Remnants of ancient settled community found

The remnants of what is thought to be the oldest settled agricultural community in the Horn of Africa have been discovered on the outskirts of the Eritrean capital, Asmara.

Experts say the sites, which date back to 800 BC, are of “global importance” and believe that they could change the way the history of the region is viewed. There are thought to be 100 significant sites scattered across a large area of what is considered prime development land to the south and west of the city, much of which has been earmarked for new housing.

Archaeologists from the University of Asmara are hoping to complete an urgent survey of the area to assess the extent of the find before any building work commences. There are also plans to build an open-air museum - which will be paid for by the US embassy in Asmara - to provide information to the public and display items found there.

Using evidence collected during preliminary excavations, archaeologists have already pieced together a fascinating picture of life, dating back nearly 3,000 years. The settlement’s inhabitants lived in stone houses, ate cows and goats, drank beer and farmed surrounding fertile land. They dressed in animal skins - tools for tanning and softening hides have been discovered, along with needles, stone implements for punching leather and bronze buttons.

To conserve heat on the cool highland plateau, houses were entered through openings in the roof. For the same reason, according to archaeologists, homes appear to have shared walls.
Hundreds of tiny bulls’ heads, carved from stone and thought to have ritual significance, were found around the sites. Gold earrings, bracelets, rings, copper and bronze daggers and multiple-neck pottery jugs were also found in one excavation, which was possibly a burial chamber.

Experts believe that the sites provide crucial new evidence that people lived in indigenous settled farming communities in the Horn of Africa as early as 800 BC. “This is one of the richest heritage areas in Africa," said Peter Schmidt, a heritage management expert, who is also dean of the College of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Asmara and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida. "It can be compared to Athens and Rome as it has excellent parallels to those places. There is a remarkable opportunity to use this as a centrepiece of national preservation.”

The potential for tourism revenue from such important prehistoric sites is considerable. Last year, tourism in neighbouring Ethiopia generated more than US $77 million. Many tourists visited that country's ancient monuments at Axum. Experts say the sites on the outskirts of Asmara appear to contain remnants predating the Axumite period, making them internationally significant.

Eritrea’s government, which is supporting the project, is anxious that the local community, including schoolchildren and university students, also have access to the ruins and can use them to learn more about the country’s history.

Arlene Fleming, a cultural resource specialist with the World Bank, which is funding the project through its Cultural Artefacts Rehabilitation Project (CARP), said it was essential that local people were adequately informed about their cultural heritage, so that they could make their own decisions about how to manage it. “Community participation is not a luxury, it is an absolute necessity if the community is to benefit economically," she said. "People should be able to help plan what kind of tourism they want and how to participate in tourism.”

“This is a very exciting find,” she added. “We hope these early projects will provide evidence that cultural assets are very significant and should be preserved and enhanced for the economic growth of the country. They are a factor for stimulating self confidence and national identity and earning income."

Fleming said that CARP was working to help the government find a balance between the need for urban development around Asmara and its desire to preserve the country’s heritage. “It would be absurd to propose saving 1,000 houses, but more realistic to document details of the sites and to save a few houses so that people can see and learn from them. What archaeologists want is adequate time to do research.”

Naigzy Gebremedhin, the coordinator of CARP, said a consultation process is underway in order to ensure that the people of Asmara, and in particular those living close to the sites, are properly informed about them.

“We are aware at CARP that it is an endangered area and that it is in the path of urban development but there has to be a compromise between the preservation of heritage and the provision of basic infrastructure," he told IRIN. "Asmara needs to grow to meet the basic needs of people, so it is going to extremely challenging.”

But archaeologists are afraid it may be too late to save some sites. They are trying to raise money to erect a fence around one excavation, which has been partly destroyed by bulldozers digging stone for road building. Another potentially important site has already been sub-divided for new housing.