After 1974, for reasons due to the internal Ethiopian situation, the archaeological activity, which ceased entirely in the northern regions, continued sporadically in the center and in the south of the country, with some excavations and some reconnaissance, until 1982.
For prehistoric times, the following is recalled of this activity. Continuation of the excavation work, and then study of the materials found, by Malkà Qunṭurrè (in current spelling: Melka-Kunturé; Acheulean and Oldowayano sites, with traces of hominids); survey of the Acheulean site near Lake Langano (Rift Valley ; south of Addìs Abebà); reconnaissance and excavation in the Ethiopian Rift Valley and Lake Zuway, in the same rift (Middle and Late Paleolithic sites); survey and study of prehistoric sites in the Gamu-Gofa region and, with reduced excavation, also in the lower valley of the Omo river, southern Ethiopia (with a Neolithic site, and remains of hominids; Plio-Pleistocene geological formations); research and some excavation in the southern area of the Rift Valley (Afar) and in the south-eastern plateau near the Webi Scebeli; other researches in the southern area of Afar and in that of Harar (eastern Ethiopia), with evidence of sites that can be placed chronologically around the middle of the second millennium BC. C., probably linked to the introduction of domestic animals and with objects of use that can be connected to others of the first millennium a. C., found in Kenya and Tanzania. In 1977 the results of an excavation carried out in Gobedra (near Aksùm, north Ethiopia right into the historical phase “ aksumita ”, in continuity), of seeds of Eleusine coracana (in Ethiopian, dāgussā), found in a layer probably datable to the 4th or 3rd millennium BC. C. There is also news of rock figures of bovids (large lyre horns) in the valley of Gunda Gundè (region of eastern Tigrai). For Ethiopia travel information, please check zipcodesexplorer.com.
It is worth mentioning the work carried out from 1980 to 1989, in successive annual campaigns in the Cassala area, in eastern Sudan, by the Italian archaeological mission, directed by R. Fattovich, with finds of archaeological sites that have been staggered, as it seems, for some millennium to. C. at the time of our incipient era and reveal that they have a decided interest in the archaeological history of north-western Eritrea, as also seems to prove the type of ceramic remains coming from the latter (an area sloping down towards the Sudanese border).
The study of the ” dolmenic cysts ” of Harar has led to the recognition of structures for funerary use, chronologically attributable with probability to the 2nd millennium BC. C., perhaps related to the cult of fertility, while that of the burial mounds of the same area led to a chronological assignment to the 8th-12th century AD. C., as to their use, without excluding a greater antiquity for these monuments, even prior to our era. For the megaliths of Soddo (central-southern Ethiopia), a series of successive excavation and study campaigns from 1974 to 1980 allowed the archaeologist F. Anfray to examine them thoroughly and precisely define their morphologies and types.
As for the historical period, the preliminary report of the excavation works carried out in Aksum by the archaeologist N. Chittick in 1973-74 reveals the great importance of the architectural complex unearthed in the area of the historiated steles – even if not completely, by interruption of research -, whose examination would lead to place these steles in the Christian era, establishing that they arise in a cemetery area, with which they appear to be connected, although a more direct and precise relationship between tombs and stele cannot be demonstrated. There are also reports of the excavations carried out near Aksum, at Seglamien (original sacred South Arabian site?) And Bieta Giyorgis (conspicuous remains of two churches from the Aksumite era). Other data have been disclosed on ancient proto- and historical archaeological remains and artifacts of the Eritrean plateau. In the meantime, pre- and Aksumite ceramics continued to be studied, as well as coinage, with new contributions, which led to the re-proposal of the order of succession and dating of the ancient and presumed kings of Aksum. Ancient epigraphy also continued to be scrutinized and re-examined. We have also returned to consider and attempt to interpret the enigmatic figurative complex carved in the cave of Dā’ro Qāwlos (near Asmara, Eritrea; the bas-reliefs were subsequently partly torn up and removed by unknown barbarians, certainly foreigners). A surface research, conducted in 1974, led to configure the evolution of the ancient housing structure of the AksùmYeha area (Northern Tigray).
From the. Christian from the Middle Ages (conventional use of ” Western ” terminology) onwards, archaeological surveys on the central-western plateau have led to various findings and the examination of architectural complexes of caves and churches carved into the rock or of vestiges of buildings of the 16th-17th centuries, these of the architectural type to which for brevity the comprehensive term of ” gondarino ” (from the city of Gondar, Ethiopia north-west has been applied). On the pictorial art (sacred) – the one known to us begins after approximately the 10th century – studies have continued, aimed at framing and defining as far as possible themes and styles of its historical development. Some inscriptions in ge’ez have also been reported(on wood or stone) of this era. Other Arabic inscriptions belonging to the Dahlak islands have also been found and published, which together cover a chronological period from the 3rd to the 10th century Hegira / 10th-16th century our calendar (see App. IV, i, p. 736). In 1984 the Italian government officially handed over to the Ethiopian one the archaeological museum set up in Asmara (Eritrea) at the time of the Italian occupation, the contents of which have been listed in a short descriptive monograph.
