially the Arabian Peninsula have been emphasized. On the other hand, little research has been done comparing different sites within northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. This is mainly due to the limited number of excavated and fully published sites in the northern Horn. Recently, there has been a surge of excavation, research, and publication, making it more possible than ever before to compare different sites and regions within the highlands. The German Archaeological Institute project at Meqaber Ga’ewa and Ziban Adi represents the new southern extent of excavation, while the University of California, Los Angeles project at Mai Adrasha represents the new western extent. The goal of this session is to foster cooperation and exchange between current excavation teams and discuss how our various sites may have related to each other in the past.

Other Keywords
Ethiopia • Ceramics • Residue Analysis • Personhood • Regional Connections • Eastern Desert • Network Theory • Cosmopolitanism • Eritrea • Pre-Aksumite

Geographic Keywords
Republic of Botswana (Country) • Republic of Namibia (Country) • Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Country) • Republic of Iraq (Country) • State of Israel (Country) • Republic of South Africa (Country) • Lebanese Republic (Country) • Syrian Arab Republic (Country) • West Bank (Country) • Republic of Kenya (Country)

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  • Documents (5)
Documents
  • Cultural Continuity Along the Western Red Sea Littoral (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Hans Barnard.

    The study of the ancient cultural history of northern Ethiopia, modern Tigray, often includes an interpretation of the obvious connections with the Arabian Peninsula, to the east, and the Nile Valley to the west. Less attention is usually given to contacts with the African heartland, to the south, and the relatively arid region between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea, usually referred to as the Eastern Desert, to the north. The cultural connections with the latter are reflected in linguistic and...

  • Mai Adrasha and Its Neighbors (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Rachel Moy.

    A team from UCLA in cooperation with the Tigrai Culture and Tourism Agency and the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage of Ethiopia has completed two excavation seasons at the site of Mai Adrasha located about 70 kilometers west of the ancient capital of Aksum. With the information gathered in these excavations, we can now begin to compare Mai Adrasha to neighboring sites and place it within its regional framework. Radiocarbon dates from the first season of excavation...

  • Network Approaches to Cosmopolitanism in Ancient Ethiopia (50-700 AD) (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Dil Basanti.

    This paper looks at how ideas of cosmopolitanism can be applied to the African context using Aksum (50-700 AD) in northern Ethiopia as case study. While there is much interest in issues of cosmopolitanism, or the making of a "world citizen" or a "world community" as drawn from 18th-19th century conceptualizations, such issues become difficult to study on the African continent given the strong emphasis on personhoods configured around local, corporate contexts. Burial practices from ancient Aksum...

  • Revisiting the Ancient Ona Culture of Eritrea: What Previous Research from the Asmara Plateau Might Offer for New Understandings of the First Millennium BCE in the Northern Horn of Africa (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Matthew Curtis.

    Sustained archaeological research on the Asmara Plateau of Eritrea occurred between 1998 and 2003, producing important initial efforts in ceramic and lithic artifact typologies, subsistence reconstruction, and regional perspectives in landscape use and settlement patterns dating to the first millennium BCE. Researchers identified a distinct regional cultural expression termed the Ancient Ona Culture. This paper reviews the key qualities of the Ancient Ona Culture and argues that, while...

  • Storage, Cooking, and Transport. A Preliminary Residue Analysis of Ceramics from Mai Adrasha (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Terrah Jones. Rachel Moy. Hans Banard.

    This paper outlines the preliminary investigation of a collection of diagnostic and undiagnostic ceramics recovered from the site of Mai Adrasha, located in the Shire region of Ethiopia. Mai Adrasha is one of the largest and arguably most significant early town sites west of Aksum dating to the pre-Aksumite to Early Aksumite periods (12th century BCE-2nd century CE) located in the Western Tigray. The site consists of a cemetery and a domestic area characterized by a collection of stone walls and...