Archaeological survey around Lake Beseka (Northern Main Ethiopian Rift)

Here we report the recent archaeological survey we have conducted around Lake Beseka (Northern Main Ethiopian Rift) between 18th -24th December 2018. The survey is initiated, in the framework of the doctoral research of the first author (BH), to retrace the previous Later StoneAge sites, notably FeJx4, and to help document new archaeological context in the surroundings.FeJx4 is one of the earliest Later Stone Age sites in Ethiopia and the Horn which was excavated under the direction of Desmond Clark and Steven Brandt in 1970s (University of California, Berkeley). This survey work has thus brought renewed data on the archaeological and geological contexts of Lake Beseka area, more significantly by relocating the geological fault where the proverbial FeJx4 was excavated. Particularly, we are lucky enough to find this area remained unflooded considering the magnitude of the lake expansion since 1970s. Furthermore, the exploration around eastern Lake Beseka and Fentale areas has provided first-hand contextual information about the possible traces of prehistoric human occupations in the areas.