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DTSTART:20261101T020000
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UID:calendar.1855.field_event_date.0@ioa.ucla.edu
DTSTAMP:20260505T132141Z
CREATED:20260504T192223Z
DESCRIPTION:-------- WEDS TALKS: ARCHAEOLOGY OF MEGALITHIC CULTURE IN ETHIO
 PIA: SHOWCASES  FROM THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS [1] ---------------------------
 -----------\n\n\n*ABSTRACT: *Ethiopia hosts one of the world’s longest‑sta
 nding and most  diverse megalithic traditions, a heritagethat has earned 
 it the designation  “land of megaliths.” From later prehistory onward, co
 mmunities across  theEthiopian landscape constructed monumental stone feat
 ures that appear in  striking density along the Great EastAfrican Rift. Re
 cent archaeological  research has begun to clarify this picture through th
 e identification of a  distinctconstellation of monuments in the central h
 ighlands now termed the  Shay Culture, named after the Shay River,where 
 these clusters were  documented. From 2016 to 2020, Dr. Alebachew Belay B
 irru conducted a  doctoralproject at the University of Toulouse under the 
 supervision of  François‑Xavier Fauvelle, combining intensive fieldsurvey
 , spatial  analysis, and typological study to define the cultural bounda
 ries,  architectural characteristics,settlement patterns, and exchange 
 networks  associated with these monuments. This work refines the spatial a
 ndtypological  definition and illuminates the relationships among megalith
 s, landscapes, and  the societies thatproduced them. It also demonstrate
 s how local syncretic  religious memories—layered across Pagan, Christian
 , andMuslim  traditions—preserve echoes of long‑standing regional network
 s that  transcend both time and beliefsystems. The seminar will present th
 e major  findings of this research, situating the Shay Culture within bro
 aderdebates  on monumentality, mobility, and social complexity in the re
 gion. It will also  outline how communities inthe Ethiopian highlands part
 icipated in wider  circuits of movement and exchange linking the interior 
 to theMediterranean  and Indian Ocean worlds. *BIO:* Alebachew Belay Birru
  is an Assistant Professor of Archaeology and  Heritage Studies at Debre B
 erhanUniversity in Ethiopia and a Connecting Art  Histories Research Schol
 ar at the Getty Research Institute. He earned hisPhD  in Archaeology from 
 the University of Toulouse in 2020 and has since held  several prestigious
  internationalfellowships, including at I Tatti – The  Harvard Center for
  Italian Renaissance Studies, the Africa‑Oxford  Initiative atOxford Univ
 ersity, the Excellence in Humanities Fellow at the  Université Grenoble A
 lpes, and now at the Getty. Hisresearch explores  Ethiopia’s medieval mul
 ti‑religious landscapes, with a particular focus  on the mobility of sacr
 edobjects—such as glass beads and crosses—between  the Horn of Africa and 
 the Mediterranean world.\n\nDate: Wednesday, May 6, 2026 - 12:00pm to 1:
 00pm\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Contact Name: Sumiji Takahahshi\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n C
 ontact Phone: 310-825-4169\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Contact Email: sutakahashi@io
 a.ucla.edu\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Registration: registration not required\n\n\n
 \n\n\n\n\n\n Events Tags: Pizza Talk [2]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Location: Fowle
 r A222 (Seminar Room)\n\n[1] https://www.ioa.ucla.edu/content/weds-talks-a
 rchaeology-megalithic-culture-ethiopia-showcases-central-highlands [2] htt
 ps://www.ioa.ucla.edu/event-tags/pizza-talk
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260506T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260506T130000
LAST-MODIFIED:20260504T192223Z
LOCATION:Fowler A222 (Seminar Room)
SUMMARY:WEDS TALKS: Archaeology of Megalithic Culture in Ethiopia: Showcase
 s from the  Central Highlands
URL;TYPE=URI:https://www.ioa.ucla.edu/content/weds-talks-archaeology-megali
 thic-culture-ethiopia-showcases-central-highlands
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