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原文化与尼罗河中游、苏丹东北部Gash三角洲以及埃及部分地区文化之间的各种流动形式和互动途径。目的是阐明非洲内部人口、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-埃及尼罗河流域和Gash三角洲的影响。时间框架从公元前2世纪延伸到公元前1千年初。在这一时间跨度内，各地区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了证明。此外，这一时期恰逢非洲之角北部开始形成复杂的社会。该项目的一个重点是在埃塞俄比亚高地以及毗邻地区重建定居点模式和通讯路线，一直延伸到红海(厄立特里亚)。为什么在特定地点建立定居点的问题不能仅通过考古学方法来回答，而是将结合自然地理学和景观考古学进行研究。因此，将从考古学、历史学和地理学的比较角度对不同的调查路线进行评估。另一个重点将是根据最低成本路径分析、自然资源的出现情况、关于古环境条件的知识和历史旅行记录，调查古迹位置和相互作用路线之间的关系。将通过研究考古材料(主要是陶瓷和由黑铁矿制成的文物)的经典方法以及对古生物材料的科学冶金分析和检查来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现代仍然存在的商品的移徙流动和流动，并作为非洲内部文化发展的一种现象来审查形成强烈对比的地区之间的相互关系。

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.