Lithic manufacture at Medogwe, southwest of Aksum, Tigray, Ethiopia

Recent research at the site of Medogwe, located in the valley of the Nigus-Haselo River, Tigray, Ethiopia, has revealed a sequence of development in stone tool production and use spanning the late Pre-Aksumite to Middle Aksumite periods. It has provided evidence of standardised, mass lithic manufacture during the Early Aksumite phase. This paper outlines the results of an abundant corpus of surface collected and excavated lithics from which it has been possible to infer economic deductions and relationships with contemporary lithic industries coming from the Aksum conurbation. They attest to a widespread use of flaked stone and the sharing of the same knapping techniques among Early Aksumite people in the Aksum region.