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CFEE x FMSEH Seminar – “Megalithic stele monuments of Gedeo, South Ethiopia”

Seminar – “Megalithic stele monuments of Gedeo, South Ethiopia”

By Dr. Ashenafi Girma Zena, Ph.D, RPA

Monday 26th May, 3 PM (Addis Ababa Time)

ONLINE

The CFEE is pleased to collaborate in 2025 with the FMSEH webinar series on the annual theme: A Century of Megalithic Research in the Horn of Africa

The fifth lecture of this series is given by Dr. Ashenafi Girma Zena, online by zoom. The link to access the online presentation:

Hour : 26 may 2025 03:00 PM Nairobi
https://univ-grenoble-alpes-fr.zoom.us/j/93571948089?pwd=XWScR90qR6vb80uRW2QUBtb3k30BrQ.1

Short Biography

Ashenafi Girma Zena is the Archaeology Collections Manager at the State Historical Society of North Dakota, Bismarck. The data collected for this research were obtained from 2014 to 2018 for a Ph.D. dissertation. Ashenafi earned his Ph.D. degree in Anthropology-specialty in Archaeology (2019) from Washington State University, Pullman, WA.

Short Description

This research focuses on megalithic stele monuments of the Gedeo zone, located within the Southern Nation Nationalities Peoples Region of Ethiopia. The main goals of the study were to build a broad chronology of stele site types in Gedeo and to explore materiality of the stele, their social meaning, and use through time. By analyzing materiality of stele monuments and associated material remains, as well as ethnographic and living stele monument construction in the region, the study sheds light on the timing and past social practices behind stele construction and patterns of obsidian exchange networks in southern Ethiopia over the last two millennia. Existing archaeological data suggest that the Gedeo stele landscapes represent one of the earliest megalithic stele traditions in Ethiopia. The study has also shown that diverse social and ritual practices—including mortuary rituals, commemorative social events, and annual/seasonal ceremonies—led to the materialization and ritualization of distinct forms and sizes of stele monuments in the region at various time and scale. Chemical element analysis also suggests that more than 90% of analyzed obsidian artifact samples from Gedeo stele sites came from north Kenya sources.


OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Secrétaire Scientifique (19 mai 2025). CFEE x FMSEH Seminar – “Megalithic stele monuments of Gedeo, South Ethiopia” UN ŒIL SUR LA CORNE / AN EYE ON THE HORN. Consulté le 16 janvier 2026 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/13y8q


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