Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T08:47:51.344Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Urban precursors in the Horn: early 1st-millennium BC communities in Eritrea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Peter R. Schmidt  and
Matthew C. Curtis
Peter R. Schmidt
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, 1112 Turlington Hall, Gainesville FL 32611, USA, [email protected], [email protected] Department of Archaeology, University of Asmara, PO Box 1220, Asmara, Eritrea, [email protected]
Matthew C. Curtis
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, 1112 Turlington Hall, Gainesville FL 32611, USA, [email protected], [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Eritrea fought a war of liberation for three decades between the early 1960s and 1991. While professional research stagnated because of the war, amateur archaeologists provided the sole source of information for ancient material culture in the country during this era. With the coming of independence in 1993, awareness of the potential value of Eritrea’s heritage resources began to grow, leading to an initiative in 1997 to teach archaeology and heritage management at the University of Asmara.

Out of the combined training and research programmes conducted by the University of Asmara have come several major discoveries that change the way that the rise of urbanism is seen in the Horn of Africa. We highlight research showing that between 800 BC and 400 BC the greater Asmara area of Eritrea supported the earliest settled agropastoralist communities known in the highlands of the Horn. These communities pre-date and are contemporaneous with Pre-Aksumite settlements in the highlands of southern Eritrea and northern Ethiopia.

Keywords

Eritreaurbanismradiocarbon dates1st millennium BCAsmara Plateau
Type
Special section
Information
Antiquity , Volume 75 , Issue 290 , December 2001 , pp. 849 - 859
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abul-Haggag, Y. 1961. A contribution to the physiography of Northern Ethiopia. London: University of London/Ath-lone Press.Google Scholar
Anfray, F. 1963. La première campagne de fouilles à Matara, près de Sénafé (Nov. 1959 - Jan. 1960), Annales d’Ethiopie 5: 87–112.Google Scholar
Anfray, F. 1967. Matara, Annales d’Ethiopie 7: 33–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anfray, F. 1970. Notes archéologiques, Annales d’Ethiopie 8: 31–42.Google Scholar
Anfray, F. 1974. Deux villes axoumitos: Adulis et Matara, in Atti IV Congresso Internationale di Studi Etiopici - Boma 1972: 745–65. Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.Google Scholar
Anfray, F. & Annequin, G.. 1965. Matara, deuxième, troisième et quatrième campagnes de fouilles, Annales d’Ethiopie 6: 49–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arthur, J. 2000. Ceramic ethnoarchaeology among the Gamo of southwestern Ethiopia. Ph.D dissertation, University of Florida.Google Scholar
Arthur, J. 2001. Reading pots: an ethnoarchaeological use-alteration analysis of pottery. Poster presented at the 66th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans, April 18–22.Google Scholar
Bard, K., Coltorti, M., Diblasi, M., Dramis, F. & Fattovich, R.. 2000. The environmental history of Tigray (northern Ethiopia) in the Middle and Late Holocene: a preliminary outline, African Archaeological Review 17(2): 65–86.Google Scholar
Bard, K., Fattovich, R., Manzo, A. & Perlingieki, C.. 1997. Archaeological investigations at Bieta Giyorgis (Aksum), Ethiopia: 1993–1995 Field Seasons, Journal of Field Archaeology 24: 387–403.Google Scholar
Bower, J. 1991. The pastoral Neolithic of East Africa, Journal of World Prehistory 5: 49–82.Google Scholar
Brandt, S. 1984. New perspectives on the origins of food production in Ethiopia, in Clark, J.D. & Brandt, S. (ed.), From hunters to farmers: the causes and consequences of food production in Africa: 173–90. Berkeley (CA): University of California Press.Google Scholar
Brandt, S. & Carder, N.. 1987. Pastoral rock art in the Horn of Africa: making sense of udder chaos, World Archaeology 19(2): 194–213.Google Scholar
Clark, J.D. 1967. The problem of Neolithic culture in sub-Saharan Africa, in Bishop, W.W. & Clark, J.D. (ed.), Background to evolution in Africa: 601–27. Chicago (IL): University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Clark, J.D. 1976. The domestication process in sub-Saharan Africa with special reference to Ethiopia, in Origine de l’élevage et de la domestication: 56–115. Nice: Union International des Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques.Google Scholar
Clark, J.D. 1980. The origins of domestication in Ethiopia, in Leakey, R.E. & Ogot, B.A. (ed.), Proceedings of the Eighth Panafrican Congress of Prehistory and Quaternary Studies: 268–70, Nairobi: The International Louis Leakey Memorial Institute for African Prehistory.Google Scholar
Curtis, M. & Libsekal, Y.. 1999. Archaeological survey in the Adì Qeyeh area, Eritrea, Nyame Akuma 51: 25–35.Google Scholar
Drewes, A.J. 1962. Inscriptions de l’Ethiopie Antique. Leiden: E.J. Brill.Google Scholar
Drewes, A.J. & Schneider, R.. 1976. Origine et development de l’écriture éthiopienne jusqua’à l’époque des inscriptions royales d’Axoum, Annales d’Ethiopie 10: 95–107.Google Scholar
Du Toit, P.J. 1936. Bovine tuberculosis, Quarterly Bulletin of the Health Organisation, League of Nations, V.I.Google Scholar
Epstein, H. 1971. The origin of the domestic animals of Africa 1. New York (NY): Africana Publishing Corporation.Google Scholar
Fattovich, R. 1972. Sondaggi stratigrafici, Yeha 1971, Annales d’Ethiopie 9: 65–84.Google Scholar
Fattovich, R. 1977. Some data for the study of the cultural history in ancient northern Ethiopia, Nyame Akuma 10: 6–18.Google Scholar
Fattovich, R. 1978 Traces of a possible African component in the pre-Aksumite Culture of Northern Ethiopia, Abbay 9: 25–30.Google Scholar
Fattovich, R. 1980. Materiali per lo studio della ceramica pre-Aksumita Etiopica, Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli 40(4). Supplemento 25.Google Scholar
Fattovich, R. 1983. I ‘rilievi’ rupestri di Daarò Caulòs presso Asmara (Etiopia), Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli 43: 241–7.Google Scholar
Fattovich, R. 1988. Remarks on the late prehistory and early history of northern Ethiopia, in Boyene, T. (ed.), Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies — Addis Ababa 1984: 85–104. Addis Ababa: Institute of Ethiopian Studies.Google Scholar
Fattovich, R. 1990. Remarks on the pre-Aksumite period in northern Ethiopia, Journal of Ethiopian Studies 23: 1–33.Google Scholar
Fattovich, R. 1997a. The Near East and Eastern Africa: their interaction, in Vogel (ed.): 479–84.Google Scholar
Fattovich, R. 1997b. Northeastern African States, in Vogel (ed.): 484–9.Google Scholar
Fattovich, R. 2000. Aksum and the Habashat: state and ethnicity in ancient northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. Boston (MA): Boston University African Studies Center. Working Papers in African Studies 228.Google Scholar
Fattovtch, R. & Bard, K.. 1998. The archaeological expedition in Ethiopia (Aksum) of the Istituto Universitario Orientale and Boston University (Documentary Exhibition). Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale.Google Scholar
Franchini, V. 1953. Stazioni litiche in Eritrea, Bollettino (Asmara) 1: 25–30.Google Scholar
Marshall, F. 1994. Archaeological perspectives on East African pastoralism, in Fratkin, E., Galvin, K. & Roth, E. (ed.), African pastoralist systems: an integrated approach: 17–43. Boulder (CO): Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.Google Scholar
Michels, J.W. 1994. Regional political organization in the Axum-Yeha area during the Pre-Axumite and Axumite eras, Etudes éthiopiennes 1: 61–80. Paris: Société française pour les études éthiopiennes.Google Scholar
Munro-Hay, S. & Trincali, G.. 1993. The Ona sites of Asmara and Hamasien, Bassegna di Studi Etiopici 35: 135–70.Google Scholar
Phillipsün, D.W. 1977. The excavation of Gobedra rockshelter, Axum, Azania 12: 53–82.Google Scholar
Phillipson, L. 2000. Aksumite lithic industries, African Archaeological Review 17(2): 49–63.Google Scholar
Puglisi, S.M. 1946. Industria litica di Aksum nel Tigrai Occidentale, Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche 1: 284–90.Google Scholar
Ricci, L. 1955–58. Ritrovamenti archeologici in Eritrea, II, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici 14: 48–68.Google Scholar
Schmidt, P. 1999. Preliminary report on the results from the 1998 training excavations at the Sembel site. Report submitted to the University of Asmara and the National Museum of Eritrea.Google Scholar
Schmidt, P. & Wright, H.. 1995. The potential of heritage resources in Eritrea. Report submitted to the National Museum of Eritrea.Google Scholar
Shoshani, J. & Beyin, A.. 2000. Report on faunal remains from 1999–2000 excavations at Mai Amber, Mai Hutsa, and Ona Gudo archaeological sites, Eritrea. Report on file in the National Museum of Eritrea.Google Scholar
Shoshani, J. & Boza, M.. 1999. Final Report on the faunal analysis of zoo-archaeological material from the Sembel site, and Sembel Qushet site, Asmara, Eritrea. Report on file in the National Museum of Eritrea.Google Scholar
Trincali, G. 1965. Cenni sulle ‘Ona’ di Asinara e dintorni, Annales d’Ethiopie 6: 143–52.Google Scholar
Trincali, G. 1967. Necropoli di Curbacaiehat (Asmara), Journal of Ethiopian Studies 5(1): 109.Google Scholar
Trincali, G. 1969. Varietà di asce litiche in ‘ouna’ dell’altopiano eritreo, Journal of Ethiopian Studies 7: 119.Google Scholar
Trincali, G. 1973–77. Necropoli di Cascasse e oggetii sudarabici (?) dalla regione di Asmara (Eritrea), Rassegna di Studi Etiopici 26: 47–98.Google Scholar
Trincali, G. 1980–81. Note su ritrovamenti archeologici in Eritrea, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici 28: 99–111.Google Scholar
Trincali, G. 1987. Reperti antichi di scultura minore e di ornamenti dall’Eritrea e da Aksum, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici 31: 213–18.Google Scholar
Vocel, J.O. (ed.). 1997. Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa: archaeology, history languages, cultures, and environments. Walnut Creek (CA): AltaMira Press.Google Scholar
Wenig, S. 1997. German fieldwork in Eritrea, Nyame Akuma 48: 20–21.Google Scholar