Routes of Interaction: Interregional Contacts between the Northern Horn of Africa and the Nile Region

该项目的目的是调查非洲之角北部高地文化与尼罗河中部、苏丹加什三角洲东北部以及埃及部分地区文化之间各种形式的流动和互动路线。目的是澄清非洲内部人口、思想和物品的交流在多大程度上促进了埃塞俄比亚高地文化的发展，同时确定高地对苏丹-埃及尼罗河谷和加什三角洲的影响。时间框架从公元前2世纪延伸到公元前1世纪初。在这段跨越区域的时间内，各区域之间的非洲内部接触在不同类别的考古材料以及苏丹-埃及书面资料中得到证实。此外，这一时期与非洲之角北部复杂社会形成的开始相吻合。该项目的一个重点是重建埃塞俄比亚高地以及一直延伸到红海（厄立特里亚）的毗邻地区的定居模式和通讯路线。为什么在一个特定的地点建立定居点的问题不能仅仅通过考古学的方法来回答，而是将自然地理学和景观考古学结合起来研究。因此，将从比较考古、历史和地理的角度对不同的调查方法进行评估。另一个重点将是调查古代遗址的位置和相互作用路线之间的关系，基于最小成本路径分析、自然资源的发生、对古环境条件的了解和历史旅行记录。通过研究考古材料（主要是陶瓷和黑曜石制成的人工制品）的经典方法，以及科学的冶金分析和古动物材料的检查，将揭示跨区域和远距离的联系。其目的是从历时的角度确定和追踪在现代仍然存在的移徙运动和商品流动，并作为非洲内部文化发展的一种现象，审查强烈对比的区域之间的相互关系。

The aim of the project is to investigate various forms of mobility and routes of interaction between the highland cultures of the northern Horn of Africa and the cultures of the middle Nile River, the north-eastern Sudanese Gash Delta, as well as parts of Egypt. The objective is to clarify to what extent the intra-African exchange of populations, ideas and objects contributed to the development of Ethiopian highland cultures, and at the same time to ascertain the influence that the highlands had on the Sudanese-Egyptian Nile valley and the Gash Delta. The chronological framework extends from the 2nd to the early 1st millennium BC. For this timespan transregional, intra-African contacts between the regions are attested in different categories of archaeological material as well as in Sudanese-Egyptian written sources. In addition, this period concurs with the beginning of the formation of complex societies in the northern Horn of Africa. One focal point of the project is the reconstruction of settlement patterns and communication routes in the Ethiopian highlands as well as in adjoining areas, extending as far as the Red Sea (Eritrea). The question as to why settlements were founded at a particular location cannot be answered by means of archaeological methods alone, but will be researched integrating physical geography and landscape archaeology. Therefore, an evaluation of the different lines of inquiry will proceed from comparative archaeological, historical and geographical perspectives. Another focus will be on investigating the relation between the location of ancient sites and interaction routes, based on least-cost-path analyses, the occurrence of natural resources, the knowledge on palaeo-environmental conditions, and historical travelogues. Transregional and long-distance associations will be revealed through classical methods of studying archaeological material (predominantly ceramics and artefacts made of obsidian), as well as scientific metallurgical analyses and examination of palaeozoological material. The aim is to determine and trace migration movements and flow of commodities – still extant in modern times – from a diachronic perspective, and to examine the interrelationship between strongly contrasting regions as a phenomenon of intra-African cultural development.