Archaeology and Heritage Management

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Browsing Archaeology and Heritage Management by Author "Beldados (PhD), Alemseged"

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    Human-Environment Interactions in the Bale Mountains During the Late Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs: Anthracological Study
    (Addis ababa university, 2021-08) Tarekegn, Tefera; Beldados (PhD), Alemseged
    This thesis presents results of the analysis of the anthracological remains excavated from 10 archaeological sites located in the Bale Mountains. These sites yielded hundreds of anthracological remains collected from the early LSA occupation phase to the early arrival of pastoral phase in the BM covering a period between ~15-0ka cal. BP. The aims of the present study are: to reconstruct firewood collection strategies used by the prehistoric group in the Bale Mountains, to investigate the nature of vegetation history, to shed new light on the poorly understood environmental conditions during human occupation phases in the Bale Mountains, and to understand interactions between past humans and their environment in African high-altitude ecozones. The anthracological investigation was conducted on a total of 565 charcoal macro-remains obtained from various excavated sites. From the samples, a total of 366 anthracological samples were identified in their respective taxa from which seven different plant spices were documented. The recorded taxa include Erica arborea (n=90), Myrsine africana (n=82), Solanum giganteum (n=51), Artemisia afra (n=47), Hagenia abyssinica (n=44), Hypericum revolutum (N=31) and Juniperus procera (n=21) The results of antrhacological analysis show the presence of varied vegetation cover and environmental conditions in the sites located along the plateau and northern escarpments of the BMs. The finding of this study also demonstrates that prehistoric hunter-gatherers used different ecological zones very variably; the aforementioned plant types namely, Erica arborea, Myrsine africana, Solanum giganteum, Artemisia afra, Hagenia abyssinica, Hypericum revolutum, and Juniperus procera were also available as fire woods.
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    An Investigation of the Archaeobotanical Remains from the Site of Harlaa, Eastern Ethiopia (Mid-6th–15th Centuries AD)
    (Addis ababa university, 2021-10) Hussien, Endris; Beldados (PhD), Alemseged
    The archaeology of Islamic Ethiopia has been fundamentally understudied until recently, and the archaeobotany specifically has been largely neglected. This archaeobotanical investigation is part of a wider archaeological research project called “Becoming Muslim”, which began work at the site of Harlaa, since 2015. The archaeological evidence from Harlaa confirms the immense importance of the site, which was an important commercial, residential, and industrial quarters between the mid-6th and 15th centuries AD. A total of 230.04 liters of soil samples during the 2016 to 2020 field seasons were collected through excavation, which are the focus of this study, with the aim of looking: at the food economy of the inhabitants, diversity and distribution of floral resources, and the environmental history of the study area. More than 718 plant remains were identified, and were grouped as cereals, legumes, oil plants, weedy plants, woods and Poaceae based on their primary use and morphological character. The finding indicates that the historic Harlaa peoples had developed food-crops-based subsistence strategy from the mid-6th to early 15th centuries AD. Based on the data recovered, it is possible to see that most of the food crops recovered at Harlaa are Middle Eastern, and are similar with the food crops of the northern highlands. Secondary sources indicate that cash crops (such as khat and coffee) were amongst the widely cultivated plants introduced to the region at a later date, probably after Harlaa was abandoned in the 15th century. The archaeobotanical data, however, is devoid of remains related to khat and coffee.