Bridging Ethnoarchaeology and Archaeology in the Ethiopian Gamo Highlands

Abstract

This article is a case study that applies long-term ceramic ethnoarchaeology to recent archaeological research in the Gamo region of Ethiopia. The region is located on the western escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. Today, an important cultural characteristic of the Gamo is their caste system. They divide society into occupational castes including Mala farmers and Tsoma artisans who are segregated in their access to land and food resources. Working collaboratively with Gamo Boreda elders, we located a historic Mala household at the archaeological site of Ochollo Mulato (1270–1950 CE) and an artisan household at the archaeological site of Garu (eighteenth and nineteenth centuries CE). The historic archaeological pottery assemblages from Ochollo Mulato and Garu are considered in light of thirty years of Gamo ceramic ethnoarchaeological research to understand changes in subsistence and social organization through time.

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