THE ROUTE MOST TRAVELED: THE AFAR SALT TRAIL, NORTH ETHIOPIA

In Africa and elsewhere, scholars have demonstrated that early social, political, and economic structures were shaped by salt production, distribution, and long-distance trade in areas where salt was a critical resource. However, despite salt's significant role in developing these structures, a...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal:	Woldekiros,Helina S.
Lenguaje:	English
Publicado:	Universidad de Tarapacá. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Jurídicas. Departamento de Antropología 2019
Materias:	Salt caravan Aksumite trade Africa ethnoarchaeology
Acceso en línea:	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-73562019000100095
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:scielo:S0717-73562019000100095
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:scielo:S0717-735620190001000952019-05-10THE ROUTE MOST TRAVELED: THE AFAR SALT TRAIL, NORTH ETHIOPIAWoldekiros,Helina S. Salt caravan Aksumite trade Africa ethnoarchaeology In Africa and elsewhere, scholars have demonstrated that early social, political, and economic structures were shaped by salt production, distribution, and long-distance trade in areas where salt was a critical resource. However, despite salt's significant role in developing these structures, archaeological studies of the salt trade have focused almost exclusively on artifacts and historical text references. As a result, data on the diverse and complex routes through which this important commodity has traveled and the nature of its transportation are lacking. This paper examines evidence of ancient Aksumite (400 BC-900 AD) salt trade and exchange from the lowland Ethiopian deserts to the North Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands, drawing on recent ethnoarchaeological and archaeological fieldwork conducted in the Danakil Desert and Aksumite towns. The data reveal that the Afar salt trail passes through diverse regional ecozones, highland trader towns, and foothill towns, via several highland routes and one major lowland route. The study shows that caravaners followed the least costly path on the highland portion of the route, with ideal slopes for pack travel and plentiful water sources. The study also describes ancient caravan campsites dating to ca. 5th century CE and shows that participants differed in religion and identity.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessUniversidad de Tarapacá. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Jurídicas. Departamento de AntropologíaChungará (Arica) v.51 n.1 20192019-03-01text/htmlhttp://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-73562019000100095en10.4067/S0717-73562019005000502
institution	Scielo Chile
collection	Scielo Chile
language	English
topic	Salt caravan Aksumite trade Africa ethnoarchaeology
spellingShingle	Salt caravan Aksumite trade Africa ethnoarchaeology Woldekiros,Helina S. THE ROUTE MOST TRAVELED: THE AFAR SALT TRAIL, NORTH ETHIOPIA
description	In Africa and elsewhere, scholars have demonstrated that early social, political, and economic structures were shaped by salt production, distribution, and long-distance trade in areas where salt was a critical resource. However, despite salt's significant role in developing these structures, archaeological studies of the salt trade have focused almost exclusively on artifacts and historical text references. As a result, data on the diverse and complex routes through which this important commodity has traveled and the nature of its transportation are lacking. This paper examines evidence of ancient Aksumite (400 BC-900 AD) salt trade and exchange from the lowland Ethiopian deserts to the North Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands, drawing on recent ethnoarchaeological and archaeological fieldwork conducted in the Danakil Desert and Aksumite towns. The data reveal that the Afar salt trail passes through diverse regional ecozones, highland trader towns, and foothill towns, via several highland routes and one major lowland route. The study shows that caravaners followed the least costly path on the highland portion of the route, with ideal slopes for pack travel and plentiful water sources. The study also describes ancient caravan campsites dating to ca. 5th century CE and shows that participants differed in religion and identity.
author	Woldekiros,Helina S.
author_facet	Woldekiros,Helina S.
author_sort	Woldekiros,Helina S.
title	THE ROUTE MOST TRAVELED: THE AFAR SALT TRAIL, NORTH ETHIOPIA
title_short	THE ROUTE MOST TRAVELED: THE AFAR SALT TRAIL, NORTH ETHIOPIA
title_full	THE ROUTE MOST TRAVELED: THE AFAR SALT TRAIL, NORTH ETHIOPIA
title_fullStr	THE ROUTE MOST TRAVELED: THE AFAR SALT TRAIL, NORTH ETHIOPIA
title_full_unstemmed	THE ROUTE MOST TRAVELED: THE AFAR SALT TRAIL, NORTH ETHIOPIA
title_sort	route most traveled: the afar salt trail, north ethiopia
publisher	Universidad de Tarapacá. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Jurídicas. Departamento de Antropología
publishDate	2019
url	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-73562019000100095
work_keys_str_mv	AT woldekiroshelinas theroutemosttraveledtheafarsalttrailnorthethiopia AT woldekiroshelinas routemosttraveledtheafarsalttrailnorthethiopia
_version_	1718443509132820480

THE ROUTE MOST TRAVELED: THE AFAR SALT TRAIL, NORTH ETHIOPIA

Ejemplares similares