Landscapes of Memory and Power: The Archaeology of a Forgotten Kingdom in Ethiopia-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Landscapes of Memory and Power: The Archaeology of a Forgotten Kingdom in Ethiopia

Published:2024-03 Issue:1 Volume:41 Page:71-95
ISSN:0263-0338
Container-title:African Archaeological Review
language:en
Short-container-title:Afr Archaeol Rev

Author:

González-Ruibal Alfredo^ORCID

Abstract

AbstractUnlike their northern counterparts, the kingdoms of southern Ethiopia have received little attention by archaeologists. Their relatively late emergence and absence of literacy may explain this lack of interest. However, they have much to offer to better understand the history not only of the Horn but also of the precolonial African state more generally. In this paper, the polities that developed in the southern Ethiopian highlands during the second millennium AD are briefly described and then one of them is explored in more detail: the kingdom of Anfillo. An archaeological and historical overview of the polity is provided based on two seasons of fieldwork. It is argued that in Anfillo, as in other southern Ethiopian polities, a fortified landscape materialized at the same time a persistent situation of conflict and the collective memory of the ruling classes, which used it as a mnemonic device to tell history and legitimize social divisions.

Funder

Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Link

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10437-024-09575-8.pdf

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