Development of Craft Specialization during the Pre-Aksumite Period in Eastern Tigrai, Ethiopia: Insights from Modern Hide-Workers

Summary

The pre-Aksumite period in Eastern Tigrai witnessed social and economic changes that have been traditionally attributed to the impacts ofexternal influences, in particular the Sabaeans. Recent studies are exploring internal or indigenous factors influencing the development of economies and early social inequality/complexity in the northern Horn. One such factor may have been the local development of craft specialists to cope with increasing demands for certain goods, such as hides. The export and trading of hides has continued as an important aspect of the modern Ethiopian economy, with possible roots in the early development of the Aksumite state. This paper presents the results of ethnoarchaeological and archaeological studies of stone scrapers used to processes hides. Through incorporating morphological analysis, low-power use-wear, interviews and observations, identifiable trends associated with hide processing are evaluated. Studying the formation of craft specialists within this framework creates one means by which the development of social complexity/inequality can be explored for the Pre-Aksumite through the Early Aksumite periods allowing a focus to be placed on indigenous influences operating within the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• An Historical Ecological Approach to the Investigation of Early Social Complexity in the Horn of Africa: First Steps

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15007