Post by anansi on Aug 28, 2020 8:10:04 GMT -5
The Development of Ancient States in the Northern Horn of Africa, c. 3000 BC–AD 1000: An Archaeological Outline
Beginning in the 3rd millennium BC, complex societies and states arose in the northern Horn of Africa. This process culminated with the development of the Kingdom of Aksum in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea in the 1st millennium AD. The development of these polities can be outlined in principle on the basis of the archaeological evidence. The process consisted of at least two distinct trajectories to social complexity, indirectly related to each other in the Eritrean–Sudanese lowlands and the Eritrean–Ethiopian highlands,respectively, with a shift in the location of complex societies from the lowlands to the highlands in the early 1st millennium BC. This shift was due to changes in the general pattern of inter regional contacts between the regions facing the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean along the Nile Valley, Red Sea and western Arabia from the 4th millennium
Until the 1980s, most Ethiopianists assumed that a state emerged on the highlands in Eritrea and Tigray as a consequence of a South Arabian (mainly Sabean) colonization ofthe northern Horn of Africa in the early 1st millennium BC.
According to this recon-struction, the South Arabian colonists dominated the local populations, and after the decline of the Kingdom of Saba in Yemen in the 4th–3rd century BC they gave rise to alocal kingdom with the capital at Aksum in Tigray. The Aksumite kingdom progressively incorporated the whole region into its territory and laid the foundation of the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia, which survived until the 1970s.
This hypothesis was mainly based on the indisputable evidence of a South Arabian influence in Eritrea and Tigray in the mid-1st millennium BC (Conti Rossini 1928; Ullendorff 1973; Ricci 1984).Beginning in the 1960s, this narrative has been challenged by archaeological research,which suggests that the development of complex societies and states in Tigray and Eritrea was not a linear process of state formation, consolidation and decline, but consisted of atleast two distinct trajectories to social complexity, indirectly related to each other, in the Eritrean–Sudanese lowlands and the Eritrean and Tigrean highlands respectively.
This process was characterized by a shift in the location of complex societies from the lowlands
According to this recon-struction, the South Arabian colonists dominated the local populations, and after the decline of the Kingdom of Saba in Yemen in the 4th–3rd century BC they gave rise to alocal kingdom with the capital at Aksum in Tigray. The Aksumite kingdom progressively incorporated the whole region into its territory and laid the foundation of the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia, which survived until the 1970s.
This hypothesis was mainly based on the indisputable evidence of a South Arabian influence in Eritrea and Tigray in the mid-1st millennium BC (Conti Rossini 1928; Ullendorff 1973; Ricci 1984).Beginning in the 1960s, this narrative has been challenged by archaeological research,which suggests that the development of complex societies and states in Tigray and Eritrea was not a linear process of state formation, consolidation and decline, but consisted of atleast two distinct trajectories to social complexity, indirectly related to each other, in the Eritrean–Sudanese lowlands and the Eritrean and Tigrean highlands respectively.
This process was characterized by a shift in the location of complex societies from the lowlands
dominated the local populations, and after the decline of the Kingdom of Saba in Yemen in the 4th–3rd century BC they gave rise to alocal kingdom with the capital at Aksum in Tigray. The Aksumite kingdom progressively incorporated the whole region into its territory and laid the foundation of the Christiankingdom of Ethiopia, which survived until the 1970s. This hypothesis was mainly based on the indisputable evidence of a South Arabian influence in Eritrea and Tigray in the mid-1stmillennium BC (Conti Rossini 1928; Ullendorff 1973; Ricci 1984).Beginning in the 1960s, this narrative has been challenged by archaeological research,which suggests that the development of complex societies and states in Tigray and Eritrea was not a linear process of state formation, consolidation and decline, but consisted of atleast two distinct trajectories to social complexity, indirectly related to each other, in theEritrean–Sudanese lowlands and the Eritrean and Tigrean highlands respectively.
This process was characterized by a shift in the location of complex societies from the lowlandsto the highlands in the early 1st millennium BC (Fattovich 1997b).
In this paper, which is largely based on the research my colleagues and I have conducted in eastern Sudan (Fattovich et al. 1984; Fattovich 1991a,b; Sadr 1991) and northern Ethiopia (Fattovich et al. 2000; Bard et al. 2003; Fattovich 2008,2009; Sernicola 2008),after a short description of the environmental and culture-historical context, the basic evidence of early complex societies and ancient states will be reviewed and a recon-struction of their development will be suggested.
An interpretation of this process will be outlined in the conclusions.A major complication in this investigation is the different terminology archaeologist working in the northern Horn of Africa adopted to identify and describe the cultural units which appeared in the region through time. The cultural sequence in the Eritrean–Sudanese lowlands was outlined by identifying a major ceramic tradition, divided into temporal phases on the basis of ceramic studies and a series of radiocarbon dates. Within thistradition, different groups of assemblages were distinguished on the basis of specific dif-ferences in the ceramic components (Fattovich et al. 1984, p. 176, Fig. 2). The cultural sequence in Eritrea and Tigray, in contrast, was outlined by distinguishing two main periods of development of the ancient states in the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD: the Pre-Aksumite Period, when a polity characterized by South Arabian elements appeared in the highlands, and the Aksumite Period, corresponding to the development of the Kingdom of Aksum (Anfray 1968). Three archaeological cultures were later described on the basis ofthe similarities in the artifacts from single sites: the Pre-Aksumite Culture (1st millenniumJ World Prehist (2010) 23:145–175 147123
www.researchgate.net/publication/227022729_The_Development_of_Ancient_States_in_the_Northern_Horn_of_Africa_c_3000_BC-AD_1000_An_Archaeological_Outline#pf14
This process was characterized by a shift in the location of complex societies from the lowlandsto the highlands in the early 1st millennium BC (Fattovich 1997b).
In this paper, which is largely based on the research my colleagues and I have conducted in eastern Sudan (Fattovich et al. 1984; Fattovich 1991a,b; Sadr 1991) and northern Ethiopia (Fattovich et al. 2000; Bard et al. 2003; Fattovich 2008,2009; Sernicola 2008),after a short description of the environmental and culture-historical context, the basic evidence of early complex societies and ancient states will be reviewed and a recon-struction of their development will be suggested.
An interpretation of this process will be outlined in the conclusions.A major complication in this investigation is the different terminology archaeologist working in the northern Horn of Africa adopted to identify and describe the cultural units which appeared in the region through time. The cultural sequence in the Eritrean–Sudanese lowlands was outlined by identifying a major ceramic tradition, divided into temporal phases on the basis of ceramic studies and a series of radiocarbon dates. Within thistradition, different groups of assemblages were distinguished on the basis of specific dif-ferences in the ceramic components (Fattovich et al. 1984, p. 176, Fig. 2). The cultural sequence in Eritrea and Tigray, in contrast, was outlined by distinguishing two main periods of development of the ancient states in the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD: the Pre-Aksumite Period, when a polity characterized by South Arabian elements appeared in the highlands, and the Aksumite Period, corresponding to the development of the Kingdom of Aksum (Anfray 1968). Three archaeological cultures were later described on the basis ofthe similarities in the artifacts from single sites: the Pre-Aksumite Culture (1st millenniumJ World Prehist (2010) 23:145–175 147123
www.researchgate.net/publication/227022729_The_Development_of_Ancient_States_in_the_Northern_Horn_of_Africa_c_3000_BC-AD_1000_An_Archaeological_Outline#pf14
