Matara:
the Archaeological Investigation of a City of Ancient Eritrea
Francis ANFRAY
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Abstract
Following an overview of the chronological context of Eritrean-Ethiopian antiquity, and a brief summary of research on the Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite periods, this article presents the results of the archaeological excavations carried out by the author and the Ethiopian Institute of Archaeology at the site of Matara, in Eritrea. Four residential complexes and two religious edifices, including a basilica, have been discovered; they belonged to the Aksumite phase. Tombs and numerous inscriptions attest to long occupation of the site from the Pre-Aksumite period, the underlying levels having not been investigated.
To cite this article
Anfray Fr., 2012 – Matara:the Archaeological Investigation of a City of Ancient Eritrea, in F.-X. Fauvelle-Aymar, Palethnology of Africa, P@lethnology, 4, 11-48.
The Giant Stelae of Aksum
in the Light of the 1999 Excavations
Bertrand POISSONNIER
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Abstract
Excavations were carried out in 1999 on the location of Stela 2 at the ancient site of Aksum in northern Ethiopia. These excavations have permitted the documentation of the foundation of this stela, which was transported to Rome in 1937. Preparations were also made for the stela’s return to the site in 2005 and its re-erection in 2008 at the exact location where it stood in the 3rd or 4th century AD. The excavations also made it possible to re-examine our perception of the three giant stelae on the site, from their conception and erection to their destruction.
To cite this article
Poissonnier B., 2012 – The Giant Stelae of Aksum in the Light of the 1999 Excavations, in F.-X. Fauvelle-Aymar, Palethnology of Africa, P@lethnology, 4, 49-86.
The Superimposed Cemeteries of Tuto Fela
in Gedeo Country (Ethiopia), and Thoughts
on the Site of Chelba-Tutitti
Roger JOUSSAUME
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Abstract
In Gedeo Country, southern Ethiopia, the tumulus of Tuto Fela has yielded two groups of steles, some phallic and some anthropomorphic. The latter belong to a monument formed by the successive addition of the tombs of which they are the markers. The phallic steles, which could have been re-employed for this use, originate from an earlier period of the monument characterized by tombs dug into the substratum. This first period has been dated to between the 11th and the 13th centuries AD. It was possible to verify some of the hypotheses proposed for Tuto Fela through the study of the neighboring site of Chelba Tutitti, which has phallic steles only.
To cite this article
Joussaume R., 2012 – The Superimposed Cemeteries of Tuto Fela in Gedeo Country (Ethiopia), and Thoughts on the Site of Chelba-Tutitti, in F.-X. Fauvelle-Aymar, Palethnology of Africa, P@lethnology, 4, 87-110.
Archéologie et Sciences humaines
