Travels on the Afar Salt Route in Ethiopia
by Helina S. Woldekiros

Helina Woldekiros standing in front of a camel caravan on its way to the salt flat

My interest in Africa, pastoralist economy, and zooarchaeology led me to Washington University to work with Professor Fiona Marshall. My research interest is investigating ancient pastoralist economic organization through the study of caravans and caravan route organization tactics. Caravan archaeology has proven to be a useful approach in studying mechanisms of ancient exchange, trade, and transport.

I recently returned from completing my dissertation fieldwork in the Danakil depression in northern Ethiopia. The topic of my dissertation is the archaeology of the Afar salt caravan route of northeastern Ethiopia.

To lay the groundwork for future archaeological fieldwork on mechanisms of exchange, trade, and transport of goods such as salt from the Afar lowlands to the northeastern Ethiopian plateau during the Aksumite period, I carried out an integrated ethnoarchaeological and archaeological project on the Afar salt caravan route. My research focused on two goals:

1. To use ethnoarchaeological observation to identify distinctive material residues of caravans and commodity flow on the Afar salt route.
2. To collect empirical data with which to examine the hypothesis that the Afar caravan route was in use as early as the Aksumite (150 BCE-CE 700) period. I also examined evidence for medieval (CE 700-1300) activity on the Afar trail.

In Africa, social, political, and economic structures have been shaped by salt production, salt distribution, and long-distance trade in areas where salt is a critical resource. Production, control, and trade of salt over the last 1,000 years is well-known for having contributed to the basis of power and the rise of states in Ghana, Mali, and Sudan. In East Africa, the ancient Aksumites (150 BCE-CE 700) of the north Ethiopian highlands controlled trade in the Red Sea.

The ancient Romans considered this to be one of most powerful states of the period. The Aksumite state's wealth, development, and expansion have been tied to trade in commodities such as salt, gold, and animal products. Ancient 6th CE texts also mention the existence of a salt trade in Aksumite times, which would have constituted a source of local wealth. The Afar lowlands adjacent to the highlands of the Aksumite state are still the only source of salt in the region. The Afar salt route is defined by passes from the lowlands to the highlands, was used by the Ethiopian medieval salt trade, and is still traveled by salt caravans.

Loading salt rock after mining in the Danakil depression of northern Ethiopia

The salt trade from the Afar depression to the Ethiopian plateau follows the Afar salt route from the lowland salt source Lake Asele in the southern Afar desert, 3,000 meters up a precipitous escarpment, following the few available water sources and the mountain passes. The 220-kilometer-long route runs from the salt Lake Asele, via Hamed Ela and Berahile, to Mekelle in the northern highlands of Ethiopia. The lowland portion of the route (60 kilometers) is still based on donkey and camel caravans. The Afar desert is too dry for cultivation, and it is occupied today by mobile Afar pastoralists who make a living from their herds and through trade in salt. In contrast, the Ethiopian highlands receive abundant rainfall and support productive agricultural systems, but lack sources of salt. This restricted distribution of resources, ecological setting, and organizational requirements of the Afar salt route would have presented early Ethiopian agriculturalists and pastoralists with a unique set of options for trade and exchange as well as some significant constraints. During the last 100 years, Tigray caravaners have paid tax to the Afar at Berahile for extracting salt from the Danakil. In addition, the Afar themselves extracted salt to trade and exchange with communities in the highlands. Salt of the lowlands is likely to have also been a necessity for highland agricultural societies in Aksumite time.

During my fieldwork in northern Ethiopia, I walked the lowland 60-kilometer route with donkeys and camels. I was able to collect information on the route, costs of travel, and material traces of caravans that can be used to identify ancient use of the Afar trail. Circular stones used by caravaners for baking bread were some of the most distinctive artifacts that I found. During subsequent archaeological survey, I identified at least three major archaeological sites on the salt route. During excavation at these sites, I found ancient bread cooking stones similar to those characteristic of modern salt trader camps. I also identified Aksumite highland pottery in these levels and obsidian distinctive of the Afar. This suggests local or regional exchange in commodities from the Afar lowlands to the north Ethiopian plateau dating to as early as Aksumite (CE 150-700) period.

This study has produced new methods for identification of caravan transport on the Afar trail and information on the antiquity of its use, and it lays the groundwork for more extensive archaeological fieldwork on local and regional trade in northeastern Ethiopia. This project will also provide useful cross-cultural comparative material for archaeologists interested in the material remains of caravan organization in Africa and elsewhere. In many parts of the world, trucks and modern roads are replacing caravans based on pack animals. This project has also helped to record this aspect of Tigray and Afar cultural heritage.

Helina Woldekiros is a graduate student in archaeology who recently returned from conducting dissertation fieldwork in Ethiopia.