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Chronology of the Axumite kingdom (Fattovich et al., 2000) Table 3

Table 3 Chronology of the Axumite kingdom (Fattovich et al., 2000) Table 3

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Fig. 2. Aerial transverse view of the study area with the town of Axum on the left and Byeta Giyorgis hill in the middle. On the left back ground the hill of Gobo Dura stands, wher that of Ma' Qoho appears at the picture bottom line. The dome foothills have, in places, a natural stepped morphology (Twidale, 2002) or gentle slopes. The latter are commonly terraced for agricultural purposes by stone bunds set up mainly across small valley bottom and sides, whereas the sharp structural steps, such as those on the northern side of Byeta Giyorgis, are used as natural agricultural terraces bounded by kopjes or man made stone mounds on their external margins. The steeper slopes have either a tree cover or are dissected by erosion and bedrock outcrops are very common. Scree Climate is characterised by great interannual variability of rain ranging from 600 to 800 mm year '. The main rainy season is mid-
Fig. 2. Aerial transverse view of the study area with the town of Axum on the left and Byeta Giyorgis hill in the middle. On the left back ground the hill of Gobo Dura stands, wher that of Ma' Qoho appears at the picture bottom line. The dome foothills have, in places, a natural stepped morphology (Twidale, 2002) or gentle slopes. The latter are commonly terraced for agricultural purposes by stone bunds set up mainly across small valley bottom and sides, whereas the sharp structural steps, such as those on the northern side of Byeta Giyorgis, are used as natural agricultural terraces bounded by kopjes or man made stone mounds on their external margins. The steeper slopes have either a tree cover or are dissected by erosion and bedrock outcrops are very common. Scree Climate is characterised by great interannual variability of rain ranging from 600 to 800 mm year '. The main rainy season is mid-
Fig. 1. Location map.
Fig. 1. Location map.
Fig. 3. Ploughing along the contour on a terrace. Outcropping rocks are scratched by the plough.
Fig. 3. Ploughing along the contour on a terrace. Outcropping rocks are scratched by the plough.
Fig. 4. The Ma’ Qono study terrace. The “maresha” (traditional ard plough) seems to have been intro- Juced in Ethiopia between 1000 and 400 BC by Semitic tribes (Yemen) or even before by Cushitic speaking peoples from north-eastern Sudan Solomon et al., 2006). The plough is a pointed, steel-tipped tine ittached to a draught pole at an adjustable low angle (Fig. 6). The soil s not turned over, but incised and pushed aside by two lateral wings; Presently, the land is ploughed three to five times before seeding, depending on the crop and soil type. The tillage is carried out roughly along the contour lines since the passes are made at low angle to each other with the last one following the contour lines to reduce erosion and to prepare the seedbed. The ploughing depth may reach a maxi-
Fig. 4. The Ma’ Qono study terrace. The “maresha” (traditional ard plough) seems to have been intro- Juced in Ethiopia between 1000 and 400 BC by Semitic tribes (Yemen) or even before by Cushitic speaking peoples from north-eastern Sudan Solomon et al., 2006). The plough is a pointed, steel-tipped tine ittached to a draught pole at an adjustable low angle (Fig. 6). The soil s not turned over, but incised and pushed aside by two lateral wings; Presently, the land is ploughed three to five times before seeding, depending on the crop and soil type. The tillage is carried out roughly along the contour lines since the passes are made at low angle to each other with the last one following the contour lines to reduce erosion and to prepare the seedbed. The ploughing depth may reach a maxi-
‘ig. 5. Land conservation on Gobo Dura hill. The terraces take up almost the whole slope: upslope they are mainly used for grazing and water harvesting, while downslope they ar rable lands. Stoniness and rockiness increase toward the top. In the centre right a core stone emerging from the thin red soil.
‘ig. 5. Land conservation on Gobo Dura hill. The terraces take up almost the whole slope: upslope they are mainly used for grazing and water harvesting, while downslope they ar rable lands. Stoniness and rockiness increase toward the top. In the centre right a core stone emerging from the thin red soil.
Fig. 6. The “maresha” traditional ard.
Fig. 6. The “maresha” traditional ard.
Fig. 9. The different plough mark types surveyed in the study site. The class notatior corresponds to the types of Fig. 8. The field survey of the study terraces geometry and plough marks parameters has been carried out by a total station and consists of two steps: 1) topographic survey through about 400 terrain points including terrace boundaries over an area of about 0.8 ha; 2) position- ing of 70 boulders with plough marks and measurement of plough
Fig. 9. The different plough mark types surveyed in the study site. The class notatior corresponds to the types of Fig. 8. The field survey of the study terraces geometry and plough marks parameters has been carried out by a total station and consists of two steps: 1) topographic survey through about 400 terrain points including terrace boundaries over an area of about 0.8 ha; 2) position- ing of 70 boulders with plough marks and measurement of plough
Fig. 10. The plough marks parameters measured in the field.
Fig. 10. The plough marks parameters measured in the field.
Fig. 8. Plough marks cut into surfaces with different characteristics: A) marks on longer term weathered rock surfaces the patina of which has been likely removed by later degradation processes; B) Marks on spotted, weathered patina; C) marks cutting hollows and crests of manganese and iron oxides of relict varnishes; D) marks cutting films of black and red varnishes of iron and manganese oxides. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Fig. 8. Plough marks cut into surfaces with different characteristics: A) marks on longer term weathered rock surfaces the patina of which has been likely removed by later degradation processes; B) Marks on spotted, weathered patina; C) marks cutting hollows and crests of manganese and iron oxides of relict varnishes; D) marks cutting films of black and red varnishes of iron and manganese oxides. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Fig. 7. Examples of plough marks.
Fig. 7. Examples of plough marks.
S. D.=standard deviation; hio=ten percentile; hoo=ninety percentile. Characteristic parameters of the plough mark height data Table 1
S. D.=standard deviation; hio=ten percentile; hoo=ninety percentile. Characteristic parameters of the plough mark height data Table 1
Fig. 12. Example of a transect. 1) present ground surface; 2) surface linking the upper plough mark belts; 3) ground surface before the cultivation started. The numbers in the squares refer to the boulders with plough marks of Fig. 11. marks parameters (Fig. 11). Among these boulders further 41, with appropriate characteristics to assess soil erosion and soil translocation dynamics within individual terraces, were selected in the upper
Fig. 12. Example of a transect. 1) present ground surface; 2) surface linking the upper plough mark belts; 3) ground surface before the cultivation started. The numbers in the squares refer to the boulders with plough marks of Fig. 11. marks parameters (Fig. 11). Among these boulders further 41, with appropriate characteristics to assess soil erosion and soil translocation dynamics within individual terraces, were selected in the upper
Fig. 11. Plan view of the study terraces. Dotted-dashed line=upslope margin; downslope pointing hyphenated line=downslope margin; dashed line=inner terrace edge; solid line=contour lines; small dashed line=transects; square=stone with plough marks; triangle=selected stone (Subset H and L).
Fig. 11. Plan view of the study terraces. Dotted-dashed line=upslope margin; downslope pointing hyphenated line=downslope margin; dashed line=inner terrace edge; solid line=contour lines; small dashed line=transects; square=stone with plough marks; triangle=selected stone (Subset H and L).
Fig. 13. Histogram and cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the plough mark heights from the ground measured in the study site: A) all data; B) Subset H.
Fig. 13. Histogram and cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the plough mark heights from the ground measured in the study site: A) all data; B) Subset H.
Fig. 14. Normality test for the plough mark Subset H. Spatial distribution of plough marks is strictly influenced by the ploughing direction and the boulder face orientations. Most prolate boulders, translocated during past geomorphic events, have their longest axis oriented transverse to the terrace gradient (Fig. 15A and Table 2 with a mean boulder face orientation looking N 92°). This may induce some bias in plough marks orientation analysis since more scratches are found on the boulder faces oriented along tillage direction rather than on those transverse to the ploughing direction as the farmer tends to skip or turn around the latter. Plough marks have a median orientation of N 110° (Fig. 15B), i.e. very close to the average orientation of contour lines on the study terraces (N 118°). This con- firms ancient Axumite farmers were well aware of soil translocation A total number of 202 plough mark height data were measured in the field (Table 1). The mean value is 25.8 cm (maximum and mini- mum are 10 and 79 cm, respectively) with a standard deviation of 10.2 cm. The modal class is 30 cm but a second largest class (20 cm) has a frequency very close to the first one (Fig. 13A).
Fig. 14. Normality test for the plough mark Subset H. Spatial distribution of plough marks is strictly influenced by the ploughing direction and the boulder face orientations. Most prolate boulders, translocated during past geomorphic events, have their longest axis oriented transverse to the terrace gradient (Fig. 15A and Table 2 with a mean boulder face orientation looking N 92°). This may induce some bias in plough marks orientation analysis since more scratches are found on the boulder faces oriented along tillage direction rather than on those transverse to the ploughing direction as the farmer tends to skip or turn around the latter. Plough marks have a median orientation of N 110° (Fig. 15B), i.e. very close to the average orientation of contour lines on the study terraces (N 118°). This con- firms ancient Axumite farmers were well aware of soil translocation A total number of 202 plough mark height data were measured in the field (Table 1). The mean value is 25.8 cm (maximum and mini- mum are 10 and 79 cm, respectively) with a standard deviation of 10.2 cm. The modal class is 30 cm but a second largest class (20 cm) has a frequency very close to the first one (Fig. 13A).
Soil loss (Mg ha™'y~') calculated for different quantiles (E999) of the soil erosion cumulative frequency distribution as demonstrated by the occurrence of such artefacts and plough marks with various degrees of weathering, decreasing downward from the strongly altered, higher marks to the fresh, modern ones near the ground. Table 3 shows the chronology of the Axumite civilization evolution from the most ancient period and provides the basic temporal information to assess soil erosion rates with the plough marks methods presented here. Table 4
Soil loss (Mg ha™'y~') calculated for different quantiles (E999) of the soil erosion cumulative frequency distribution as demonstrated by the occurrence of such artefacts and plough marks with various degrees of weathering, decreasing downward from the strongly altered, higher marks to the fresh, modern ones near the ground. Table 3 shows the chronology of the Axumite civilization evolution from the most ancient period and provides the basic temporal information to assess soil erosion rates with the plough marks methods presented here. Table 4
Boulder surfaces aspect and plough marks direction (N=202) Table 2
Boulder surfaces aspect and plough marks direction (N=202) Table 2
Fig. 15. Polar diagrams of boulder face aspect (A) and plough marks direction (B). problems and adopted the contour line ploughing as a sustainable, least impact practice.
Fig. 15. Polar diagrams of boulder face aspect (A) and plough marks direction (B). problems and adopted the contour line ploughing as a sustainable, least impact practice.
Fig. 16. Original vs. present slope of the study terraces.
Fig. 16. Original vs. present slope of the study terraces.
Related topics:
Aksumite ArchaeologyHistorical Soil ErosionPlough Marks
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