ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

PRE-AKSUMITE AND AKSUMITE AGRICULTURAL
ECONOMY OF ONA-ADI, EASTERN TIGRAY

BY
YEMANE MERESA

Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

June, 2017


ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
PRE-AKSUMITE AND AKSUMITE AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY
OF ONA-ADI, EASTERN TIGRAY

BY
YEMANE MERESA

ADVISOR: ALEMSEGED BELDADOS

(PhD)

CO-ADVISOR: CATHERINE D’ANDREA

(Professor)

ATHESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND
HERITAGE MANAGEMENT PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN ARCHAEOLOGY

JUNE, 2017
ADDIS ABABA


ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
This is the thesis presented by Yemane Meresa entitled: Pre-Aksumite and
Aksumite agricultural economy of Ona-Adi, eastern Tigray and submitted in
partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Arts in Archaeology, in the
Department of Archaeology and Heritage Management, complies with the
regulations of the University and meet the accepted standards with respect
to originality and quality.

APPROVED BY BOARD OF EXAMINERS:

Examiner___________________ Signature_______Date____________

Examiner___________________ Signature________ Date__________

Advisor__________________ Signature_______ Date____________
Co-Advisor__________________ Signature_______ Date_________


Abstract
Archaeobotanical analysis was conducted on a total of one thousand four hundred
seventy five (n=1475) botanical remains in eastern Tigray, particularly at the site of Ona

Adi. The objective of the study was to examine the agricultural economy in eastern
Tigray (Gulomekeda) during the Pre-Aksumite period and its subsequent development
during the Aksumite period, with a special emphasis on developments during the PA-A
(Pre-Aksumite to Aksumite) transition. The result of the study demonstrated the
subsistence basis of the inhabitants from Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite periods and
produced new insights into agricultural economy of the region. Botanical remains
include Hordeum vulgare (barley), Triticum durum/aestivum (free-threshing wheat), Lens
culinaris (lentil), Linum usitatissimum (linseed), Guizotia abyssinica (noog), cf.
Eragrostis tef (t’ef) and cf. Eleusine coracana (finger millet), and other wild/weed. These
findings revealed an important agricultural history similar to that established for western
immediate neighbours (at Aksum, in Ona Nagast, Kidane Mihret D site, Gobodura rock
shelter, Anker Baalti and Mezbr) at the time. The study also provided clues that the site
was located along ancient trade routes and in areas were water and arable lands were
available, possibly indicating the importance of eastern Tigray in the economic and
cultural development of the region during the Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite periods.

i


Acknowledgements
I am very much grateful to all those who supported me in the preparation and successful
completion of this thesis. First and foremost, I would like to express my hurtful thanks to
Addis Ababa University and Aksum University to have been granted full sponsorship for
my MA study. I would like also to pay special thanks to the Eastern Tigray
Archaeological Project (ETAP), funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council of Canada. This project kindly provides me a chance to participate on the
fieldwork and covered all my logistic costs.
I am extremely grateful to my thesis advisors Dr. Alemseged Beldados and Professor
Catherine D‟Andrea who has been the greatest mentor, providing me with guidance and
patient support through this thesis research and development. I appreciate their time and

commitment, and their insistence on high standards.
I would like also express my gratitude to Zoe Walder-Hoge she was helped me in
translation of Italian to English and were the translation deserve special recognition for
her contribution to this research.
My deepest gratitude and appreciation also goes to all of ETAP (Eastern Tigrai
Archaeological Project) team members (Habtamu Mekonnen, Laurie Ann Nixon-Darcus,
Shannon Wood, and Elizabeth Peterson, Brock Wiederick and others for their
professional and material assistance. My thanks should also extended to my best friends
Eyasu Mengesh, Worku Derara and Nega Gebreslassie Kifle Zerue, Yemane Gebru,
Getachew Alemneh who provided me generous constructive comments on this thesis.

Last but not least, I would like to thanks for my affectionate and loving parents, brothers,
sisters for their financial and moral support not only for the preparation of this paper, but
also during the toughest time of my school career.

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Table of Contents
Contents

Pages

Abstract ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------i
Acknowledgements---------------------------------------------------------------------------------ii
Table of Contents-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------iii
List of Tables----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------v
List of figures----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------vi
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................ 1
1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................... 1


1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY AREA ...............................................................................1
1.2 OVERVIEW OF THE CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF NORTHERN TIGRAY
PLATEAU........................................................................................................................6
1.3 LOCATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF PRE-AKSUMITE, AKSUMITE SITES AND MATERIAL
CULTURE .......................................................................................................................8
1.4 ORIGINS OF AGRICULTURE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA ....................................................11
1.5.THE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHTS ON THE EARLY BEGINNINGS OF AGRICULTURE IN
ETHIOPIA .....................................................................................................................15
2.3.1 Diffusion /Migration Models............................................................................ 16
2.3.2 Indigenous Development Models ..................................................................... 17
1.6 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ......................................................................................18
1.7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ..................................................................................................20
1.8 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY............................................................................................. 20
1.8.1 General objective of the study.......................................................................... 20
1.8.2 Specific Objectives of the Study ....................................................................... 21
1.9 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .........................................................................................21
1.10 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION .................................................................................21
1.10.1 Excavations .................................................................................................... 21
1.10.2 Flotation......................................................................................................... 23
1.10.3. Laboratory Analysis Techniques................................................................... 24
1.11 SAMPLE AND SAMPLING STRATEGY ............................................................................24
1.12 DATA ANALYSIS........................................................................................................... 25
1.13 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ......................................................................................26
1.14 SCOPE OF THE STUDY AREA ........................................................................................27
1.15 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY .......................................................................................27
1.16 THESIS ORGANIZATION ............................................................................................... 27
CHAPTER TWO ......................................................................................................................... 28

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2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................................................. 28

2.1 HOLOCENE CLIMATIC BACKGROUND OF FOOD PRODUCTION .......................................28
2.2 CAUSES FOR THE BEGINNING FOOD PRODUCTION .........................................................29
2.3. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLANT
CULTIVATION AND DOMESTICATION IN AFRICA ..........................................................32
2.4.ARCHAEOBOTANICAL, ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ETHNOARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
FOR THE ORIGINS OF AFRICAN FOOD PRODUCTION ..................................................... 34
2.4.1 Eastern Sahara (Egypt and Sudan).................................................................. 35
2.4.2 The Horn of Africa (Ethiopia and Eritrea) ...................................................... 38
2.4.2.1. Archaeobotanical and Archaeological Evidence ................................................. 38
2.4.2.2. Ethnoarchaeological and Paleoethnobotanical Evidence of Early Food
Production in Ethiopia...................................................................................................... 44
CHAPTER THREE ..................................................................................................................... 48
3. OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY AREA AND DATA ............................................................ 48

3.1 CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE STUDY AREA....................................................................48
3.2 DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF GULO-MAKEDA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES ..54
3.3 ENVIRONMENTAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY AREA ................................................60
3.4 PALEO-ENVIRONMENTAL AND PALEO-CLIMATIC CONDITION OF THE STUDY AREA ......64
CHAPTER FOUR........................................................................................................................ 70
4. DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................ 70

4.1. THE ANALYSIS OF BOTANICAL REMAINS IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT ...........70
4.2. ARCHAEOBOTANICAL STUDY OF ONA ADI COLLECTIONS FROM 2014 AND 2015 FIELD
SEASONS ......................................................................................................................72
4.3 DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION OF DOMESTICATES AND WILD/WEED
MACROBOTANICAL REMAINS OF ONA ADI ..................................................................77

4.3.1 Domesticated Botanical Remains .................................................................... 77
4.3.1.1 Triticum sp. grain (wheat)..................................................................................... 77
4.3.1.2 Hordeum vulgare (Barley) .................................................................................... 79
4.3.1.3 T’ef (Eragrostis t’ef) ............................................................................................. 81
4.3.1.4 cf. Eleusine Coracana (Finger millet) .................................................................. 82
4.3.1.5 Lens culinaris (Lentil) ........................................................................................... 84
4.3.1.6 Linum usitatissimum (linseed) ............................................................................ 85
4.3.1.7 Guizotia abyssinica ............................................................................................. 87

4.3.2 Wild/weed botanical remains ........................................................................... 89
4.3.2.1 Chenopodium album ............................................................................................. 89
4.3.2.2 Brassica cf. carinata ............................................................................................. 90
4.3.2.3 Lolium .................................................................................................................. 92
4.3.2.4 Paniceae............................................................................................................... 92
4.3.2.5 Rumex crispus ....................................................................................................... 93
4.3.2.6 Galium spurium ................................................................................................... 94
4.3.2.7 Poaceae................................................................................................................. 95

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4.4 DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................................95
CHAPTER FIVE ....................................................................................................................... 100
5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................. 100

5.1. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................100
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................102
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 103
APPENDIX


A. Profile drowing of D1

.

APPENDIX B Profile drowing of D2

v


List of Tables

Pages

Table.1: Ona-Adi Flotation Sample List. .......................................................................... 23
Table.2: Soil Samples for the Study (2014 and 2015 Field Work) ................................... 25
Table.3: The Holocene archaeological and archaeobotanical Evidence for
Domestication of Plants and Animals in the Northern Ethiopia ............................. 43
Table.4: Showing number of taxa and Specimen both domestic and wild ....................... 69
Table.5: Archaeobotanical summary of domesticates species represented at Ona Adi

76

Table.6: Archaeobotanical summary of the wild/weed species represented
in the Ona Adi macrobotanical assemblage ............................................................ 77
Table.7: Showing a number of crops with their cultural afflation. .................... ………..97

vi


List of Figures


Pages

Fig.1: ETAP study area

3

Fig 2: Major Towns, Sites and Least-Cost Routes . ........................................................... 5
Fig.3: Ona Adi excavated Areas, 2015. Map by Shannon Wood. The
arrow shows D1 and D2 trenches. ........................................................................... 22
Fig.4: Showing the process of floatation .......................................................................... 24
Fig.5: Distribution of sites in the study area ..................................................................... 56
Fig.6: Map of Ona Adi in Gulo-Makeda Wereda ............................................................. 59
Fig.7: Topography Map of Ona Adi in Gulo-Makeda Woreda. ....................................... 63
Fig.8: Ona Adi excavated Areas of D1 and D2 trenches, 2015. ....................................... 73
Fig.9: Proportion of identified crops from Ona Adi ....................................................... 755
Fig.10: Proportion of identified wild/weed species represented in Ona Adi
macrobotanical assemblage ..................................................................................... 76
Fig.11: Image of Triticum sp. Grain, Spikelet forks, Glume base .................................... 79
Fig.12: Image of Hordeum vulgare (Barley) ................................................................... 81
Fig.13: image of cf. Eleusine coracana (Finger millet) ................................................... 83
Fig.14: image of Lens culinaris (Lentil) .......................................................................... 85
Fig.15: Image of Linum usitatissimum (linseed) ............................................................. 86
Fig.16: Image of Guizotia abyssinica .............................................................................. 88
Fig.17: Image of Chenopodium album ............................................................................ 90
Fig.18: Image of Brassica ................................................................................................. 91
Fig.19: Image of Rumex crispus ....................................................................................... 94
Fig.20: Graph showing the distribution of domesticated crops across
occupational phases. ................................................................................................ 98


vii


CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION
1. 1 Background of the Study Area
According to agronomists and plant geneticists, the Horn of Africa is one of the world's
few principal centers of prehistoric domestication of food crop (Vavilov, 1951; Harlan,
1969; Agazi, 2001). However, the nature of ancient subsistence economies in the Horn of
Africa has been the subject of substantial argument with relatively a little in the way of
direct archaeobotanical evidence (Fattovich, 1988; D‟Andrea, 2011). Recent research in
highlands of Ethiopia has produced new data bearing on the Pre-Aksumite to Aksumite
transition (PA-A), and Aksumite agricultural economy which have indicated that
agriculture has been an important subsistence activity for millennia in the region
(Phllipson, 2000; Fattovich et al., 2000; Michels, 2005; D‟Andrea, 2008).
The early to mid-first millennium BC in the highlands of the northern Horn of Africa
observed the growth of multifaceted societies, different agro pastoral economies, and the
presence of social diversity. In the highland area from the Aksum area of Tigray to the
Eritrea Plateau of the Hamasien region, settlements oscillated from dispersed farmsteads
to nucleated communities and towns built of stone; their inhabitants tended domesticated
animals cattle, goats, sheep, and cultivated cereals crops such as barley, wheat, linseed,
lentil and the African grain tef (Boardman, 1999, 2000; Phillipson, 2000; D‟Andrea et al.,
2008).

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The northern Horn of Africa is located approximately between 13° and 18°N latitude and
between 36° and 40° E longitude. The region is delimited by the Tekezze River to the
south, the Barka and Gash alluvial plains to the north and west, the Red Sea to the

northeast, and the Danakil Depression to the east (Fattovich, 2010; Nixon-Darcus, 2014).
The area under study, Ona Adi, is a large ancient town site located in the northern part of
Ethiopia on the Eastern Tigrai plateau. This region is under the administration of Gulo
Makeda Woreda and the site is approximately 15 km north of Adigrat along the Asmera
Road with the geographical coordinates of 39°15‟ - 39°30‟E, 14°15‟ - 14°30N (Wilson &
Pavlish 2005; D‟Andrea,2005; Fattovich 2010; Nixon-Darcus,2014). This region was part
of the territories of the Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite kingdoms (Munro-Hay 1991;
Fattovich et al., 2000). It borders the Eritrean province of Akale Guzay in the north, the
Ethiopian province of Adwa in the west, Temben and Enderta in the south and both the
Ethiopian and Eritrean Afar lowlands in the east (Tsegay, 1996). The site covers 9.74
hectares and is characterized by buried and exposed ancient wall ruins, an ancient crypt
under the church of Enda Petros, several mounds, and a modern plot of agricultural land
littered with high concentrations of architectural debris and ceramics (D‟Andrea, 2005).
It is surrounded by historically known cultural sites as well as mountains and hills.
Culturally, the area is defined by the presence of Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite
archaeological sites in almost all directions, including the well-known rock painting of
Amba Fekada and the Pre-Aksumite site of Mezber. Gulo Makeda (the enclosure of
Makida) is found between the two mountains of Dongolo in the north and Amba Fekada
in the south. According to Sergew (1972) and oral traditions, the antiquity of this site is

2


mentioned by many early observers, particularly by Coulbeaux, and traditionally this
place is said to be the birth place of the Queen of Sheba (Sergew, 1972: 59-60).
This locality has examples of rock art painted by early pastoralists and farmers
(Fattovich, 1988; Phillipson, 1993; D‟Andrea, 2005). Preserved pillars and other
architectural features indicate that several regional towns were established during the PreAksumite and Aksumite kingdoms (Anfray, 1973).

Fig.1: ETAP study area (D‟Andrea, 2013, 2014, 2015; Map by Harrower).


3


As part of the Eastern territory of the Aksumite kingdom Gulo Makeda essentially
derives its importance from its strategic location on ancient routes connecting the vital
Red Sea entrepots of Hirgigo, Masawa, Dahlak Island and Adulis with the rich highland
interior of north and central Ethiopia (Cerulli, 1960; Tsegay, 1996; Manzo, 1998), and it
witnessed the movement of people and goods from southern Arabia to Aksum via the
port city of Adulis. The major trade and caravan routes crossed the Gulo-Makeda area
and include those running from the Danakil to interior plateau of the Akele Guzai to
Tigray, from Aksum and Yeha via Metera and Kohaito to the Gulf of Zula. Commodities
moving through the region included ivory, rhinoceros horn, salt and tortoise-shell (James,
1867; Munro-Hay, 1991; Phillipson, 1998; Fattovich et al., 2000).

4


Fig.2: Major Towns, Sites and Least-Cost Routes (Map by Michael Harrower, 2014).

5


1.2 Overview of the Cultural and Historical Context of Northern Tigray
Plateau
According to available archaeological data, the Northern Horn of Africa has been
inhabited during all phases of the Stone Age (Phillipson, 2005). Occupations became
more enhanced during the Holocene with the appearance of Neolithic type traditions in
the region and in the highlands of Eritrea and Tigray (Clark, 1954; Phillipson, 1977;
Fattovich, 2004). Its strategic location and availability of natural resources made the

Northern Horn an important ancient central area of cultural, economic and social
interaction among the peoples of both sides of the Red Sea, Middle East, Mediterranean
Basin and the Indian Ocean (Fattovich, 2004, 2010; Michels, 2005). This important
societal interrelation, which was rooted in the late prehistory, was a factor in the
development of early complex societies in the region with dominant native African
cultural elements (Munro-Hay, 1991; Phillipson, 1998; Fattovich, 1999; Michels, 2005;
D‟Andrea, 2013). Archaeologically the earliest complex societies appeared in the mid
Holocene (5000 and 3000 BC) which arose in the Nile Valley and in the Horn
particularly in the north western Ethiopia along the Barka, Marab, Gash, and Tekeze
River valleys (Fattovich, 1999). From the mid-4th to 3rd centuries BC, these societies in
the lowlands developed into state-like chiefdoms and dissappeared later with the coming
of the Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite Kingdoms in the highlands (Fattovich, 2010). Such
state development was characterized by the rise and decline of distinct polities in the
Northern Horn (Phillipson, 1998; Fattovich et al., 2000; Finneran, 2007).

6


The earliest complex societies in the lowlands between the Atbara River and Gash Delta
are represented by the Butana (c. 3800–3000 BC), Gash (c. 3000–1500/1400 BC) and
Jebel Mokram Groups (c. 1500/1400–800/700 BC) (Fattovich, 1999, 2010). The
archaeological evidence includes: settlement pattern, administrative devices, architecture
and diagnostic pottery including prestige artifacts, burials, goods and funerary stelae
(Fattovich, 2010). In the highlands the development of complex societies is represented
by the Pre-Aksumite, Proto- Aksumite and Aksumite states (Phillipson, 1998; Fattovich
et al., 2000; Michels, 2005; Finneran, 2007).
The core of the Pre-Aksumite kingdom had indigenous origins but experienced
significant South Arabian cultural and economic influences (Phillipson, 1998; Curtis,
2004) which appeared during the Da‟amat kingdom probably 800/700-400BC (Munro
Hay, 1991; Bard, 1997; Fattovich et al., 2000; D‟ Andrea et al.,2008; Fattovich, 2012).

These cultural influences are manifested in architectural monuments such as temples,
inscriptions, religious ideology and symbolism, as well as ceremonial material cultures in
both Eritrea and northern Ethiopia (Ullendorff, 1965; Bent, 1893; Michels, 2005;
Phillipson, 2009, 2012).
Pre-Aksumite culture is not restricted to Da‟amat chronologically and culturally rather
preceded by local food producers and local craftsmen producing pottery, lithics and
possibly bronze tools (Phillipson, 1977, 2009; Fattovich, 2004, 2010; Fattovich et al.,
2000). The different rock arts which represent milking and a plough scene as well as the
archaeological evidence from Mezber, Gobo Dura, Enda Kidane Mihret and sites of the
Ancient Ona culture supports the existence of earlier local traditions (Phillipson, 1998,
2000, 2009; Curtis, 2004, 2005; Finneran, 2007). Particularly the most important is the

7


Enda Kidane Mihret archaeological site which represents well developed complex
agricultural settlement with large domestic pottery probably for storing food stuffs with
intricate non-elite architectural settlement (Phillipson, 2003, 2000). According to
Fattovich (1999), the Pre-Aksumite period can be divided into three main phases: Early
Pre-Aksumite (c. 1000–800/700 BC), Middle Pre-Aksumite (c. 700/600–300 BC) and
Late Pre-Aksumite (c. 300 BC–100 BC/AD 100) phases. However, Fattovich et al.,
(2000) push back the Early Aksumite to start from 1500 BC.
The Easern Tigray Archaeological Project (ETAP) has made significant progress in
outlining cultural developments of pre-Aksumite period in Eastern Tigray. Research has
elucidated the Pre-Aksumite economy, settlement and the presence of elite groups in the
absence of significant influence from South Arabia. In addition, ETAP investigations
have revealed that the Pre-Aksumite period in Eastern Tigray extended as far back as
1600 BC and it appears to continue to AD 1, several hundred years after the beginning of
the Proto-Aksumite period in the Aksum area. These results indicate a very different
character to the Pre-Aksumite period in Eastern Tigray (D‟Andrea and Welton in prep).


1.3 Location and Distribution of Pre-Aksumite, Aksumite Sites and
Material Culture
The phrase Pre-Aksumite is a name coined by the French scholar Frances Anfray to
explain the earliest phase of the ancient culture history of northern Ethiopia (Fattovich,
1990). The geographical distribution of Pre-Aksumite archaeological sites ranges from
northern and eastern Tigray to central Eritrea with the possible capital at Yeha (Curtis,
2005). According to archaeological evidence urban-like settlements were established in

8


productive and rich agricultural areas of the Eritrean and northern Ethiopian highland
plateaux (Phillipson, 1998; Michels, 2005). Some of the complex settlement system
includes urban centers such as Matara, Qohaito, (Phillipson, 1998) and Ona Adi (D‟
Andrea, 2008) and ceremonial sites such as Kaskase, Addi Geratemen and Fakiya in
Eritrea, Yeha and the later phase Hawelti-Melazo site in centeral Tigray (Fattovich,1999,
2012). The chief archaeological indicators of Pre-Aksumite material culture include both
local and South Arabian elements (Fattovich, 1990; Phillipson, 2000; Michels, 2005).
Local Pre-Aksumite cultural evidence includes ceramics and lithics were discovered from
Gobo Durra, EndaKidaneMihret, and Ancient Ona culture and in non-elite village
settlements (Phillipson, 1977, 2000; Curtis, 2005; Michels, 2005; Fattovich, 2010). South
Arabian cultural elements are restricted to South Arabian style temples, sculptures,
religious symbolism and language dominantly discovered from Yeha, Hawelti, Kaskase
and Matara II (Anfary, 1981; Phillipson, 1998; Michels, 2005; Finneran, 2007).
However, most of these traits did not seem to directly influence ordinary settled societies
who practiced their own existing cultural traditions (Michels, 2005; Phillipson, 2009).
These local traditions are well attested at the „D‟ site Enda-KidaneMihret at the north
eastern end of Aksum (Phillipson, 2000) and on Ancient Ona sites in Eritrea (Curtis,
2004), Mezber and Ona Adi (D‟Andrea and Welton in prep) as well as several non-elite

Pre-Aksumite settlements surveyed between Aksum and Yeha (Michels, 2005). The
settlement pattern in Tigray is characterized by towns, villages, hamlets, and ceremonial
centers such as Yeha (Michels, 2005).
The Pre-Aksumite state ended in the second half of the 1st millennium BC, as a result,
settlementsin the Aksum–Yeha region sharply decreased in size and monumental

9


buildings were abandoned (Fattovich, 2004, 2010; Michels, 2005; Curtis, 2005). The
period also was characterized by cultural break down and functional replacement of
religious shrines to elite residential complexes (Michels, 2005). South Arabian influences
were significantly reduced and dominated by local elements for example, inscriptions in a
rougher script were used to transcribe a language which was less and less like the original
South Arabian dialect and Mukarib and other titles are no longer mentioned (Fattovich,
2010). The epigraphic documentation became composed of cursive South Arabian letters,
and written neither in the South Arabian nor Ethiopian language (Phillipson, 2009).
The collapse of the Sabaean influenced Pre-Aksumite state was followed by the
development of a new complex society with a different cultural pattern known as the
Proto-Aksumite found only on the Beita Giorgis plateau near Aksum. This transitional
period is critically important for the culture history of northern Ethiopia and the northern
Horn (Phillipson, 1998,; Fattovich et al., 2000; Fattovich and Bard, 2000; Curtis, 2004,
2005, 2009; Michels, 2005). The Proto-Aksumite (c. 400–50 BC) cultural polity is
represented by settlement pattern, monumental architecture, elite tombs, grave marker
stelae, as well as administrative devices (Fattovich and Bard, 2001; Fattovich, 2010). The
origins of the Proto-Aksumite polity are still uncertain, because the Proto-Aksumite
period has been defined only at the site of Bieta Giyorgis (Fattovich and Bard, 2001). The
extension of cultural developments during the Pre-Aksumite to Aksumite transition
(hereafter PA-A transition) beyond Aksum may be open to question. The PA-A
transitional period in Eastern Tigray has only recently come under study (D‟Andrea et

al., 2008; Habtamu Mekonnen personal communication). The emerging picture based on
completed surveys (D‟Andrea et al., 2008; Harrower and D‟Andrea 2014) and

10


excavations in progress (D‟Andrea 2013, 2014) is that the PA-A transition in Eastern
Tigray differs from that observed in the Aksum region, based on evidence of continuity
in site occupation during the transition and an apparent absence of Sabaean influence,
which is also noted for the Ancient Ona Culture (Schmidt et al., 2008). Although
Sabaean peoples were clearly present in Eastern Tigray during the Pre-Aksumite period
(Wolf & Nowotnick, 2010) their impact on the development of social complexity in the
region may have been minimal or indirect (D‟Andrea and Welton in prep). Recent
surveys (Harrower and D‟Andrea 2014) have found no evidence for centralized Aksumite
polities in the Gulo Makeda region of eastern Tigray and it is hypothesized that a
hierarchical political system was in place at that time. Clearly additional work is needed
outside the Aksum-Yeha region to explore the regional implications of the PA-A
transitional period in the Horn of Africa.

1.4 Origins of Agriculture in the Horn of Africa
Due to the problems of clear identification of centers of domestication and the precise
origin of domestication for plants and animals, the chronology of the Horn has not yet
been established and it remains unknown whether indigenous or Near Eastern imported
crops were first cultivated in the region (Dombroski, 1971; Barnett, 1999; D‟Andrea,
2008, 2011:369). However, evidence for the role of Ethiopia in the domestication of
certain crops has come from botanists and geographers (Dombroski, 1971). The botanical
study of crops in Ethiopia began with the first major work of the Russian botanist
Vavilov in the 1920s, which identified the Ethiopian highlands as one of eight centers of
plant domestication in the world. Since then a great deal of research on the origin of
agriculture has been done by scholars. As much as Vavilov and Harlan are credited for


11


popularizing the highlands of Ethiopia as a rich source of genetic diversity for plants and
as the probable center for the origin of agriculture, the works of the Italian agronomist
Rafaelle Ciferri in the 1930s and 1940s was no less important. Most research dealing
with botany, archaeobotany and the origin of ancient agriculture fail to mention his
contribution in the field (D‟ Andrea et al., 1999; Alemseged, 2015). Ciferri (1939) argued
that Ethiopia is unique in the world for the study of plant diversity and ancient
agriculture. The area possesses a very rich variety of wheat, which makes it ideal for the
study of the evolution of the plant. Several theories/hypotheses were formulated with
little or no archaeological support. Archaeological researchers in the Horn of Africa
seeking to recover archaeobotanical remains are few, and studies are fairly recent
(Boardman, 1999). Many of the current theories/hypotheses developed to elucidate the
origin of agriculture in the Horn of Africa try to give broad and general explanations for
the origin, not taking into account the implications of the diverse environment, social and
ecological situations (Boardman, 1999).
These theories also fail to consider the specific individual crops and the socio-ecological
context in which the various crops grow (Hildebrand, 2003). The Ethiopia highlands have
been acknowledged as an important area for plant domestication and agricultural
innovation (Bard et al., 2000:70; D‟Andrea, 2008; D‟Andrea et al., 2008). Plant species
which are believed to have been domesticated in the Horn of Africa include the cereal
t‟ef (Eragrostis tef), the oil crop noog (Guizotia abyssinica) and the cereal finger millet
(Eleusine coracana).

All have wild progenitors in the region, indicating local

domestication. Wild progenitors of other ancient crops grown in Ethiopia, including
emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), lentil (Lens culinaris),


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chick pea (Cicer aurietinum) and linseed (Linum usitatissimum) are Near Eastern in
origin (Kobishchanov, 1979; Barnett 1999:61; Bard et al., 2000:70; Agazi, 2001;
D‟Andrea et al., 2008). Based on linguistic evidence, Ehret (2011) determined that AfroAsiatic languages developed in the Red Sea region at about 17,000 years ago and
evidence suggests that early peoples were engaged in the extensive exploitation of
grasses. Around 7,000 years BP Cushitic-speaking peoples of the Horn were cultivating
African crops such as t‟ef and finger millet and they were keeping domesticated cattle.
However, there is no supporting archaeobotanical evidence that dates to this early period.
Archaeological evidence has been recovered suggesting food producing societies with
domesticated livestock have existed since the late fourth/third millennia BCE in the Horn
and that agricultural intensity increased at the beginning of the mid-first millennium BCE
(Bard et al., 2000). Archaeobotanical remains from Bieta Giyorgis, in Aksum, northern
Ethiopia, produced samples of barley and wheat, which were likely cultivated during
Early Aksumite and Proto-Aksumite periods. t‟ef, lentils and grapes (Vitis vinifera) were
likely added in Middle Aksumite times in this region (Bard et al., 1997; D‟Andrea,
2008).
Archaeobotanical evidence for the cultivation of Ethiopian cereal t‟ef has been
recognized for the Proto-Aksumite and Aksumite Periods and it was probably present in
the Pre-Aksumite times but agricultural systems at this time appear to be dominated by
Near Eastern crops (D‟Andrea, 2008). Emmer and barley have been directly dated to this
period at D site Kidane Mehret, Aksum and they were cultivated along with linseed
(Linus usitatissimum) (Phillipson, 2000). Near Eastern crops are noted for all periods
during Proto Aksumite and Aksumite periods (D‟Andrea, 2008). Boardman (2000) also

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reports archaeobotanical remains of Near Eastern grains dating to the Pre-Aksumite
period. From the Pre-Aksumite and Late Aksumite contexts in the Ancient Ona sites of
Eritrea, D‟Andrea et al., (2008) have identified similar species and there appears to be an
increase in archaeologically recovered, African crop remains while the introduced Near
Eastern crop remains do not decline during these times (Boardman, 2000).
The only indigenous domesticate known for the Pre-Aksumite period is t‟ef recovered at
the Mai Chiot site near Asmara, where a single grain is dated by association to the
Ancient Ona Culture (D‟Andrea, 2007). However, the lack of a direct date means t‟ef
should be only tentatively be assigned to this period. The results from Ona Nagast, which
represent the first available archaeobotanical evidence for the Proto-Aksumite period,
suggest that the predominance of Near Eastern crops continues, with the possible addition
of t‟ef (D‟Andrea, 2007). Boardman (2000) advocates this variation and enlargement of
the range of crops may show both magnification of agriculture and increasing
specialization. The intensification and specialization could indicate a general trend
toward building a market economy where trading/selling of crops was occurring
(Boardman, 2000:368).
T‟ef is a cereal that holds a central place in modern-day Ethiopian and Eritrean culture
and is considered the most important indigenous grain in the region, regarded as
exceptionally nutritious (D‟Andrea, 2008). It has a high prestige value in the cuisine of
the Ethiopian highlands. Guests and important individuals are fed injera made from t‟ef
as a sign of respect and honour (Nixon-Darcus, 2014). In this region t‟ef normally
accounts for the greatest area of land under cereal cultivation. This important indigenous

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cereal crop, t‟ef, is found widely throughout the weina dega, rarely growing below or
above the limits of this altitudinal zone.
Despite the on-going argument on the early nature of ancient subsistence economy and
domestication in the Horn of Africa – when and where – the region was an area of very

long term manipulation of plants and early adoption of cereals into the diet. The progress
included local domestication (likely with comparatively little in the way of direct
evidence for the improvement from harvesting and managing wild resources) and
incorporation of imported varieties of crops. As far back as the 2nd millennia BCE the
people of the Horn supported themselves through herding, and possibly crop husbandry.
The valley floors were reserved for grazing animals, crops and associated crop
processing. People built tightly clustered stone rectangular houses, often attached to one
another, on rocky outcrops not suitable for agricultural pursuits (Curtis and Schmidt,
2008). Occasionally settlements of stone houses were constructed on the flat topped
amba (Curtis, 2008). Within these settlements, in addition to flaked tools, grinding stone
tools were being made and used to support the processing of the agricultural crops
(Fattovich, 1990).

1.5. The Schools of Thoughts on the Early Beginnings of Agriculture in
Ethiopia
A number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain the emergence of food
production in the Horn (Brandt, 1984). There are two schools of thought/models on the
evaluation of early agriculture in Ethiopia in general northern Ethiopia in particular. The
first school is predicated on the idea of diffusion while the other believes that the

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