The State of Archaeobotanical Research in Ethiopia Academic Article uri icon

Abstract

  • This article evaluates current knowledge on the beginning of early agriculture,
    the study of past environment, and past human-plant interactions. In the study,
    the regions of Ethiopia are geographically classified into four; North, North
    Central, South, and East, based on previous literature on past environment and
    early agriculture, and the availability of sites that bear botanical remains from
    archaeological sites, which were investigated employing proper
    archaeobotanical methods. A total of 13 sites were included in this review.
    The highest number of sites that provide plant remains from archaeological
    sites and insight into the types of cultivated crops belong to the northern part,
    with six sites, followed by the south (4 sites), and the least representation is
    the eastern part of the country with only one site. What is common in the
    review of the results of the archaeobotanical research in almost all the sites of
    the four regions is the availability of introduced Middle Eastern crops like
    wheat and barley starting from the Late-Holocene (ca. 1600 years BCE) to the
    medieval and post-medieval times (14th- 18th centuries A.D). The
    archaeobotanical record, until very recently, was devoid of sufficient data on
    indigenous C-4 crops like tef (Eragrostis tef), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and
    finger millet (Eleusine coracana). The uses of phytoliths and starch granules
    as an approach to recover microscopic plant remains from sediments and
    artefacts proved to be instrumental in recovering small seeded native cereals.
    This study observed that the agricultural economy of the southern half of the
    country was mainly on enset, fruits and vegetables, and geophytes (root
    crops), and, thus, for their identification from archaeological sites shall
    integrate the study of phytoliths and starch granules. It was also possible to see
    that there is still a lack of data to clearly outline the beginning and evolution of
    early agriculture and portray human-environment interactions in almost all the
    regions. Furthermore, phytolith, anthracological and palynological studies are
    far from being topics of specialized research in the country.

Publication Date

  • 2025-01-01