Preliminary Results of the Archaeological Reconnaissance carried out in Atsibi -Wemberta, Eastern Tigray, Ethiopia

Abstract

Archaeological reconnaissance sponsored by the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) was conducted under the direction of the author in February 2004 in Atsibi-Wemberta district (Wereda) in eastern Tigray Administrative Zone. The objective of the archaeological ground reconnaissance was to assess the archaeological and tourism potential of the same place and to prepare the ground for future research. The preliminary assessment survey resulted with the discoveries of several settlements, cemeteries and religious sites ascribable to the pre-Aksumite and Aksumite cultures dating to about the middle of the first millennium BC and the first seven centuries AD, respectively.

Key words: cemetery, settlement, stelae, Tumulus.