Urban precursors in the Horn: early 1st-millenniumBCcommunities in Eritrea

Abstract

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.

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

“…In 2001, a 2×2-m test excavation unit was made on the topmost platform near an exposed wall and ash deposit and excavated to sterile soil at 2.30 m below datum. Radiocarbon dates from stratified contexts (three from Mai Hutsa and four from Ona Gudo) suggest occupation between about 800 and 400 BC (Curtis 2005;Schmidt and Curtis 2001;Schmidt et al 2008b). Like other test excavations in the survey area, the Mai Hutsa and Ona Gudo excavations produced abundant macrobotanical remains and faunal material indicating a repertoire of cereal and legume crops, cattle, and ovicaprines (Curtis 2005;D'Andrea et al 2008b;Shoshani et al 2008;Schmidt 2009), multiple hearth features, and a range of material culture types including stone beads, clay zoomorphic and stone bulls' heads figurines, quartz crystal, slate fragments, stone and ceramic lip and/or ear plugs, and heavy concentrations of ceramic sherds and lithic artifacts.…”

“…The two most common handle types include looped lugs produced by a coiling technique and short flat horizontal lug handles. It has been recognized that early to mid-first millennium BC ceramic vessels often possess geometric motifs along shoulder and rim areas (Anfray 1990;Fattovich 1980Fattovich , 1990Fattovich , 1997Fattovich , 2009Schmidt and Curtis 2001). Overall, vessels from non-elite domestic contexts tend to have limited decoration, confined mostly to shoulder, neck, and rim exteriors.…”

“…6c). Such cups occur in dense quantities in Ancient Ona contexts such as Sembel (Curtis 2005;Mehari 2008;Schmidt 2002;Schmidt and Curtis 2001;Schmidt et al 2008b). While small cups are documented from other first millennium BC contexts in the northern Horn (e.g., Fattovich 1980;de Contenson 1963: pl.…”

“…Common coarse-ware vessel forms include large globular storage pots, open bowls, and possible brewing vessels (Fig. 6f: Schmidt 2002;Schmidt and Curtis 2001). Many coarse-ware vessels appear to have exceeded 50 cm in height and 18 cm in mouth diameter; most were likely undecorated, except for occasional vertical incisions near the rim and shoulders and above small horizontal lugs.…”

“…Characteristic of this more recent research has been an explicit concern for building localized, regional, and pan-regional perspectives of ancient settlement, material culture, and subsistence through systematic regional survey and excavation of domestic contexts (e.g., Bard et al 1997;Curtis 2005Curtis , 2008D'Andrea et al 2008a;Fattovich et al 2000;Finneran 2007;D. W. Phillipson 2000;Schmidt et al 2008a;Schmidt and Curtis 2001). While earlier fieldwork tended to focus on monumental and specialized ritual contexts, more recent research has broadened our perspectives, providing new insights concerning the timing and distribution of first millennium BC agropastoral communities.…”