Breaking Borders: The Medieval Archaeology of the Ethiopian-Somaliland Borderland

Abstract

This article examines the impact of colonial borders on the interpretation of medieval archaeology in the Horn of Africa, focusing on the region now divided between Ethiopia and Somaliland. The boundary established in the 1930s fragmented what had historically been an integrated cultural and economic landscape, leading to uneven research trajectories and hindering the reconstruction of historical processes whose scope transcended modern political limits. Through an archaeological project conducted between 2022 and 2025 in the Aw Bare and Harawo woredas of Ethiopia’s Somali Region, nineteen sites—fifteen previously unknown for the academic literature—were identified and documented, allowing for a reassessment of medieval Muslim settlement patterns between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. The results reveal a hierarchical sedentary occupation, ranging from major urban centers such as Aw Bare and Aw Boba to medium-sized villages, small hamlets, and isolated dwellings, alongside defensive structures and specialized cemeteries. Excavations at Aiyanle produced a detailed stratigraphic sequence, imported materials, and radiocarbon dates that place the site’s peak during the rule of the Barr Saʿd al-Dīn Sultanate, followed by a decline associated with its collapse in the late sixteenth century. In parallel, substantial evidence of nomadic occupation was recorded, including ritual aggregation sites, cemeteries, and craft-related activity areas. Together, these data reveal a densely occupied and highly complex landscape in which sedentary and nomadic communities interacted dynamically. The findings also challenge interpretations shaped by contemporary borders and offer new insights into territorial organization, economic strategies, and religious practices in the medieval Muslim Horn of Africa.