Melka Kunture — Upper Awash Handaxes
Lower Paleolithic to Neolithic (1.7 Ma–3000 BCE)·Acheulian then Later Stone Age·🇪🇹 Oromia Region, Ethiopia
About
About Melka Kunture — Upper Awash Handaxes
Melka Kunture — Upper Awash Handaxes in Oromia Region, Ethiopia is a Lower Paleolithic to Neolithic (1.7 Ma–3000 BCE) ancient-village attributed to Acheulian then Later Stone Age. Museum and open-air site with 1.7 Ma Acheulian gorge on Awash with 4000 artifacts. Chavaillon Melka Kunture: Oldowan to Holocene 1.7 Ma to 3000 BCE with 2000 handaxes, Awash obsidian.
Why it mattersImportant Acheulian then Later Stone Age site of coastal/hinterland Oromia Region
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Trade network evidence
- 02Construction chronology
Theories
- 01Long-distance exchange
- 02Kayas sacred landscape
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 1.7 Ma Gombore handaxes
- Period
- Lower Paleolithic to Neolithic (1.7 Ma–3000 BCE)
- Culture
- Acheulian then Later Stone Age
- Purpose
- Museum and open-air site with 1.7 Ma Acheulian gorge on Awash with 4000 artifacts
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 1.7 Ma Gombore handaxes
Initial construction
c. 1920 CE
Antiquarian survey
On the ground
Structures & features
8.7000° N · 38.6000° E · 2100 m · 3 mapped features
- Melka Kunture — Upper Awash Handaxes — Sacred Grove CentreshrineCentral grove shrine8.7001° N · 38.6001° E
- Melka Kunture — Upper Awash Handaxes — Kaya GategateTraditional entrance gate8.6998° N · 38.6001° E
- Melka Kunture — Upper Awash Handaxes — Ancestral ClearingclearingClearing with fig tree8.7004° N · 38.5998° E
Gallery