Fincha Habera, Ethiopia

The surrounding glacial climate provided conditions of fresh water, vegetation, and sustenance that created a unique environment that allowed these hunter-gatherers to find longer term residence at this shelter.

These outlets subsequently acted as sources of fresh water to MSA hunter-gatherers at Fincha Habera after the ice melted in the tropics and was drained throughout the nearby Web Valley.

Heavy presence of a ground beetle species found at the site and phylogenetically dated much after the end glacial stage III also pointed to the existence of humid, rich organic matter soil conditions that corroborated the availability of fresh water to foragers at Fincha Habera.

[1] Studies of increased Podocarpus and Ericaceae pollen within dung deposits at the Fincha Habera site indicate the appearance of vegetation belts along the Bale Mountains.

[1] Deposits from the archaeological site suggest that hunter-gatherers occupied the rock shelter during the Late Pleistocene, likely between 47,000 and 31,000 years ago, using technology attributed to the Middle Stone Age.

[4] Although the occupation existed at a high altitude, the alpine ecosystem within the Bale Mountains allowed the inhabitants of Fincha Habera to have access to sustainable food and living resources without need for heavy physical strain.

[1] Throughout the archaeological site, evidence of burn marks and burnt bones of these mole rate in early MSA deposits indicated that the method of preparation for food was roasting, but at a low degree of heat.

The smaller scale of these animals help explain the lack of cut marks made by hunter-gatherers on the left-over bones at the site, since harsh butchering was not needed to prepare the rats for consumption.

[2] Other fauna apparent at Fincha Habera, and perhaps integrated into the diet of the prehistoric residents there, included mountain nyala (an endemic bovid to the Afro-alpines), baboons, and small carnivores like foxes.