The Pre-Aksumite Period: indigenous origins and development in the Horn of Africa

ABSTRACT

The Pre-Aksumite Period (mid-second to late first millennia BC) witnessed the rise of complex societies in the Horn of Africa. Archaeological survey and excavations in the Gulo Makeda region of Eastern Tigrai by the Eastern Tigrai Archaeological Project (ETAP) have produced new data and insights into this critical juncture in the cultural history of the region. Based on data from Mezber and other archaeological sites, we present a new Pre-Aksumite chronology and discuss the material culture, settlement, political organisation, economy, agricultural history and regional interactions of this period. We recommend the use of the term ‘Pre-Aksumite Period’ to encompass this time when the earliest polities developed in the region. Mezber provides us with a glimpse into the lifeways of indigenous peoples inhabiting the northern Horn of Africa who encountered South Arabian visitors to the region during the early first millennium BC. Data from Mezber shift our focus from external influences to considering the culture and development of autochthonous peoples of the Ethiopian/Eritrean highlands who had an active role in negotiating cultural contacts. This perspective constitutes a missing piece of the puzzle needed to better understand the broader socio-economic, political and cultural dynamics of the Pre-Aksumite Period.

ፅማቅ ሓሳብ

ቕድሚ ስልጣነ ኣኽሱም (ካብ መወዳእታ 2ይ - 1ይ ዓ/ዓለም ቕድሚ ልደተ ክርስቶስ) ስልጡን ማሕበረሰብን ህንፀት ሃገረ መንግስትን ኣብ ከባቢ ቀርኒ ኣፍሪካ ክምስረት ዝጀመረሉ እዋን እዩ። ብምብራቃዊ ትግራይ ኣርኪዎሎጅካል ፕሮጀክት ኣብ ወረዳ ጉሎ መኸዳ ዝተካየደ ዳህሳስን ኳዕቲን መካነ-ቅርሲ ዝተረኸቡ ዉፅኢታት ብዛዕባ ናይዚ ወሳኒ ዝኮነ ባህላዊን ታሪካዊን ለዉጢ ናይ ዝተካየደሉ እዋን ሓደሽቲ መርትዖ ኣበርኪቱ እዮ። ብፍላይ መዝብር ካብ ዝባሃል ናይ መካነ-ቅርሲን ቦታ ዝተረኸቡ ጥሉል ጭብትታት ብዛዕባ ናይቲ ከባቢ ባህሊ፣ ታሪኽ ፣ ስርዓተ ምሕደራ ፣ ቁጠባ （ሕርሻን ፣ ንግዲን ）ካልኦት ርክባትን ቀደም ሰዓብ ክስተት ታሪኽን ንምፍለጥ ተካኢሉ እዩ ። በቲ መፅናዕቲ መሰረት ነበርቲ እቲ ከባቢ ኣብ መጀመርታ 1ይ ዓ/ዓለም ቕድሚ ልደተ ክርስቶስ ካብ ደቡብ ዓረቢያ ምስ ዝመፁ ማሕበረሰብ ዝገበረዎ ርኽብ እዉን ንምርዳእ ተካኢሉ እዩ። ናይቲ መፅናዕቲ ውፂኢት ከም ዘመላክቶ ድማ ቅድሚ ዘበነ ኣክሱም ዝማዕበሉ ስልጣነታትን መሰረታዊ ናይ ባህሊ ለዉጢን ብምክንያት ካብ ደገ ዝመፀ ፅለዋ ዘይኮነስ ኣብ ውሽጢ ዓዲ ብዝማዕበሉ ምዕባለታት ዝተፈጠረ ምዃኑ ንፍላጥ ተካኢሉ እዩ ። እዚ ሓዱሽ ዝተረኸበ ውፂኢት ንቀፃሊ ኣብ ከባቢ ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ ብዛዕባ ቅድሚ ዘበነ ኣክሱም ንዝግበሩ ናይ ማሕበረሰብ ቁጠባ፣ ፖለቲካዊን ባህላዊን መፅናዕቲት ከም መሰረት ኮይኑ ከገልግል ተባሂሉ ይሕሰብ ።

RÉSUMÉ

La période pré-aksumite (du milieu du deuxième à la fin du premier millénaire av. J.-C.) a vu le développement de sociétés complexes dans la Corne de l’Afrique. Des prospections et des fouilles archéologiques dans la région de Gulo Makeda (Tigré oriental) effectuées par le Projet Archéologique du Tigré Oriental (ETAP) ont produit de nouvelles données et un regard sur ce moment critique dans l’histoire culturelle de la région. Sur la base de données provenant de Mezber et d’autres sites archéologiques, nous présentons une nouvelle chronologie pré-aksumite et discutons de la culture matérielle, de l’habitat, de l’organisation politique, de l’économie, de l’histoire agricole et des interactions régionales pendant cette phase. Nous recommandons l’utilisation du terme ‘période pré-aksumite’ pour englober cette période où les premières entités politiques se développèrent dans la région. Mezber nous offre un aperçu des modes de vie des peuples autochtones habitant le nord de la Corne de l’Afrique, qui rencontrèrent des visiteurs sud-arabiques au début au premier millénaire av. J.-C. Les données de Mezber déplacent notre attention des influences externes, allant plutôt vers la considération de la culture et du développement des peuples autochtones des hautes terres éthiopiennes/érythréennes, qui eurent un rôle actif dans la négociation des contacts culturels. Cette perspective constitue une pièce manquante du puzzle, nécessaire pour mieux comprendre les dynamiques socio-économiques, politiques et culturelles plus larges de la période pré-aksumite.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethiopia
• Tigrai
• archaeology
• Pre-Aksumite period
• social complexity

ዋና ዋና ቃላት:

• ኢትዮጵያ
• ትግራይ
• አርኪዮሎጅ
• ዘበነ ቅድሚ አኽሱም
• ስልጡን ማሕበረሰብ

Acknowledgements

This paper is dedicated to the people of Tigrai.

We are greatly indebted to the people of Aby Adi, Tsahwa, Menabeity, Etchmare and Adigrat, some of whom have worked with ETAP since 2004. In particular, we wish to acknowledge Waizoro Medhin Abate, the owner of the field beneath which Mezber sits, and our many team members living in Gulo Makeda administrative zone for participation in excavations, ethnoarchaeological and traditional knowledge studies, including Ato Abraha Girmay, Waizoro Zaid Mahray, Ato Tewoelde Brahn Beyene, Haleka Gebreselassie Gebreyesus, Waizoro Medhin Abate, Ato Hailu Hagos, Waizoro Genet Teklay, Waizoro Lemlem Gebregzhiabir and Waizoro Azieb Tesfay. We are grateful for the participation of our Adigrat-based team members including Waizoro Moulu Gebregzhiabir, Waizoro Mesalu Gowayo, Waizoro Sahaynesh Redda, Ato Tesfay Gebremariam, Waizoro Abrehet Hailu, Waizoro Adriana Richard, Ato Kibrom Aynalem and Memhir Tadesse Gebreyohannes. We thank additional ETAP participants, too numerous to mention, but especially Dr Larry Pavlish, Dr Graham Wilson, Tsegu Hadgu, Aman Mohammed, Hagos Hailat, Dr Barbara Winter, Dr Laurel Phillipson, Dr Sarah Oas, Christie Pohl, Dr David Jones, Getachew Meresa and Gidey Gebregzhiabir.

We are grateful to the Ethiopian Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) and the Tigrai Bureau of Culture and Tourism (TBCT) for their support over the years, in particular Ato Demerew Dagne and Ato Kebede Amare.

ETAP investigations at Mezber were financially supported by three grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), including Standard Research Grants 410-2007-2472, 410-2011-1646 and Insight Grant 435-2014-01. Further support was obtained by grants from Simon Fraser University, including four SSHRC/SFU Institutional Grants and a VP Research SSHRC 4A grant. Field and laboratory microbotanical work completed by AR-G and CL was developed within the framework of the RAINDROPS project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC-Stg 759800) and both are part of CaSEs, a recognised research group of the Generalitat De Catalunya (AGAUR SGR-e-2017-212).

We thank Hailay Teklay for translating the abstract into Tigrinya, Dr Timothy Harrison for his permission to use and adapt the Tell Tayinat excavation manual, Dr Sturt Manning for assistance in constructing the OxCal chronological model for the site and Dr Michael Harrower and Hailay Teklay for their critical reading of this manuscript.

Notes

1 C₃ and C₄ crops are distinguished by different photosynthetic processes occurring in separate climatic zones. Crops domesticated in Southwest Asia, including wheat, barley, lentils and linseed, are found in cool season temperate zones and photosynthesise using the C₃ pathway, while African wild grasses and crops including t’ef, finger millet and sorghum, which occur in seasonally wet and dry tropical regions, are characterised by the C₄ pathway.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

A. Catherine D’Andrea

A. Catherine D’Andrea is Professor of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University, Canada. She has conducted research in Tigrai, Ethiopia, since 1996 and has been Director of the Eastern Tigrai Archaeological Project (ETAP) since 2004. She has completed palaeoethnobotanical research in eastern and West Africa and traditional knowledge/ethnoarchaeological studies in Ethiopia. Her recent research has focused on early agricultural peoples and the rise of complex societies in the Horn of Africa.

Lynn Welton

Lynn Welton is Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, Canada, and has conducted archaeological fieldwork in several countries across the Middle East and eastern Africa, including long-term involvement with the Eastern Tigrai Archaeological Project in northern Ethiopia and the Tayinat Archaeological Project in southern Turkey. Her research interests include human-environment interactions and computational modelling of socio-ecological systems, as well as the development of early complex societies in the Levant, Anatolia and the Horn of Africa.

Andrea Manzo

Andrea Manzo is Professor of Nubian and Ethiopian archaeology at the University ‘L’Orientale’, Italy, and director of the Orientale and ISMEO Archaeological projects on the Egyptian Red Sea coast and Eastern Desert, southern Atbai in Sudan and the northern Ethiopian highlands. His research focuses on the ceramic traditions of the Eastern Desert, eastern Sudan and Ethiopia, the archaeology and history of marginal areas, human-environment relations, long-distance trade and the emergence of social hierarchy in Northeast Africa.

Helina S. Woldekiros

Helina S. Woldekiros is Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Washington University, St Louis, United States of America. Her research focuses on human adaptations in the Horn of Africa during the beginnings of food production, agricultural diets, pastoralism and mobile responses to climatic change in extreme ecological/environmental settings, including the role of caravans and the domestication and global spread of chickens.

Steven A. Brandt

Steven A. Brandt is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida, United States of America, with interests in African archaeology and ethnoarchaeology, hunter-gatherer bio-cultural evolution, the origins and development of African food-producing societies, international heritage management and lithic technology. He has directed or co-directed a wide range of research projects research in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Puntland, Somalia and Somaliland, including since 2006 long-term late Pleistocene research at Mochena Borago Rockshelter, southwest Ethiopia.

Alemseged Beldados

Alemseged Beldados is Associate Professor in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Management, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. His research encompasses human adaptation strategies in changing environmental conditions during the Pleistocene and Holocene and the transition from hunting-gathering to early food production, contributing to understanding the types of crops cultivated by early farming communities in the Horn of Africa. He is currently a Principal Investigator of the Konso Project (Human-Environment Relations) in Ethiopia under a Thematic Research grant from the Research Office of Addis Ababa University.

Elizabeth A. Peterson

Elizabeth A. Peterson is Director of the Indigenous Collection and Repatriation at the Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, Canada. Her exploration of the development of craft specialisation during the Pre-Aksumite period in Eastern Tigrai, Ethiopia, with a focus on stone tool studies, has involved close collaboration with Tigrayan knowledge holders and Wolayita craftsmen. Her work in museums focuses on reconnecting communities with their cultural heritage through outreach, repatriation, research and collections care.

Laurie A. Nixon-Darcus

Laurie Nixon-Darcus completed her PhD in 2022 conducting research on grinding stones in Tigrai, Ethiopia. Her research focuses on traditional knowledge, the cultural contexts of grinding stone traditions, tribology and use-wear studies of ground stone tools. Recent collaborations have compared use-wear investigations with microbotanical results to document long-held traditions of the indigenous and imported grains processed by people as far back as 1600 BC at the site of Mezber. She currently holds a sessional instructor position with Simon Fraser University, Canada.

Michela Gaudiello

Michela Gaudiello is a ceramist specialising in the ancient pottery of the northern Horn of Africa. Her recent work has focused on the first millennium BC and the contacts between the Horn and South Arabia. She co-Directed the Joint Mekelle-Heidelberg University Project at Mifsas Bahri and led the Polish Archeological Project in Debre Gergis, Ethiopia. She is also involved in archaeological projects in Sudan, Uzbekistan, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Shannon R. Wood

Shannon R. Wood is Laboratory Manager and Collections Curator in the Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Canada.

Habtamu Mekonnen

Habtamu Mekonnen Taddesse is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto, Canada. His 2019 PhD from Simon Fraser University, Canada, involved the study of ceramics excavated from Ona Adi, Tigrai, currently under investigation by the Eastern Tigrai Archaeological Project (ETAP). He has worked with multiple cultural heritage organisations, both in government and academia, and has taught several archaeological and heritage management courses at Ethiopian and Canadian universities.

Stephen Batiuk

Stephen Batiuk is Senior Research Associate and Lecturer at the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto, Canada. He is Co-Director of the Gadachrili Gora Regional Archaeological Project Expeditions (Georgia), Director of Excavations for the Tayinat Archaeological Project (Turkey) and Co-Director of excavations at Mezber (Ethiopia). He is also Project Manager for the Computational Research on the Ancient Near East (CRANE) Project at the University of Toronto.

Yemane Meresa

Yemane Meresa is Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Management, Aksum University, Ethiopia. His current research interests include cultural heritage management in Tigrai and the archaeology of the Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite Periods. He has completed archaeobotanical research at the site of Ona Adi, with a focus on carpology.

Abel Ruiz-Giralt

Abel Ruiz Giralt is a PhD candidate with the Culture, Archaeology and Socio-Ecological Dynamics (CaSEs) research group at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. An anthropologist and archaeobotanist, he uses wood charcoal, phytolith and starch analyses to understand long-term plant exploitation in Tigrai (Ethiopia), including fuel use and grass management and cultivation and is interested in developing mathematical and statistical models that combine Traditional Ecological Knowledge and laboratory analyses to improve understanding of the archaeological record.

Carla Lancelotti

Carla Lancelotti is ICREA Research Professor with the Culture, Archaeology and Socio-Ecological Dynamics (CaSEs) research group and Director of the Centre for Studies on Planetary Wellbeing at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. An ethnoarchaeologist and archaeobotanist, she combines phytoliths, stable isotopes and mathematical modelling to investigate past agricultural systems in drylands.

Abebe Mengistu Taffere

Abebe Mengistu Taffere earned his PhD in Anthropology from the University of Florida, United States of America, in 2023. His research has focused on lithic technology in eastern African archaeology (particularly in the highlands of southwestern Ethiopia), emphasising the technological and behavioural changes that would have allowed hunter-gatherers to deal with rapid and dramatic fluctuations in climate and resources during the late Pleistocene.

Lucas M. Johnson

Lucas M. Johnson earned his PhD in Anthropology in 2016 and analysed flaked stone for ETAP from 2010 through 2011. He is currently a Senior Laboratory Scientist at Far Western Anthropological Research Group based in Davis, United States of America, where he directs field work, analyses lithic artefacts in California and the Great Basin and co-directs the XRF laboratory specialising in obsidian and hard rock geochemistry. He also studies flaked and ground stone from several Maya sites. His work centers on lithic craft production, economy and resource use in mobile, sedentary and state-level societies.