From January 13 to February 5, 2022
Mission in Djibouti
The archaeological research mission in the Republic of Djibouti, led by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the IRAH in Djibouti (CERD), and placed under the scientific direction of Jessie Cauliez (CNRS, UMR 5608 Traces, Toulouse), was once again deployed in the field from January 13 to February 5, 2022, after a two-year hiatus.
The mission took place in the lacustrine basin of the Gobaad, near Lake Abbé, in the southwest of the country. With a team of 16 French and Djiboutian researchers, operations were carried out around 7 different areas.
The community burial at Antakari 3, dated to the 3rd millennium cal BCE and linked to early pastoralists of the Horn of Africa, saw the continuation of excavations of individual grave pits that have characterized the open part of the site for about a decade. These excavations confirmed the chronological sequence previously established, based on both the analysis of the sediment deposits containing the burials and the superposition of these layers, meticulously documented through a fully assumed archaeothanatological approach.
This year, several instances of burial overlapping were observed, adding complexity to the sequence of funerary events. According to our estimates, nearly 300 individuals were interred in this community funerary space under a circular platform of nearly 17 meters in diameter that sealed the necropolis. Additionally, new finds included previously unseen grave goods such as shell bracelets, animal bones, and ostrich eggshell beads, indicating cultural practices not yet documented on this site.
The second operation focused on the site of Hara Idé 3, which yielded human remains dated from about 16,000 to 12,000 years ago—a period for which data on human settlement in East Africa remains scarce. This grants particular importance to the site for the study of Late Stone Age populations. The site was frequented during two main periods, as both the upper and intermediate horizons yielded evidence of human occupation, including hearths with burned animal bones, stone tools, and obsidian flakes dated to approximately 8,000 years ago.
This year, excavations in the intermediate horizon uncovered a new hearth confirming repeated human presence during varying environmental conditions—from a humid period associated with the extension of Lake Abbé to a later drier phase. The study of human remains using different analytical methods provides key information to understand both the origins and lifestyles of these ancient hunter-gatherer populations.
The third operation focused on settlement sites associated with the early pastoralists of Hédaïto lo Dora and Antakari Northeast. At these two sites, organized as posthole structures with heated-stone features, basalt blocks were sampled for archaeomagnetic dating by the program’s specialist. However, uncertainty remains regarding the dating of these occupations (2nd or 1st millennium cal BCE? Or 1st millennium cal CE?).
At Hédaïto lo Dora, three low dating results do not seem to match the cultural material recovered from the site, suggesting it may be older. If confirmed, these low datings would challenge our current understanding of the ceramic traditions of southwestern Djibouti. For Antakari Northeast, the samples taken this year aim to confirm or refine previous radiocarbon datings, both on organic and mineral fractions of bone material.
Research also continued in the Dakka Massif, a basaltic escarpment range covered with rock engravings stretching over several kilometers, located north of the Gobaad Basin in Djibouti. All these engravings belong to a period in the history of the Horn of Africa that can be placed between the mid-first millennium BCE (around 500 BCE) and the medieval period, which corresponds to the gradual introduction of Islam from the 8th to the 13th century CE. This rock art mainly reflects a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle based on cattle and dromedary herding, the latter being used for caravan trade.
This year, excavation operations and sample collections at archaeological sites were complemented by an ethnoarchaeological study of earthen architecture in the sub-prefecture of As Eyla, the region where the excavations are located. The aim of this operation was to identify and describe as thoroughly as possible the earthen structures used for habitation, whether currently inhabited or abandoned, and to document the operational sequences of earth extraction and implementation for architectural purposes.
To achieve this, in addition to a systematic photographic record, an ethnographic survey was conducted among users and artisans still active in this field of technical expertise. Samples at various stages of preparation were collected for laboratory analysis, particularly through micromorphological examination.
Actualistic references in the program also concern present-day fauna, with a specific focus on predators—particularly hyenas, which are densely present in the Gobaad region. The objective is to model the behaviors and interactions between humans and animals in the current environment of Lake Abhé, where the populations are semi-nomadic herders. The goal is to understand the relationship between humans and this predator, to study its prey, habitat, behavior, and consumption patterns.
The aim is to develop interpretative models and insights into their behavior, from an analogical perspective, to inform the study of prehistoric sites that have yielded artifacts associated with the presence of hyenas in archaeological contexts in both Europe and Africa.
Because the Gobaad region is also an exceptional reservoir of fossil fauna (1.5 to 1.3 million years old), several surveys and test excavations were carried out in order to describe the burial contexts of very ancient forms of elephant, crocodile, and hippopotamus from East Africa.
