Article

"The medieval town of Handoga (Djibouti). A report of the 2021 field season. "

2023. English

By
Candela Martínez Barrio (author)
Álvaro Minguito Palomares (author)
Summary
The article presents the results of the first campaign carried out at the medieval site

of Handoga (Djibouti) by the StateHorn project, based at the Institute of Heritage

Sciences of the Spanish National Research Council. The aim of the campaign was

to assess the site's potential in order to launch a long-term project focusing on the

study of the town's urbanism and way of life. The campaign included a systematic

survey of the site and the excavation of four test pits, which revealed evidence for

two archaeological phases at Handoga. The results of the campaign suggest that

Handoga was an important urban centre on the medieval routes linking the Gulf of

Tadjoura with the interior of Africa, of which very little is known.
Keywords
Medieval period. Djibouti. Urbanism. Trade. Horn of Africa.
Journal or series
Journal of Global Archaeology
Edition Deutsches Archäologisches Institut
Pages 204-237