Exploratory Investigations into the Origins and Evolution of Food Production in Southwestern Ethiopia

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Dr. Steven Brandt will conduct archaeological survey and excavation in the Gamu-Gofa Highlands region of Southwestern Ethiopia. His goal is to understand how ensete (Ensete ventricosum) or "false banana" was domesticated and incorporated into Ethiopian subsistence practices. He will conduct two months of fieldwork in this area which is both archaeologically unknown and in the heart of the present region of ensete use. He will locate promising areas on the basis of both local interview and analysis of areal photographs and satellite imagery. In particular, he will focus on caves and rock shelters because the potential for locating stratified deposits is greatest there. Limited test excavations will be conducted and a basic cultural sequence established. With this data it will then be possible to plan longer term field research. While the archaeology of the Ethiopian highlands is poorly known, modern botanic data suggest that this region served as point of origin for many widely used African domesticates. Ensete is a large, fibrous, tree-like monocot which closely resembles a banana. Unlike the banana, however, the fruits are inedible and the main sources of food are the roots, pseudo-stems and left- stems. Although wild species of ensete are distributed throughout much of central, eastern and southern Africa, evidently it is only in Ethiopia that domesticated varieties are cultivated. Ensete is either baked or made into porridge and is eaten by about one fifth of Ethiopia's estimated 10,000,000 people. Various parts of the plant are also used for fodder, fuel and packing material. Almost nothing is known about the development of ensente use and Dr. Brandt's research should provide needed basic data. This project is important for several reasons. It will provide insight into the processes which led to the original domestication of plants and animals. Ethiopia is prone to drought and human starvation and hopefully greater understanding of indigenous farming techniques which have stood the test of time) may provide new ways to attack this problem. This short- term exploratory project should lay the groundwork to later more intensive research.