The Environmental History of Tigray

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The Environmental History of Tigray (Northern

Ethiopia) in the Middle and Late Holocene: A
Preliminary Outline
Article in African Archaeological Review · January 2000

DOI: 10.1023/A:1006630609041
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African Archaeological Review [aar] PL125-81 July 11, 2000 9:51 Style file version Nov. 19th, 1999
African Archaeological Review, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2000
The Environmental History of Tigray (Northern

Ethiopia) in the Middle and Late Holocene:
A Preliminary Outline
Kathryn A. Bard,1 Mauro Coltorti,2 Michael C. DiBlasi,3 Francesco Dramis,4
and Rodolfo Fattovich5
This paper outlines the environmental history of the Tigrean Plateau (northern
Ethiopia) during the Holocene, based on the available geomorphological, palyno-
logical, archaeological, and historical evidence. At present, it seems that (1) the
plateau experienced a more humid climate with a denser vegetation cover during
the Early Holocene; (2) Soil erosion due to clearing vegetation began in the Mid-
dle Holocene; (3) agricultural activity was intensified in the Late Holocene, as a
consequence of the rise of a state; (4) demographic pressure increased from the
early first millennium BC to the mid–first millennium AD, causing soil erosion;
(5) environmental degradation and demographic decline occurred in the late first
millennium AD; (6) the vegetation cover was regenerated in the early second mil-
lennium AD; and (7) progressive vegetation clearance started again in the second
half of the second millennium AD.
Cet article trace l’histoire ambiante du Plateau Tigréen dans l’Holocène en util-
isant les données géomorphologiques, palynologiques, archéologiques et his-
toriques. Il semble que (1) dans l’Holocène ancien le plateau était caractérisé par
une phase humide avec une dense végétation; (2) l’érosion causée par l’abbattage
de la végétation commença dans l’Holocène moyen; (3) l’activité agricole
s’inténsifia à la fin de l’Holocène, par conséquence de l’essor d’un état; (4) la
pression démographique augmenta de plus en plus du début du premier millénaire
1 Department of Archaeology, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts

02215.
2 Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universita di Siena, Siena, Italy.
3 African Studies Center and Department of Archaeology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
02215.
4 Dipartimento
di Scienze della Terra, Universita di Roma III, Roma, Italy.
5 Dipartimento
di Studi e Ricerche su Africa e Paesi Arabi, Istituto Universitario Orientale, Piazza San
Domanico Maggiore 12, 80134 Napoli, Italy.
65
0263-0338/00/0600-0065$18.00/0 °
C 2000 Plenum Publishing Corporation
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66 Bard, Coltorti, DiBlasi, Dramis, and Fattovich
av. J.-Ch. à la moitié du premier millénaire ap. J.-Ch.; (5) la dégradation am-
biante et la diminution démographique se vérifièrent à la fin du premier millénaire
ap. J.-Ch.; (6) une régéneration de la vegetation se vérifia au début du seconde
millénaire ap. J.-Ch.; et (7) l’abbatage de la végétation recommença dans la sec-
onde moitié du seconde millénaire ap. J.-Ch.
KEY WORDS: Holocene; environment; history; Tigray; Ethiopia.
INTRODUCTION
We present in this contribution the major episodes in the environmental history

of the Tigrean Plateau (northern Ethiopia) during the Middle and Late Holocene
using the available geomorphologic, palynological, archaeological, and historical
evidence. The work presented here is the product of a collaborative, multidis-
ciplinary research project on the cultural and environmental history of Tigray,
in progress under affiliation agreements among Addis Ababa University, Boston
University, and the Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples.6
The main goals of the project are to reconstruct the dynamics of human–
environmental relationships in northern Ethiopia from the rise of complex society
to the present and to contribute to an understanding of present-day land degradation
and its causes. The project involves fieldwork conducted in northern Tigray, where
Aksum, the capital of a powerful African state, arose in the late first millennium
BC (Fattovich, 1994a) (Fig. 1). Previous reports detailing the project’s research
design and fieldwork were presented at the Twelfth International Conference of
Ethiopian Studies held at Michigan State University, East Lansing, in September
1994 (Assefa and Russo, 1994; Bard, 1994, 1997a; DiBlasi, 1994; McCann, 1994;
Bard and Fattovich, 1997).
ENVIRONMENTAL BACKGROUND: AN OVERVIEW
Tigray is the northernmost region of modern Ethiopia (Fig. 2). The geology
of Tigray is, for the most part, the result of volcanic activity, and the topography
of the region is dominated by a broken plateau that forms a rolling upland ranging
from about 1000 to more than 3500 m in altitude (Ethiopian Mapping Agency,
1988; Wilson, 1977). The climate of the plateau is temperate, but environmental
conditions vary with altitude; annual temperatures range between 15 and 25◦ C,
and the mean annual rainfall ranges from 700 to 1200 mm, mostly in the sum-
mer months (June–August). Most of the plateau is covered by soils with low to
good agricultural potential (Ethiopian Mapping Agency, 1988).
It has been suggested that a large part of the highlands of northern Ethiopia, in-
cluding the Tigrean Plateau, was forested in earlier times (Pankhurst, 1990b, p. 275;
6 The Istituto Universitario Orientale–Boston University Archaeological Expedition at Aksum, directed
by Rodolfo Fattovich and Kathryn Bard, has conducted research at Bieta Giyorgis, Aksum, since 1993.
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Environmental History of Tigray in the Middle and Late Holocene 67
Fig. 1. Ethiopia, with the location of Aksum, northern Tigrai.
Simoons, 1960, p. 210). The extent to which forest or woodland communities may
have covered the region is unknown, however, as virtually no research has been
done on the vegetation history of northern Ethiopia (DiBlasi, 1997, pp. 50–51).
In the absence of palaeobotanical evidence, the nature of past vegetation com-
munities has been reconstructed using information on the composition, ecology,
and bioclimatic distribution of extant forests, woodlands, and grasslands. Plant
ecologists infer that the climax vegetation of Tigray was dry evergreen, montane
forest dominated by Juniperus procera and Olea europea ssp. africana at altitudes
above 2200 m, mixed Podocarpus gracilior–Juniperus procera forest in moister
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Fig. 2. Locational map of Tigrai with the main sites quoted in the text.
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areas between 1400 and 2200 m, and deciduous wooded grassland (with species
of Acacia, Ficus, Euphorbia, Cordia, Croton, Olea, Albizia, Lannea, Combretum,
Terminalia, and Commiphora among the more important arboreal taxa) at altitudes
below 2200 m (Ethiopian Mapping Agency, 1988; Feoli, 1994, pp. 11–12; Friis,
1986; Wilson, 1977). The vegetation pattern of today, however, is dominated by
montane grassland, with only small, remnant forests in isolated areas of the plateau
(Butzer, 1981, pp. 474–476; Feoli, 1994, pp. 11–12; Wilson, 1977). Based on the
accounts of the first European travelers, the barren landscape of present-day north-
ern Ethiopia dates to before the 17th century (Pankhurst, 1961, 1992; Pankhurst
and Ingrams, 1988).
It is likely that the Tigray region experienced the same Holocene climatic
fluctuations as the Horn of Africa, a pattern that shares common features with
Holocene climatic fluctuations of North Africa. In both areas present-day climatic
conditions seem to have been established since the second millennium BC, but a
subordinate humid phase is reported to have occurred between 500 BC and AD 500
(Adamson, 1982; Butzer, 1971, 1981, 1982a; Gasse et al., 1980; Gowlett, 1988;
Grove, 1993; Hassan, 1997; Williams, 1982, 1988).
The social and economic development of Tigray has been greatly affected
by environmental factors. The region experiences major environmental hazards:
rainfall fluctuations causing droughts and famine, earthquakes, invasions of locust
swarms, and epidemics (Ethiopian Mapping Agency, 1988; Pankhurst, 1990a; Zein
and Kloos, 1988). Human activity has compounded the effects of environmental
hazards through the diffusion of epidemics, warfare, and land-use practices (e.g.,
deforestation, overintensive cultivation, and livestock grazing, which accelerated
soil erosion). Given the complex, dynamic nature of the interactions among the
cultural and environmental components of the ecosystem, a processual approach
to the reconstruction of human–environmental relationships in the Holocene is
crucial for an understanding of past and present-day problems of environmental
degradation and social development in the region (see Butzer, 1981, 1982b; Dramis
and Fattovich, 1994).
CULTURAL HISTORY: AN OUTLINE
The prehistory of Tigray has received little archaeological attention and is

poorly understood (Fattovich, 1997a). Lithic industries, possibly dating to the
Early Holocene, have been recorded in the region of Aksum, but their significance
is still uncertain (Puglisi, 1941, 1946). Archaeological evidence from Gobedra
rock-shelter, also near Aksum, spans the period from ca. 8000 BC to historic
times and has furnished the first dated succession of Later Stone Age industries
in northern Ethiopia (Phillipson, 1977). Although the research at Gobedra yielded
important data on stone tool technology and other aspects of cultural development
in the Late Stone Age, the information available thus far is very limited and does
not provide even a general understanding of this period.
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The Ethiopian and Eritrean highland region has long been recognized as an
important center of African plant domestication and agricultural innovation, but
our understanding of the beginnings of food production in this region is poor
(see Brandt, 1984; Harlan, 1969, 1971, 1993; Phillipson, 1993). The highland
Ethiopian agricultural complex is viewed as a combination of indigenous crops—
including teff (Eragrostis teff ), noog (Guizotia abyssinica), and perhaps finger
millet (Eleusine coracana)—that have been added to elements of the Near Eastern
crop complex (Harlan, 1992, pp. 67–68). The considerable number of endemic
varieties of imported Near Eastern cereals (wheat and barley) and legumes (chick
pea, lentil, and fava bean) found in Ethiopia suggests a rather long and complex
history of local cultivation and genetic diversification there (Harlan, 1982, 1992).
Archaeological data pertaining to this complex history, however, are quite limited
(Bard, 1997b; Phillipson, 1990, 1993).
Archaeological evidence from the lowlands along the Eritrean–Sudanese bor-
derland and the plateau in Eritrea suggests that food producing societies were living
in these regions since the late fourth/third and second millennia BC, respectively
(Clark, 1976, 1980, 1988; Fattovich, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1997a; Fattovich et al.,
1988; Marks and Sadr, 1988; Sadr, 1991). This might point to an introduction
of domesticated livestock and cultigens, such as wheat and barley, on the Tigray
plateau in the Middle Holocene (Bard, 1997b). Linguistic evidence suggests that
food production began on the plateau in the Early Holocene (Ehret, 1979) and that
plow agriculture was being practiced in late prehistoric times (Simoons, 1965),
but these assertions have yet to be confirmed by archaeological evidence (Bard,
1997b). The recent discovery of rock-pictures in Temben (southern Tigray) sug-
gests that cattle herders were moving in this region in late prehistoric times (Negash,
1997).
The Late Holocene history of the Tigrean Plateau was marked by the for-
mation of states (Fattovich, 1993, 1997a,b; Munro-Hay, 1993). In the mid–first
millennium BC the kingdom of Daamat (ca. 700/600–400/300 BC), a state-level
urban society with strong South Arabian (Sabaean) characteristics arose on the
Tigrean plateau as a result of long-term cultural and economic interaction be-
tween South Arabians and indigenous peoples. The material remains of this state
are identified in the archaeological record with the “Pre-Aksumite Culture.” The
territory of the Ethio-Sabaean state stretched from the Shiré plateau in northern
Tigray to the Akkele Guzay region of central Eritrea. Yeha, near Adwa, was the
major Daamat settlement in Tigray (Anfray, 1973, 1990; Conti Rossini, 1928; de
Contenson, 1981; Drewes, 1962; Fattovich, 1990; Ricci, 1984).
The Ethio-Sabaean state collapsed in Tigray (“Late Pre-Aksumite Phase”),
and a new complex society with a different cultural pattern arose on the plateau
near Aksum in the late first millennium BC (Anfray, 1990; Fattovich, 1990). The
material evidence of this new complex society is provisionally identified in the
archaeological record with the so-called “Proto-Aksumite” remains (ca. 400–
100 BC) recently discovered at Bieta Giyorgis to the northwest of Aksum (Bard
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and Fattovich, 1993, 1995; Bard et al., 1997; Fattovich and Bard, 1993, 1994,
1995, 1997).
Complex society in the region of Aksum developed into a proper state (king-
dom of Aksum; ca. AD 50–900) in the early first millennium AD. The material
evidence of this state is identified in the archaeological record with the “Aksumite
culture” (Anfray, 1981, 1990). A settlement was established on Bieta Giyorgis
hill at Aksum in the first century BC (Fattovich and Bard, 1996), and in the first
century AD Aksum was the capital of a kingdom that progressively expanded its
control over the entire plateau in Tigray and Eritrea (Early Aksumite Phase; ca.
100 BC–AD 400). A crucial event in the development of the kingdom of Aksum
was the introduction of Christianity in the early fourth century. In the midfirst
millennium AD, the Aksumite kingdom went through a period of apparent eco-
nomic stagnation (transitional Early/Middle Aksumite Phase; ca. late fourth–mid–
sixth centuries). In the sixth and seventh centuries Aksum was again the capital
city of a prosperous kingdom and controlled the trade from the African hinterland
to the Red Sea (Middle Aksumite Phase). In the late first millennium AD, the
kingdom declined (Late Aksumite Phase; ca. 8th–9th centuries), and it eventually
disappeared in the 10th century (Anfray, 1990; Conti Rossini, 1928; Fattovich,
1988, 1997c; Hable Sellassie, 1972; Kobishchanov, 1979, 1981; Mekouria, 1981;
Munro-Hay, 1991). The spread of Islam along the African coast of the Red Sea
most likely had a significant role in the decline of the kingdom of Aksum.
The rise of a Muslim sultanate at Dahlak Kebir, east of Massawa, in the
9th century AD, and the Islamic penetration from the coast into eastern Ethiopia in
the 9th and 10th centuries AD, progressively isolated the Christian kingdom and
restricted its access to the main Indian Ocean trade circuit (Conti Rossini, 1928;
Cuoq, 1981).
By the ninth century AD the Christian kingdom shifted southward to Lasta
(Wollo Province) and the capital moved from Aksum to a locality named Ka’bar/
Ka’ban or Soper, according to Islamic and Coptic sources (Conti Rossini, 1928;
Hable Sellassie, 1972; Tamrat, 1972). Apparently, no true town existed on the
Tigrean plateau at this time. Archaeological evidence of this kingdom consists
mainly of rock-hewn churches in central Tigray dating to the 10th–15th cen-
turies AD (Anfray, 1990; Fattovich, 1993; Lepage, 1975).
HOLOCENE HUMAN–ENVIRONMENTAL RELATIONSHIPS
Paleoenvironmental Evidence
Much environmental diversity prevails in Tigray, and at present the geomor-

phologic, palynological, and archaeological research conducted in Tigray can pro-
vide only a broad outline of the dynamics of human–environmental relationships
on the plateau during the Holocene (see Bard, 1997b; Bard and Fattovich, 1995;
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Bard et al., 1997; Brancaccio et al., 1997; Butzer, 1981, 1982b; Fattovich, 1994b;
Fattovich and Bard, 1995, 1997; Michels, 1988, 1994).
Geomorphologic research recently conducted in central and northern Tigray
has demonstrated that these regions experienced alluvial sedimentation during
the Upper Pleistocene, suggesting strong erosional dynamics on slopes largely
deprived of vegetation cover (Brancaccio et al., 1997). Exactly when this sed-
imentation ceased is unknown, but it appears that the alluvial sediments were
covered by dense vegetation up to the Middle Holocene. This is indicated by
the fact that, where outcrops of the Upper Pleistocene alluvial sediments oc-
cur, vertisols and andosols (which develop under conditions of dense vegetation
cover) are commonly encountered. The older radiocarbon dates of these soils,
buried by more recent sediments along the Meskilo River, south of Mekelle, range
between 8300 ± 100 BP (Rome-516), calibrated to 7412, 7363, and 7313 BC,
and 6730 ± 90 BP (Rome-511), calibrated to 5593 BC (Stuiver and Reimer,
1993).
The presence of a thick vegetation cover on the plateau in the Middle Holocene
is also attested by travertine deposition, favored by the enrichment of carbon diox-
ide in soils through the decay of organic matter. The travertine of Mai Makden,
20 km north of Mekelle, provided radiocarbon dates between 7310 ± 90 BP
(Rome-518), calibrated to 6156, 6144, 6125, 6084, and 5070 BC, and 5160 ±
80 BP (Rome-517), calibrated to 3969 BC. The travertine deposition was prob-
ably interrupted due to a reduction in vegetation cover, which may have been
the result of both human activity and climatic change to more arid conditions.
In other areas, close to the eastern edge of the plateau, the vegetation cover per-
sisted up to the third millennium BC. This may indicate that present-day envi-
ronmental conditions began in the second millennium BC (Beraki et al., 1995,
1997).
Stratigraphic evidence and radiocarbon dates also show that central and north-
ern Tigray were marked by a long period of soil erosion after the early second
millennium BC. In many places, Early Holocene soils and travertine deposits are
buried by alluvial sediments many meters thick. This sedimentation may have re-
sulted from erosion caused by progressive vegetation clearance by human activity
(Brancaccio et al., 1994).
Geomorphologic data of the type described above suggest alternating periods
of vegetation reduction and regeneration, but pollen studies are required to recon-
struct the characteristics of vegetation communities and their changing patterns
through time (DiBlasi, 1997). Although palynologists have investigated aspects
of vegetation history and climatic change in central and southern Ethiopia (e.g.,
Bonnefille and Hamilton, 1986; Mohammed, 1994; Mohammed and Bonnefille,
1991), no pollen analyses have been published for the Tigray region of northern
Ethiopia. Recently, however, exploratory studies of pollen deposition and preser-
vation characteristics have begun on samples taken from archaeological sediments
at Ona Enda Aboi Zewgé (OAZ) and Ona Nagast (ON), on Bieta Giyorgis hill,
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Aksum (Bard et al., 1997; DiBlasi, 1996, 2000).7 The initial results of these anal-
yses offer insights on the characteristics of local vegetation cover in Aksumite and
Pre-Aksumite times.
The open vegetation pattern indicated by sedimentary evidence from the sec-
ond millennium BC is also found in four pollen samples from a late Pre-Aksumite
site (OAZ III) (DiBlasi, 1996). The pollen samples were taken from cultural de-
posits that can be dated to the middle to late first millennium BC on the basis
of associated pottery (Bard et al., 1997; Fattovich, 1994b, 1995). Each of the
four samples shows a striking dominance of non–arboreal pollen taxa: shrubs
and herbs/grasses comprise at least 70 to 86% of the total identifiable pollen in
each sample. Moreover, the non–arboreal pollen are overwhelmingly those of plant
families commonly associated with an open vegetation cover and/or soil distur-
bance caused by human settlement and land-use activities (see Hamilton, 1972,
p. 89; Wilson, 1977). These include members of the Gramineae, Compositae, and
Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae families, which together comprise 66 to 77% of
the total identifiable pollen in each sample. Arboreal pollen types, especially those
that can be considered forest-indicator species, are either absent or very poorly
represented (0.6 to 1.0% of the total identifiable pollen in only two samples). This
is true even for trees (e.g., Podocarpus gracilior, Juniperus procera, Olea, and
Celtis) that produce great amounts of pollen which are dispersed over large areas
by wind and thus would be expected to be present in the pollen assemblages as
a long-distance transport component (Hamilton, 1972, pp. 91–99). In general, the
archaeological pollen assemblages exhibit the same types and frequency distri-
butions as observed in the analysis of pollen in a modern surface sample taken
from Bieta Giyorgis, which is a settled area dominated by shrubs and herbaceous
vegetation (DiBlasi, 1996, 2000).
The preliminary results of the pollen-analytical studies suggest that in the
middle to late first millennium BC the vegetation cover on Bieta Giyorgis hill was
dominated by shrubs and herbaceous plants characteristic of open vegetation and
areas of human settlement. The very low arboreal pollen frequencies in the samples
(and virtual absence of tree pollen normally transported very long distances by
wind) suggest that trees were not common components of the vegetation in the
general area of Aksum.
Geoarchaeological investigations conducted at Aksum in the early 1970s by
Butzer (1981, 1982a,b) indicate that soil erosion was accelerated in Early Aksumite
times (ca. 100 BC–AD 400) by more abundant seasonal rains and land-use activities
that reduced the vegetation cover. The net effect, however, did not significantly
reduce soil productivity. By Late Aksumite times (ca. AD 650–800) a phase of
“culturally induced environmental degradation,” caused by intensive land-use
7 Thepollen analyses reported in this paper were conducted at the laboratories of the Department of
Archaeology, Boston University. Detailed descriptions of sediment characteristics, sampling methods,
laboratory extraction techniques, and pollen analysis protocols are given by DiBlasi (1996, 2000).
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practices and aggravated by periodic heavy rains, accelerated the destruction of

topsoil at Aksum, denuding slopes and reducing the agricultural potential of the
land (Butzer, 1981, p. 487).
Pollen evidence from Early and Middle Aksumite deposits on Bieta Giyorgis
hill is consistent with Butzer’s interpretation that soils had been degraded and that
the vegetation cover in the greater Aksum area was of an open nature (DiBlasi,
2000). Four pollen samples taken from sediments at ON V, a large Aksumite set-
tlement, represent a period from Early Aksumite to Middle Aksumite times (ca.
100 BC–AD 650). Analysis of the samples shows similarity among them in terms
of the types and proportions of pollen represented. Nonarboreal pollen types range
from 78 to 90% of the total identifiable pollen in each sample. Disturbed-soil indi-
cator taxa (Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae, Compositae, and Gramineae) range
from 70 to 88% of the total in each sample. Several forest- or woodland-indicator
arboreal taxa (i.e., Podocarpus gracilior, Syzygium guineense, Terminalia, Celtis,
and Ficus) are present but very rare; as a group they comprise less than 0.1%
of the total identifiable pollen in each sample (DiBlasi, 2000). Given the pollen
production and dispersal characteristics of Podocarpus and Celtis, it is likely
that their representation here is the result of long-distance wind transport; it is
unlikely that they were growing in the vicinity of Bieta Giyorgis. Ficus, Syzy-
gium, and Terminalia produce small amounts of pollen that are not very well
dispersed; these trees may have been growing in the general area, but in small
numbers.
In the first millennium AD the pollen samples indicate a local vegetation
pattern dominated by shrubs and herbaceous plants that thrive in areas of disturbed
soil. Historical sources record a famine and plague in AD 831–849 (Pankhurst,
1990a), which suggests environmental deterioration in the ninth century.
In the region of Adigrat, about 85 km northeast of Aksum, geomorphologic
evidence points to a short phase of soil formation at about 1250 ± 60 BP (Rome-
513), calibrated to AD 779, and 970 ± 60 BP (Rome-515), calibrated to AD 1032.
This phase of soil formation has been related to the recovery of vegetation after
the overexploitation of the previous millennium (Brancaccio et al., 1997). It was
later followed by the accumulation of alluvial sediments, which continued until
more recent times. Decreased population pressure after the decline of the Aksumite
kingdom possibly led to the abandonment of the higher parts of the plateau and
the consequent recovery of vegetation. At Adi Kolen, a village located to the
south of Mekelle below Amba Aradam (at an altitude of ca. 3000 m), this phase
of soil evolution lasted until 300 ± 60 BP (Rome-509), calibrated to AD 1641.
This suggests that, at least in this part of the region, a new phase of intense land
clearance began in recent times (Brancaccio et al., 1997).
Other evidence of soil erosion from the region of Mekelle and Aksum confirms
that the deterioration of the ground cover was intensified by land use activities
during the last century (Butzer, 1981; Virgo and Munro, 1978).
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Archaeological Evidence
The “Pre-Aksumite” Period
With the rise of the Ethio-Sabaean state in the mid–first millennium BC, food
production increased. The subsistence economy of this state certainly relied on
agriculture and herding, and Pre-Aksumite settlements on the plateau were located
at altitudes over 2000 m and in areas with good soils for cultivation (Fattovich,
1988, 1990, 1993, 1997a) (Fig. 3). Archaeological research in the region from
Aksum to Yeha points to the location of Pre-Aksumite sites on low-gradient, highly
fertile land that was optimal for plow cultivation and in narrow alluvial valleys
requiring frequent fertility intervention by means of irrigation. The settlement
pattern consisted of small villages (ca. 1–3 ha in size) and hamlets (less than 1 ha
in size), about 2 to 3 km apart, with a major town at Yeha and important ceremonial
centers in the Aksum region, at Hawlti, and possibly at Adi Atero and Seglamien
(Michels, 1988, 1994).
The subsistence economy of the Ethio-Sabaean state surely relied on
agriculture and herding. Botanical remains recently collected in a Pre-Aksumite
assemblage at Aksum are suggesting that teff was already cultivated in the first mil-
lennium BC (Boardman, 1998). Faunal remains from a Pre-Aksumite assemblage
at Ona Nagast, on the Bieta Giyorgis hill, Aksum, included cattle, sheep/goats, an
unidentified carnivore, and a bird (Chaix, 1997). One bone of a possible domestic
ox, dated to the first millennium BC, was also found in a rock-shelter at Gobedra,
near Aksum (Phillipson, 1977). This evidence confirms that cattle and sheep/goats
were bred in Tigray. At that time cultivation of cereals is suggested by a few bronze
sickles from elite tombs at Yeha, and a “ritual” deposit at Hawlti, dating to the
mid–first millennium BC (Anfray, 1963; de Contenson, 1963; Fattovich, 1990).
Several large bronze “stamps” from elite tombs at Yeha also suggest the presence of
livestock. The use of artificial irrigation on the plateau is suggested by a masonry
dam at Safra (Qohaito) in the Akkele Guzay region of central Eritrea (Dainelli
and Marinelli, 1912; Littmann et al., 1913). The Safra dam is usually dated to
Pre-Aksumite times on the basis of very close similarities to hydraulic works in
South Arabia of the early first millennium BC (Manzo, 1995), but attribution to
Aksumite times cannot be excluded.
Evidence dating to the third–first centuries BC is scarce (Anfray, 1990;
Fattovich, 1988, 1990), but plow cultivation of cereals was certainly practiced
on the plateau at this time (Fattovich, 1990; Phillipson, 1993). This is supported
by two clay models of a plow-yoke from Hawlti, dating to the late first millen-
nium BC (de Contenson, 1963; Fattovich, 1990). Clay animal figurines from the
same assemblage at Hawlti show only humpless cattle (de Contenson, 1963), sug-
gesting that zebu cattle were not yet introduced onto the plateau. A rock-painting of
a plow drawn by humpless oxen occurs at Amba Focada, near Adigrat in northern
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Fig. 3. Archaeological map of northern Ethiopia and Eritrea with the main Pre-Aksumite and
Aksumite sites.
Tigray (Graziosi, 1941; Leclant and Miquel, 1959; Mordini, 1941). The age of this
painting is uncertain, but its very schematic style suggests an early historical date
(Fattovich, 1988; Phillipson, 1993).
Archaeological survey data indicate that the Late Pre-Aksumite settlement
pattern in the region from Aksum to Yeha consisted of hamlets and villages located
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on land with both high and low fertility value, requiring frequent fertility inter-
vention and irrigation (Michels, 1988, 1994). Yeha continued to function as an
important Ethio-Sabaean ceremonial center, and minor ceremonial centers were
located in the Aksum region at Hawlti and Melazo (Fattovich, 1990). However, a
massive man-made stone platform, with rough stelae and pit-graves, at the site of
Ona Enda Aboi Zewgé, as well as a monumental building at Ona Nagast (Bieta
Giyorgis) suggest that a major new ceremonial center connected with elite funer-
ary rituals emerged in the region of Aksum at the end of the first millennium BC
(Bard and Fattovich, 1993, 1995, 1997; Bard et al., 1997; Fattovich and Bard,
1993, 1995).
The settlement pattern of the northern Tigrean Plateau suggests that popula-
tion density was constant in the region during the first millennium BC (Fattovich,
1993). In fact, there was no significant increase in the number of settlements in
the region between Aksum and Yeha through the entire Pre-Aksumite Period.
On the contrary, the recorded sites suggest a major dispersal of population just
before the rise of the Daamat kingdom, a concentration of population in a few
larger settlements at the time of the kingdom, and another dispersal of population
after the decline of Daamat (Michels, 1994).
The Aksumite Period
At present, very little is known about the Aksumite subsistence economy. Us-
ing circumstantial archaeological, historical, and ethnographic evidence, scholars
have assumed that cereals such as wheat, barley, and possibly teff were cultivated
in Aksumite times by means of ox-drawn plows, very much as they are today
(Bard, 1997b; Phillipson, 1993, 1998). The importance of emmer wheat as a crop
can be inferred from its representation on Aksumite coins (Phillipson, 1993). Until
recently, however, archaeological research did not provide material evidence for
the crops that were cultivated and when they were incorporated into the Aksumite
subsistence economy.
The implementation of systematic sampling and water-flotation processing
of sediments from archaeological sites, undertaken for the first time in 1995, has
contributed important information for the investigation of Aksumite subsistence
patterns (Bard et al., 1997; Fattovich and Bard, 1995) (Fig. 4). Our earliest evidence
comes from a “Proto-Aksumite” site (ON I), where numerous carbonized grains of
wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare), along with bovine bones,
have been identified in the sediments of a refuse deposit (Bard et al., 1997; Hansen,
1995). These remains were associated with a sample of charcoal radiocarbon dated
to 2335 ± 220 BP (GX21002), calibrated to 390 BC. This evidence points to a
mixed farming subsistence economy in the region of Aksum in the second half of
the first millennium BC.
Macrobotanical evidence dating to the Early through Middle Aksumite phases
has come from deposits at a large, elite settlement complex at Ona Nagast, where
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Fig. 4. Palaeobotanical and faunal remains from Bieta Giyorgis, Aksum.

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the cultivation of cereals and legumes is confirmed by carbonized remains of

a variety of domesticates. Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum) and possibly do-
mesticated teff (Eragrostis teff ), as well as remains of lentils (Lens culinaris) and
grapes (Vitis vinifera), have been identified in Early Aksumite room-fill sediments,
while occupation strata dating to transitional Early/Middle Aksumite times (ca.
AD 400–550/600) have yielded carbonized remains of bread wheat (Triticum aes-
tivum), emmer wheat, and flax (Linum usitatissimum) (D’Andrea, 1997). Emmer
wheat, bread wheat, barley (Hordeum vulgare), and teff have been found in Middle
Aksumite deposits at Ona Nagast (D’Andrea, 1997; Hansen, 1995). Greater con-
sumption of teff might be suggested by the occurrence, in Late Aksumite assem-
blages, of large dishes similar to the traditional trays used for injera, a thin, flat
bread made from teff (Phillipson, 1993).
Excavations at a “middle-rank” domestic area on the plain to the east of Bieta
Giyorgis hill have yielded plant remains dating to the fifth and sixth centuries AD
(Phillipson and Reynolds, 1996). In addition to a variety of Near Eastern cereals
(emmer wheat, bread wheat, and barley), the remains of grape, gourd (Cucurbita
sp.), lentil, pea (Pisum sativum), and horse bean (Vicia faba) were identified, as
were seeds of linseed/flax, cotton (Gossypium sp.), noog (Guizotia abyssinica), and
possibly Brassica sp., which may have been used for oil (Phillipson and Reynolds,
1996).
Abundant faunal remains from Early through Middle Aksumite deposits at
Ona Nagast provide a large database for the investigation of Aksumite exploitation
of animals. The faunal remains from this site included a very high proportion of
cattle bones (ca. 75%), but sheep and/or goat bones were common (ca. 24%). A
small quantity of dog, carnivore, gazelle, bird, and fish bones was also identified
(Chaix, 1997; Negussié, 1995). The evidence from Ona Nagast shows that the ma-
jority of the cattle represented in the faunal assemblages were old adult individuals
(3–10 years), indicating that they were bred primarily for use as draft animals or
milk producers rather than for their meat (Chaix, 1997).
Humped cattle were most likely introduced into northern Ethiopia during the
early first millennium AD, as can be inferred from iconographical evidence (Bard,
1994; Clark, 1976; Marshall, 1989; Phillipson, 1993). The earliest representation
is an inscribed bronze figurine of a zebu (from Zeban Kutur in the Akkele Guzay
region of Eritrea), dated on paleographical grounds to the second–third centuries
AD (Drewes, 1962; Drewes and Schneider, 1976; Bernard et al., 1991, pp. 232–
233; Ricci, 1955–1958). Moreover, two clay figurines of humped cattle, dating
to Middle Aksumite times, were found at the site of Matara in the Akkele Guzay
region of Eritrea (Anfray, 1967).
The majority of Early Aksumite settlements were located at altitudes between
1000 and 2500 m, on land with good soils for agriculture. In Middle Aksumite
times land with lower agricultural value was also occupied. The population density
in the region of Aksum progressively increased in the early first millennium AD,
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reaching a peak in Middle Aksumite times and decreasing dramatically in Late

Aksumite times (Bard, 1994; Fattovich, 1993; Michels, 1994) (Fig. 3).
Michels’ (1990, 1994) archaeological survey data offer a picture of changes
in settlement patterns and population distribution in the region surrounding Aksum
during the Aksumite phases. In the Early Aksumite Phase, the urban/ceremonial
center at Aksum occupied an area of about 11 ha and was surrounded by several
villages and hamlets, ranging in size from less than 1 ha to 3 ha. A major increase in
settlement size and density occurred in the Middle Aksumite Phase, when Aksum
became a “metropolitan entity consisting of 14 towns and villages within a 3 km
radius” (Michels, 1994: 67). In addition, the urban center at Aksum was surrounded
by a “sustaining area” of many small towns, villages and hamlets, ranging in size
from less than 1 to 7–10 ha (Michels, 1994). In the Late Aksumite Phase, Aksum
experienced a dramatic reduction in size and was surrounded by only a few villages
and hamlets, less than 1 to 3 ha in size (see Michels, 1988, 1990, 1994).
Post-Aksumite Times
The available evidence suggests reduced demographic pressure and a possible

regeneration of vegetation cover during Post-Aksumite times in the early second
millennium AD. Archaeological evidence from the Aksum Plateau of northern
Tigray shows that only the land immediately around Aksum was inhabited at
this time (Michels, 1990, 1994). The subsistence economy relied on the ox–plow
complex, as in modern times. The occurrence of what are possibly injera trays
(indicative of teff consumption) at the site of Seglamien (Ricci and Fattovich,
1987) and a seed of finger millet (Eleusine coracana) at Gobedra rock-shelter,
radiocarbon dated to 820 ± 200 BP (OXa-741) (Phillipson, 1977, 1990) point
to the cultivation of these crops in Post-Aksumite times. Faunal remains from a
Late to Post-Aksumite site at OAZ V included mainly bones of cattle along with
sheep/goat (Chaix, 1997; Negussié, 1995).
SUMMARY
From this fragmentary evidence we can infer the following processes:

(1) The Tigrean Plateau was covered by dense vegetation in the Early
Holocene, with a more humid climate than that of the present-day.
(2) Soil erosion due to clearing vegetation began in the Middle Holocene,
possibly as a combined result of a drier climate and human activity
(agriculture?).
(3) Agricultural activity was intensified in the Late Holocene during the
humid episode from the mid–first millennium BC to the mid–first mil-
lennium AD to sustain a state-level urban society (Pre-Aksumite and
Aksumite Periods).
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(4) Demographic pressure increased in the early first millennium BC and

reached a peak in the mid–first millennium AD (Middle Aksumite Phase).
The resultant intensified land use activities caused progressive soil
degradation.
(5) Environmental deteriorization occurred during the seventh–eighth cen-
turies AD, with a famine in the ninth century, most likely as a conse-
quence of soil exhaustion and erosion caused by heavy rains.
(6) With a reduced carrying capacity of the land and a possible southward
shift of the Aksumite kingdom in the late first millennium AD, demo-
graphic pressure was reduced, which allowed a possible regeneration of
the vegetation cover and a reduction in soil erosion in the early second
millennium AD.
(7) A new phase of soil erosion, perhaps due to progressive vegetation clear-
ance on the plateau, began before the second half of the second millen-
nium AD and has accelerated in the last 300 years.
The above reconstruction of the environmental history of Tigray during the
Middle and Late Holocene is tentative. It leaves many unanswered questions re-
garding interactions of cultural and environmental variables and their impact on
environmental change in the region during the last five thousand years. These
questions must be addressed by multidisciplinary investigations into the dynamics
of the human ecosystem and the environmental and cultural history of the Tigrean
Plateau.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research described in this report was supported by grants from the
National Geographic Society (USA), the Italian National Council for Research
(CNR), the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Italian Ministry for Univer-
sity, Scientific, and Technological Research. The authors wish to thank the Center
for Research and Conservation of the Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Addis
Ababa, the Cultural Bureau of Aksum, and the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines and
Natural Resources for their assistance in the research.
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The Environmental History of Tigray (Northern

Article in African Archaeological Review · January 2000

Mauro Coltorti Michael DiBlasi

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African Archaeological Review, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2000

The Environmental History of Tigray (Northern

1 Department of Archaeology, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts

66 Bard, Coltorti, DiBlasi, Dramis, and Fattovich

We present in this contribution the major episodes in the environmental history

ENVIRONMENTAL BACKGROUND: AN OVERVIEW

Environmental History of Tigray in the Middle and Late Holocene 67

Fig. 1. Ethiopia, with the location of Aksum, northern Tigrai.

68 Bard, Coltorti, DiBlasi, Dramis, and Fattovich

Environmental History of Tigray in the Middle and Late Holocene 69

CULTURAL HISTORY: AN OUTLINE

The prehistory of Tigray has received little archaeological attention and is

70 Bard, Coltorti, DiBlasi, Dramis, and Fattovich

Environmental History of Tigray in the Middle and Late Holocene 71

HOLOCENE HUMAN–ENVIRONMENTAL RELATIONSHIPS

Much environmental diversity prevails in Tigray, and at present the geomor-

72 Bard, Coltorti, DiBlasi, Dramis, and Fattovich

Environmental History of Tigray in the Middle and Late Holocene 73

74 Bard, Coltorti, DiBlasi, Dramis, and Fattovich

practices and aggravated by periodic heavy rains, accelerated the destruction of

Environmental History of Tigray in the Middle and Late Holocene 75

The “Pre-Aksumite” Period

76 Bard, Coltorti, DiBlasi, Dramis, and Fattovich

Environmental History of Tigray in the Middle and Late Holocene 77

The Aksumite Period

78 Bard, Coltorti, DiBlasi, Dramis, and Fattovich

Fig. 4. Palaeobotanical and faunal remains from Bieta Giyorgis, Aksum.

Environmental History of Tigray in the Middle and Late Holocene 79

the cultivation of cereals and legumes is confirmed by carbonized remains of

80 Bard, Coltorti, DiBlasi, Dramis, and Fattovich

reaching a peak in Middle Aksumite times and decreasing dramatically in Late

The available evidence suggests reduced demographic pressure and a possible

From this fragmentary evidence we can infer the following processes:

Environmental History of Tigray in the Middle and Late Holocene 81

(4) Demographic pressure increased in the early first millennium BC and

82 Bard, Coltorti, DiBlasi, Dramis, and Fattovich

Anfray, F. (1990). Les anciens Éthiopiens, Colin, Paris.

Environmental History of Tigray in the Middle and Late Holocene 83

84 Bard, Coltorti, DiBlasi, Dramis, and Fattovich

Environmental History of Tigray in the Middle and Late Holocene 85

86 Bard, Coltorti, DiBlasi, Dramis, and Fattovich

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