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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The 'ona' sites of Asmara and Hamasien
Authors:Munro-Hay, StuartISNI
Tringali, GiuseppeISNI
Year:1991
Periodical:Rassegna di studi etiopici
Volume:35
Pages:135-170
Language:English
Geographic term:Eritrea
Subject:archaeology
Abstract:The survey and excavations by Giuseppe Tringali in Eritrea during the 1960s to early 1980s owed their origin largely to accidental finds in the region around Asmara and in Hamasien. Some of the 'ona' or ruin sites identified represent the ruins of substantial villages. The evidence of pottery and other categories of finds indicates that the sites belong to two distinct types. The older contained pink or red fine-walled burnished pottery, some with a characteristic combination of red exterior/black interior, and geometrical decoration. Tringali suggested dating ranging from the fifth century BC to the third or fourth century AD, but some of these sites may belong to an older phase. A substantial amount of 'ona' material belongs to a subsequent period, dating to Aksumite times or even later. Here the thick-walled black pottery was similar to that found in Aksum itself. The present paper brings to notice 'ona' details, drawings and photographs so far unnoted. The whole of the data derives from Tringali's work, and additional notes in Italian contain his unpublished comments on different aspects of the 'ona' sites. App., bibliogr., notes.
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