Linking the Horn: archaeology of trade routes in western Somaliland

Abstract

For hundreds of years, the route between Zeila and Harar was one of the most important avenues for trade into the Horn of Africa, but little is known of the characteristics and material evidence of trade along this route. This paper approaches the study of the route from Zeila (Somaliland) to Jijiga (Ethiopia) during the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, when the region was integrated in the important Muslim sultanates of Ifat or Adal. It analyses the potential routes used by the caravans through the combination of cartography, nineteenth-century travellers’ accounts, medieval texts, GIS methodologies and archaeological evidence, inserting the results in the broader trade framework of Somaliland. It also pays attention to the interactions between the different actors involved in the management of commerce — nomads, foreign merchants, urban dwellers, states — and their co-ordination to make this route one of the most active in Africa.