Traditional Knowledge and Ethnoarchaeological Investigations in the Northern Ethiopian Highlands: Pathways to Understanding Past and Present Foodways

ABSTRACT

Research on ancient and present-day foodways in northern highland Ethiopia, focused on grinding stones (querns, handstones) and non-mechanized crop processing, has demonstrated the continuity of food processing systems since at least 1600 BCE to the present. This long-term research has employed archaeological, ethnoarchaeological, and traditional knowledge approaches. Traditional knowledge is often understood to be an accumulation of knowledge and “know how” acquired and handed down through generations of ancestors. Ethnoarchaeology involves ethnographic studies to build analogies, models, and ways of understanding that can be applied to the archaeological record for interpretive purposes. Increasingly, archaeology and ethnoarchaeology integrate traditional knowledge research by working with community members. This article presents results of two projects separated by 13 years that together demonstrate the effectiveness of combining these approaches for understanding the archaeological past in northern highland Ethiopia. Importantly, incorporating traditional knowledge into research methodologies also ensures that Indigenous people have a voice in explaining their past.

ኣብ ሰሜናዊ ከበሳታት ኢትዮጵያ ኣብ ጥንታውን እዋናውን ኣገባባት ምግቢ ዝተገብረ መጽናዕቲ ከም ዝሕብሮ፡ ብዛዕባ እቲ እምኒ መጥሓን (ኲርን ኣእማን ኢድ) ከምኡውን ኣብ መካኒካዊ ዘይኮነ መሳርሒ እኽሊ ዘተኾረ መፅናዕቲ ካብ 1600 ቅ. ል ክ. ኣትሒዙ ኽሳዕ ሕጂ ይቕጽል ከም ዘሎ ኣርእዩ እዩ። እዚ ነባሪ ምርምር እዚ ስነ-ጥንታዊ ዓሌታዊ ከምኡውን ባህላዊ ፍልጠት ንክህልወካ ገይሩ እዩ። ባህላዊ ፍልጠት መብዛሕትኡ ግዜ እኩብ ፍልጠት ከም ዝኮነ ጌርካ እዩ ዝውሰድ፡ ንወለዶታት ኣቦሓጎታትና ብኸመይ ከም ዘጥረይዎን ከም ዝተመሓላለፈን ድማ ይፈልጡ እዮም። ኢትኖኣርኪዮሎጂ ኣብ ስነ-ጥንታዊ መዝገብ ንምትርጓም ክውዕል ዝኽእል ምምስሳል ሞደል ከምኡውን መገድታት ንምርዳእ /ንምስራሕ ዓሌታዊ መፅናዕቲ ምግባር ዘጠቓልል እዩ። ስነ-ጥንቲ ኮነ ዓሌታዊ ስነ-ጥንቲ ነቲ ባህላዊ ምርምር ፍልጠት ምስ ኣባላት ማሕበረሰብ የተሓሕዞም ኣሎ። እዛ ዓንቀፅ እዚኣ ነቲ ኣብ ሰሜናዊ ከበሳ ኢትዮጵያ ዝነበረ ስነ-ጥንታዊ ሕሉፍ ንምርዳእ ነዚ ሜላታት እዚ ብሓባር ብምትሕንፋፅ ውፅኢታዊ ምዃኑ ዘርኢ ብ13 ዓመት ዝተፈላለዩ ኽልተ ፕሮጀክትታት ዝተረኽበ ውፅኢት ይሕብር። እቲ ዘገርም ከዓ ባህላዊ ፍልጠት ኣብ ሜላታት ምርምር ምትእትታው ደቀባት ብዛዕባ ሕሉፍ ህይወቶም ናይ ምግላጽ ድምዲ ኸም ዘለዎም የረጋግጽ።

KEYWORDS:

• Traditional knowledge
• ethnoarchaeology
• Tigrai
• Northern Ethiopia
• foodways
• grinding stones
• crop processing
• Indigenous voices

Acknowledgements

We sincerely appreciate the community consultants who shared their traditional knowledge with us. Particularly, we would like to acknowledge Ato Abrha Kidanu, Waizaro Halufti Tesfaye, Ato Mebratu Areyhu, Waizaro Yalemser Astbha, Waizaro Tadelu Tesfaye, Waizoro Lemlem Gebreziabhear, Waizoro Azieb Tesfay, Waizaro Abarit, Waizoro Zaid Mahray, Haleka Tehwoelde Brahn Beyene, Waizoro Nigisti Hagos, Haleka Gebreselassie Gebreyesus, Waizoro Medin Abade, Ato Hailu Hago; the latter six participated in the grinding stone workshop. We thank Mitiku Haile, Fetien Abay, Ann Butler and Jenny Adams for providing critical assistance in the field and development of our research designs. We are grateful for academic collaborators who worked with us as interpreters, especially Zelealem Tesfay, Shumuye Belay, Yemane Meresa, Habtamu Mekonnen, and Guesh Tsehaye. We thank Yemane Meresa for translating the abstract to Tigrinya and the anonymous reviewers who made valuable suggestions and recommendations. We are grateful to the Ethiopian Heritage Authority (EHA) and the Tigrai Culture and Tourism Bureau (TCTB) for their permission to undertake field research in Tigrai.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

Ethnoarchaeological fieldwork in Southern and Eastern Tigrai was supported by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) [Research Grants No. 410-96-1520 and 410-2002-0846]. Archaeological and ethnoarchaeological field work at Mezber and Ona Adi was supported by SSHRC [Research Grants No. 435 2014-0182 and 435-2018-0445] and by SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate and Doctoral Scholarships.

Notes on contributors

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, cultural contexts of grinding stone traditions, tribology, and use-wear studies of ground stone tools. Recent collaborations have compared use-wear investigations with micro botanical results to establish long-held traditions of both Indigenous and imported grains processed by people as far back as 1600 BCE at the site of Mezber in Tigrai. She currently holds a sessional instructor position with Simon Fraser University, Canada. In addition to academic pursuits, Laurie is actively involved in many community volunteer groups.

A. Catherine D’Andrea

A. Catherine D’Andrea is a 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.