The State of Archaeobotanical Research in Ethiopia

Abstract

This article evaluates current knowledge on the beginning of early agriculture, the study of past environment, and past human-plant  interactions. In the study, the regions of Ethiopia are geographically classified into four; North, North Central, South, and East, based on  previous literature on past environment and early agriculture, and the availability of sites that bear botanical remains from archaeological  sites, which were investigated employing proper archaeobotanical methods. A total of 13 sites were included in this  review. The highest number of sites that provide plant remains from archaeological sites and insight into the types of cultivated crops  belong to the northern part, with six sites, followed by the south (4 sites), and the least representation is the eastern part of the country  with only one site. What is common in the review of the results of the archaeobotanical research in almost all the sites of the four regions  is the availability of introduced Middle Eastern crops like wheat and barley starting from the Late-Holocene (ca. 1600 years BCE) to the medieval and post-medieval times (14th- 18th centuries A.D). The archaeobotanical record, until very recently, was devoid of sufficient  data on indigenous C-4 crops like tef (Eragrostis tef), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and finger millet (Eleusine coracana). The uses of  phytoliths and starch granules as an approach to recover microscopic plant remains from sediments and artefacts proved to be  instrumental in recovering small seeded native cereals. This study observed that the agricultural economy of the southern half of the country was mainly on enset, fruits and vegetables, and geophytes (root crops), and, thus, for their identification from archaeological  sites shall integrate the study of phytoliths and starch granules. It was also possible to see that there is still a lack of data to clearly outline  the beginning and evolution of early agriculture and portray human-environment interactions in almost all the regions.  Furthermore, phytolith, anthracological and palynological studies are far from being topics of specialized research in the country.