How coffee has been fuelling archaeological research in Western Tigray, Ethiopia

A critical perspective on archaeological research has helped to call out Eurocentric interpretations based on selective emphasis of archaeological results, in which great civilizations were thought to influence the world around them, through grand narratives of colonialism or cultural influence. Instead, an analysis of all excavated materials has shown the feasibility and importance of researching and defining local agency and cultural variations. An ongoing debate about the history of Ethiopia for instance, centres on whether the ruling powers in the first millennium BCE, before the rise of the Aksumite Kingdom (ca. first century CE) were hailing from Saba in South Arabia (present day Yemen) or consisted of local elites emulating Sabaean culture. Yet apart from a few excavations that focused on monumental buildings with stylistic connections to South Arabian art and architecture, excavations in both Ethiopia and Eritrea have found an increasing number of settlements from this era, that do not display such links. An example are the excavations at Mai Adrasha near Shire, Western Tigray, which are summarized here.