The distribution and use of cattle products in Northern Highland Ethiopia

This study is an ethnoarchaeological investigation of the distribution and use of cattle and animal products in the northern highlands of Ethiopia. Ethnoarchaeological methods are utilized to explore many aspects of the role of cattle in highland Ethiopian society at four villages in the Tigrayan administrative region of Gulo-Makeda, in an attempt to provide models to aid the interpretation of the archaeological record in that area. Structured interviews are used to address questions of the ways in which cattle are acquired, exchanged and used in daily agricultural life, the occasion and frequency with which meat is consumed, the manner of slaughter and discard practices. The examination of spatial patterning and site-formation processes associated with the use of cattle is addressed by the observation of two butchering events, as well as a survey of discarded animal bone throughout the village of Mena Beyti.