Relating the Ancient Ona Culture to the Wider Northern Horn: Discerning Patterns and Problems in the Archaeology of the First Millennium BC

Several sites dating to the first half of the first millennium BC in Tigray and Eritrea are characterised by the occurrence of South Arabian elements mainly evident in monumental architecture, sculpture and inscriptions. The indisputable presence of such features was at first regarded as proof of a Sabaean colonisation of the region and was also cited to explain the origin of some Semitic languages spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Investigations conducted in the 1960s and 1970s showed that the South Arabian features should be regarded as status-markers of the elite; the contemporaneous presence of elements representing the culture of the indigenous population was also stressed. In this paper, some artworks of this date will be reconsidered. It will be suggested that they are characterised by a conscious use of exogenous elements of different origins (not just Sabaean, not just South Arabian) assembled in a local and original syntax and expressing local social and symbolic messages related to the emphasis of state or group identity. Finally, a new assessment of the art will be attempted following this approach, with a tentative explanation for its rise and development.Résumé Plusieurs sites datant de la première moitié du premier millénaire av. J.-C. au Tigray et en Erythrée sont caractérisés par des éléments sud-arabiques très évidents dans l'architecture monumentale, la sculpture, et dans les inscriptions. Ces éléments ont été considérés comme les preuves tangibles d'une colonisation sabéenne qui pourrait expliquer l'origine des langues sémitiques parlées en Ethiopie et en Erythrée aujourd'hui. Des recherches menées dans les années soixante et soixante-dix ont montré que les éléments sudarabiques démarquaient plutôt le rang et statut social de l'élite, tout en soulignant le caractére local des elements représentant la culture des Afr Archaeol Rev (populations indigènes. Cet article se propose de ré-examiner le travail artistique et certain objets d'art de cette période. On montrera qu'ils sont caractérisées par un usage conscient d'éléments exotiques divers (pas seulement sabéens, ni sud-arabiques) intégrés dans une syntaxe locale originale, qui exprime des messages sociaux et symboliques locaux associés à la création d'une identité étatique. Enfin, sur la base de cette approche identitaire, on proposera une nouvelle interpretation de l'art de cette période, et une explication de ses origines et développement.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Capra nubiana in Berbere Sauce?

Manzo¹

2009

“…No description of the 'PreAksumite' ceramics from Inda Sellassie, Tigray, has been published so far (Finneran and Phillips 2003;Phillips 2004;Finneran et al 2005) The culture historical meaning of these three main ceramic traditions is still unknown. They might represent either three variants in pottery manufacture by the same people with a common subsistence economy and settlement pattern (and perhaps language) or three separate populations (see also Curtis 2009). The 'Ancient Ona Culture' in the Greater Asmara region (Hamasien) might be ascribed to a separate population as this culture is characterised by some specific features, such as ritual stone bulls heads, which do not occur in the other regions (Schmidt 2009).…”

Section: General Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconsidering Yeha, c. 800–400 BC

Fattovich

2009

Yeha, in Tigray, is the most impressive site with evidence for South Arabian influence dating to the first millennium BC in the northern Horn of Africa (Eritrea and northern Ethiopia). The evidence from this site was used to identify a 'Pre-Aksumite' or 'Ethiopian-Sabean' Period (mid-first millennium BC) when an early Afro-Arabian state apparently arose in the region. A 'Pre-Aksumite Culture', characterised by South Arabian elements, was also suggested as a distinctive archaeological culture in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. However, recent fieldwork in these countries suggests that a Pre-Aksumite culture actually did not exist and South Arabian features were restricted to a few sites, which were scattered in a mosaic of different archaeological cultures in the first millennium BC. This hypothesis is tested through a comparison between the ceramics from Yeha and those from Matara and other sites of the first millennium BC in Tigray and Eritrea.Résumé Yeha (Tigray) est le site du premier millénaire av. J.-C. le plus remarquable du nord de la Corne de l'Afrique (Erythrée et Ethiopie du nord) en matière d'influences sud-arabiques. Les données de ce site ont été utilisées pour définir une période 'préaksoumite' ou 'éthiosabéenne' (datant du milieu du premier millénaire av. J.-C.), marquée par l'apparente émergence d'un état afro-arabique dans la région. On a aussi suggéré l'existence d'une culture archéologique 'pré-aksoumite' en Ethiopie du nord et en Erythrée, caracterisée par la présence d'éléments sud-arabiques. Cependant, des nouvelles recherches mettent maintenant en doute l'existence de cette 'culture pré-aksoumite' et suggèrent que les éléments sudarabiques se limitent à quelques sites du premier millénaire av. J.-C. répartis en une mosaïque de différentes cultures archéologiques. Cette hypothèse est ici confrontée aux résultats d'une comparaison systématique entre les poteries de Yeha, Matara, et d'autres sites du Tigray et d'Erythrée datant du premier millénaire av. J.-C.

“…AMS determinations are indicated by asterisks see also Anfray 1974) revealed a sequence in which could be recognised two successive phases of occupation-again undated in absolute terms-preceding the Aksumite town; full details are not yet available, but both these early phases are generally designated 'Pre-Aksumite' (Anfray 1990: 33-38; summary in Curtis & Habtemichael 2008: 316-321; see also Fattovich 2009). Between 1998 and 2002, Peter Schmidt led students from Asmara and Florida in intensive investigation of sites in the greater Asmara area (Schmidt et al 2008a;Schmidt 2009;Curtis 2009); their work greatly amplified, but did not significantly contradict, Tringali's conclusions. As at Aksum, plant and animal traces were studied as well as material culture, and radiocarbon dates were obtained.…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Within these peasant communities, élite groupings may be recognised in several areas, but their emergence was by no means uniform (Curtis 2004(Curtis , 2008(Curtis , 2009. Not surprisingly, foreign contacts are most frequently attested in élite contexts, where they were used to demonstrate enhanced status (Manzo 2009).…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

The First Millennium bc in the Highlands of Northern Ethiopia and South–Central Eritrea: A Reassessment of Cultural and Political Development

Phillipson

2009

An overview is offered of the development of research-both archaeological and epigraphic-on the inhabitants of the northern Horn during the first millennium BC. Initially, reconstructions of this period placed considerable emphasis on links with southern Arabia and tended to group those into a single cultural category that was designated 'Pre-Aksumite'. It is now argued that long-distance contacts were much less pervasive, being largely restricted to the élite, and that other aspects of life-including much material culture and subsistence economydisplayed strong local continuity from earlier times. Similarly, it is argued that interpretation of the epigraphic evidence as indicating a single 'Pre-Aksumite' state called D'MT is unjustified.Résumé On fait une revue du développement de la recherche archéologique et epigraphique sur les habitants des régions septentrionales de la Corne de l'Afrique pendant le premier millénaire avant notre ère. Autrefois, les interprétations tendaient à mettre en exergue les relations avec l'Arabie du sud, et considérer toutes ces populations comme appartenant à un seul groupe culturel 'pré-aksoumite'. On préfère aujourd'hui soutenir que les contacts de longue distance étaient pour la plupart limités aux élites, et que les autres dimensions de la vie sociale -les outils lithiques, la culture matérielle, et les moyens de subsistance notamment -présentent des continuités appréciables avec les périodes antérieures. On considère de même qu' il n'y a pas de raison pour interpréter les textes épigraphiques comme indicatifs d'un seul état 'pré-aksoumite' nommé D'MT.