entity · arch_ona_greater_asmara
Ancient Ona assemblage of Greater Asmara
Modern archaeological culture-group label for first-millennium BCE settlements around Asmara.
Review and provenance
Specialist reviewer: not recorded. Review date: not recorded.
Dataset workflow: proposed. This is separate from specialist review.
Confidence describes the stated assessment; it does not certify expert approval. How review works.
Chronology
Dating intervals may describe uncertainty or phases; their width alone does not establish event duration.
800 BCE–400 BCE
Precision: range
- informs · provides archaeological observation
The ‘Ona’ Culture of Greater Asmara: Archaeology’s Liberation of Eritrea’s Ancient History from Colonial Paradigms — Peter R. Schmidt (2002)Defines the assemblage and challenges colonial paradigms.
Locator: pp. 29–59; Greater Asmara sites and historiographic framing - informs · contextualizes
The Pre-Aksumite Period: Indigenous Origins and Development in the Horn of Africa — A. Catherine D’Andrea, Lynn Welton, Andrea Manzo, Helina S. Woldekiros, Steven A. Brandt, Alemseged Beldados, Elizabeth A. Peterson, Laurie A. Nixon-Darcus, Michela Gaudiello, Shannon R. Wood, Habtamu Mekonnen, Stephen Batiuk, Yemane Meresa, Abel Ruiz-Giralt, Carla Lancelotti, Abebe Mengistu Taffere, Lucas M. Johnson (2023)Places Ona within a diverse regional sequence.
Locator: Northern Horn comparative chronology
Research description
Ancient Ona identifies localized architecture and material patterns. It is not an ancient name, a modern ethnic ancestor label, or proof of a single polity. Most securely dated evidence begins around 800 BCE or later.
Properties and assignments
A label’s definition and the evidence for assigning it here are separate.
Archaeological label, not ethnicity
Marks a modern archaeological phase or assemblage that must not be treated as an ancient people.
Why does this record have this property?
It identifies localized material patterns without establishing an ancient self-designation or modern ethnic continuity.
Evidence and sources
- informs · contextualizes
The Pre-Aksumite Period: Indigenous Origins and Development in the Horn of Africa — A. Catherine D’Andrea, Lynn Welton, Andrea Manzo, Helina S. Woldekiros, Steven A. Brandt, Alemseged Beldados, Elizabeth A. Peterson, Laurie A. Nixon-Darcus, Michela Gaudiello, Shannon R. Wood, Habtamu Mekonnen, Stephen Batiuk, Yemane Meresa, Abel Ruiz-Giralt, Carla Lancelotti, Abebe Mengistu Taffere, Lucas M. Johnson (2023)Places Ona within a diverse regional sequence.
Locator: Northern Horn comparative chronology - supports · provides archaeological observation
The ‘Ona’ Culture of Greater Asmara: Archaeology’s Liberation of Eritrea’s Ancient History from Colonial Paradigms — Peter R. Schmidt (2002)Defines the assemblage and challenges colonial paradigms.
Locator: pp. 29–59; Greater Asmara sites and historiographic framing
Referenced records
- Eritrean highlands and coast · entity