Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Université de Nantes, Sep 7, 2021
International audienceIn northern Ethiopia, the villages of Sewne and Wolwalo form the centre of ... more International audienceIn northern Ethiopia, the villages of Sewne and Wolwalo form the centre of two areas surveyed by the French archaeological mission in the Eastern Tigray which revealed pre-Aksumite, Aksumite and post-Aksumite settlements. Around Wolwalo, the study zone is on the Tigray plateau, at an altitude of 2700 m. Around Sewne, the site of Wakarida and the surveyed area extend on a topographic spur at the altitude of 2400 m, forming a transition zone between the plateau and the valleys plunging towards the Danakil Depression. The relations maintained by the sites of the two regions with the central powers during pre-Aksumite, Aksumite and post-Aksmuite periods are still unclear, as well as the relationship between the two spaces (spur/plateau), and ancient agricultural practices.Geographically, it is a margin area with a shifting relationship to political centrality, which can be apprehended on various spatio-temporal scales, thanks to an interdisciplinary approach, combining archaeology, geoarchaeology, geohistory and ethnogeomorphology. Our geographical analysis relies on the concepts of centrality, marginalization and mobility and is part of a diachronic reflection, essentially based on the modern and contemporary periods.During the modern period, this space is subject to erosion caused by anthropogenic activities from the 14th century onwards but is nevertheless absent from travellers' accounts and early cartographies. Marginalised at the regional scale and away from the main itineraries, the studied space remains locally active and continues developing. Today, the Sewne spur constitutes a central margin: its marginal location makes it a contact zone, an interface area, where the distance from the centre leads to the creation of a new centre. This area becomes a porous and dynamic borderland between sedentary agricultural practices and nomadic or semi-nomadic agro-pastoral practices of the neighbouring Afar populations. These contemporary data provide analogues allowing to question past periods through a regressive approach
International audienceExcavations of two Iron Age cultic sites at Bithnah andMasāfī (Fujairah, Un... more International audienceExcavations of two Iron Age cultic sites at Bithnah andMasāfī (Fujairah, United Arab Emirates) have provideddata documenting cultic rituals dedicated to a divinityrepresented as a snake practised by south-eastern Arabianpopulations during the Iron Age (1200-300 BC). On thebasis of archaeological data as well as of fi rst resultsobtained by chemical studies, a possible connectionbetween the attributions of the deity represented by thesnake and the regional economic background, in whichcopper and water might have played a major rule isdiscussed by the authors
This article presents the results of recent research carried out by the French Archaeological Mis... more This article presents the results of recent research carried out by the French Archaeological Mission in Wakarida, eastern Tigray, Ethiopia. Excavations revealed a small city dating from the middle and late Aksumite period (AD 350/400–800/850). Despite a relative scarcity of imported items in Wakarida, the local architecture and pottery allowed the team to highlight several parallels with the architecture and pottery collected in the capital, Aksum, suggesting strong elements of cultural unity throughout the Aksumite kingdom.
Fig. 1 : Localisation de Masafi et des principaux sites de l’Âge du Fer des Emirats Arabes Unis. ... more Fig. 1 : Localisation de Masafi et des principaux sites de l’Âge du Fer des Emirats Arabes Unis. L’operation Masafi conduite dans l’Emirat de Fujairah depuis 2007 sous ma direction fait partie du programme de recherches mene par la mission archeologique francaise aux Emirats Arabes Unis (Dir : Sophie Mery, ArScan, Nanterre), grâce a un financement du Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres. L’objectif global est une etude diachronique des populations protohistoriques d’Arabie sud-orientale pour met...
Evolution de exploitation des sols de l’oasis de Masafi (E.A.U.) depuis l’Age du Fer : premieres ... more Evolution de exploitation des sols de l’oasis de Masafi (E.A.U.) depuis l’Age du Fer : premieres cles de lecture des sols
Located in the northern part of the Hajar mountains (UAE), the oasis of Masāfī benefits from abun... more Located in the northern part of the Hajar mountains (UAE), the oasis of Masāfī benefits from abundant copper and water resources and a strategic location at the crossroad between the western piedmont and the shore of the Gulf of Oman. Our project aims at reconstructing the dynamics and evolution of this oasis. An interdisciplinary approach was adopted for this purpose, based on a combination of archaeological, geoarchaeological, geomorphic, spatial, and botanical study. This article presents the methodology and the first results of our investigation in the southern part of the palm grove (Emirate of Fujairah) and more specifically: the mapping of the palm grove and the surrounding valley; the excavation of Iron Age hydraulic structures near the site of Masāfī-1; and the study of a test pit dug inside the palm grove. Thus, we will put forward first hypothesis on landscape use and evolution in the valley of Masāfī.
Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Université de Nantes, Sep 7, 2021
International audienceIn northern Ethiopia, the villages of Sewne and Wolwalo form the centre of ... more International audienceIn northern Ethiopia, the villages of Sewne and Wolwalo form the centre of two areas surveyed by the French archaeological mission in the Eastern Tigray which revealed pre-Aksumite, Aksumite and post-Aksumite settlements. Around Wolwalo, the study zone is on the Tigray plateau, at an altitude of 2700 m. Around Sewne, the site of Wakarida and the surveyed area extend on a topographic spur at the altitude of 2400 m, forming a transition zone between the plateau and the valleys plunging towards the Danakil Depression. The relations maintained by the sites of the two regions with the central powers during pre-Aksumite, Aksumite and post-Aksmuite periods are still unclear, as well as the relationship between the two spaces (spur/plateau), and ancient agricultural practices.Geographically, it is a margin area with a shifting relationship to political centrality, which can be apprehended on various spatio-temporal scales, thanks to an interdisciplinary approach, combining archaeology, geoarchaeology, geohistory and ethnogeomorphology. Our geographical analysis relies on the concepts of centrality, marginalization and mobility and is part of a diachronic reflection, essentially based on the modern and contemporary periods.During the modern period, this space is subject to erosion caused by anthropogenic activities from the 14th century onwards but is nevertheless absent from travellers' accounts and early cartographies. Marginalised at the regional scale and away from the main itineraries, the studied space remains locally active and continues developing. Today, the Sewne spur constitutes a central margin: its marginal location makes it a contact zone, an interface area, where the distance from the centre leads to the creation of a new centre. This area becomes a porous and dynamic borderland between sedentary agricultural practices and nomadic or semi-nomadic agro-pastoral practices of the neighbouring Afar populations. These contemporary data provide analogues allowing to question past periods through a regressive approach
International audienceExcavations of two Iron Age cultic sites at Bithnah andMasāfī (Fujairah, Un... more International audienceExcavations of two Iron Age cultic sites at Bithnah andMasāfī (Fujairah, United Arab Emirates) have provideddata documenting cultic rituals dedicated to a divinityrepresented as a snake practised by south-eastern Arabianpopulations during the Iron Age (1200-300 BC). On thebasis of archaeological data as well as of fi rst resultsobtained by chemical studies, a possible connectionbetween the attributions of the deity represented by thesnake and the regional economic background, in whichcopper and water might have played a major rule isdiscussed by the authors
This article presents the results of recent research carried out by the French Archaeological Mis... more This article presents the results of recent research carried out by the French Archaeological Mission in Wakarida, eastern Tigray, Ethiopia. Excavations revealed a small city dating from the middle and late Aksumite period (AD 350/400–800/850). Despite a relative scarcity of imported items in Wakarida, the local architecture and pottery allowed the team to highlight several parallels with the architecture and pottery collected in the capital, Aksum, suggesting strong elements of cultural unity throughout the Aksumite kingdom.
Fig. 1 : Localisation de Masafi et des principaux sites de l’Âge du Fer des Emirats Arabes Unis. ... more Fig. 1 : Localisation de Masafi et des principaux sites de l’Âge du Fer des Emirats Arabes Unis. L’operation Masafi conduite dans l’Emirat de Fujairah depuis 2007 sous ma direction fait partie du programme de recherches mene par la mission archeologique francaise aux Emirats Arabes Unis (Dir : Sophie Mery, ArScan, Nanterre), grâce a un financement du Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres. L’objectif global est une etude diachronique des populations protohistoriques d’Arabie sud-orientale pour met...
Evolution de exploitation des sols de l’oasis de Masafi (E.A.U.) depuis l’Age du Fer : premieres ... more Evolution de exploitation des sols de l’oasis de Masafi (E.A.U.) depuis l’Age du Fer : premieres cles de lecture des sols
Located in the northern part of the Hajar mountains (UAE), the oasis of Masāfī benefits from abun... more Located in the northern part of the Hajar mountains (UAE), the oasis of Masāfī benefits from abundant copper and water resources and a strategic location at the crossroad between the western piedmont and the shore of the Gulf of Oman. Our project aims at reconstructing the dynamics and evolution of this oasis. An interdisciplinary approach was adopted for this purpose, based on a combination of archaeological, geoarchaeological, geomorphic, spatial, and botanical study. This article presents the methodology and the first results of our investigation in the southern part of the palm grove (Emirate of Fujairah) and more specifically: the mapping of the palm grove and the surrounding valley; the excavation of Iron Age hydraulic structures near the site of Masāfī-1; and the study of a test pit dug inside the palm grove. Thus, we will put forward first hypothesis on landscape use and evolution in the valley of Masāfī.
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