UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY

Toward a history of the Oromo of Wallaga in southwestern Ethiopia: an ethnoarchaeological

study of ceramic technological style and tuber crop domestication.

by

Bula Sirika Wayessa

A THESIS

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ARCHAELOGY

CALGARY, ALBERTA

JANUARY, 2016

© Bula Sirika Wayessa 2016

 Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to determine a material means to investigate the

little known history of Wallaga Oromo and their contribution to tuber crop domestication in

southwestern Ethiopia using an ethnoarchaeological approach. This goal is addressed through a

unique approach that first determined the ceramic technological style of Wallaga Oromo potters

using a chaîne opératoire methodology, and then linking the chaîne opératoire with Wallaga

Oromo culinary practices that are associated with tuber crops that leave residues on steaming

pots. Both technological style and cuisine are considered as strong markers of specific social

groups and are a strong proxy for investigating Oromo history and use of specific tuber crops.

This assertion was supported by a comparative study of the culinary practices and pottery

technological styles of two neighboring groups: the Yem and the Dawro. These groups have

separate and distinct technological styles and culinary practices.

Data were collected using ethnoarchaeological methods of interview and observation of

farmers and potters in the study area. In this region, potters experience a low social status within

the Oromo social stratification system. The study further demonstrates how Oromo pottery is

engaged in daily and ritual practice in the region.

The research represents the first comprehensive study of marginalized Oromo potters,

the relationship between Oromo pottery and cultural cuisine, and how Oromo history and

worldviews are expressed through material culture associated with pottery-making and its

consumption. The study also investigated Oromo women’s contributions to indigenous

technology and their agricultural knowledge of tuber production and consumption.

i
 Acknowledgements

Fieldwork and writing of this dissertation were made possible thanks to the contributions of

different individuals and organizations. During my studies, I received the University of Calgary

Dean’s Entrance scholarship, Nicholls International Graduate Archaeology Scholarship,

University of Calgary Graduate Studies Scholarship, Graduate Student Union Family Bursary,

University of Calgary Carter Fieldwork grant, University of Calgary Visa Deferential

Scholarship and the National Geographic Waitt grant (W239-12). In addition, Jimma University,

the Authority of Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH), the West Village

Zone Culture Bureau and Ethiopian Institute of Biodiversity facilitated the study.

My deepest thanks go to the Wallaga potters and farmers for their great support during my

fieldwork. I am also grateful to Yem and Dawro potters in Jimma. They shared their precious

time with me during my fieldwork and shared their experience with me without reservation.

Words are not enough to express my gratitude to you. Galatomaa!

I am also indebted to Desalegn Abebaw, Dajene Dandana and Kebede Gelata of ARCCH

(Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage) for facilitating fieldwork and

transport of the research samples to the University of Calgary. I am also grateful to Jimma

University, my home institute, for its support, beginning with visa processing through to the

completion of my studies. I am also grateful to Obbo Mitiku Wakwaya and Adde Birtukan

Hawas of Calgary for kindly helping me adapt to Calgary and introducing me to the Oromo

community in the city.

I am also very much grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Diane Lyons, for her kindness,

tremendous encouragement and cooperation during my course work and dissertation writing. It

ii
would have been unthinkable to reach this final step in my graduate study without her unreserved

and relentless support.

I am also grateful to my advisory committee members, Dr. Brian Kooyman and Dr. Dale

Walde. They shared with me their deep experiences on archaeological thoughts and practice. Dr.

Kooyman also played a significant role in my understanding of starch analysis. I am also very

thankful to Dr. Kooyman for his generosity in sharing lab space and freely supplying materials

used for the starch analysis. I am also grateful to the department of Anthropology and

Archaeology faculty members and support staff for directly or indirectly contributing to the

completion of my study.

I am also thankful to my father, Obbo Sirika Wayessa, and my mother, Adde Biritu

Tarafa, for allowing me to go to school even though they had no education themselves. I am also

thankful to them for hosting me during my fieldwork, sharing the coffee ceremony with me and

offering moral support. My thanks also go to my spouse, Marame Dabala Gutama, and my

children, Lami Bula Sirika and Sena Bula Sirika. I am tremendously thankful to them for sharing

with me both my challenges and satisfaction in the course of my study.

iii
 Dedication

Dedicated to the voiceless potters in the southwestern Ethiopia.

iv
 “A person produces himself by producing material objects”

A proverb of Oromo of Northeast Africa

“African thought …embeds itself from the outset in materiality…”

Turner 1975:21

v
 Table of Contents

Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ i

Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... ii

Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... iv

List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ xii

Chapter One: Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1

1. 1 Research goals and objectives .............................................................................................. 1

1. 2 Problems in interpreting Oromo history............................................................................... 3

1. 3 Organization of the Dissertation .......................................................................................... 6

Chapter Two: Physical and Cultural Context............................................................................ 9

2. 1 Physical setting of the Southwestern Highlands .................................................................. 9

2. 1.1 The Study Area .............................................................................................................. 9

2. 1. 2 Drainage Systems ....................................................................................................... 19

2. 1. 3 Agro-ecological Zones ............................................................................................... 19

2. 2 Cultural context .................................................................................................................. 21

2 .2. 1 Cultural groups in the study area ................................................................................ 21

Chapter Three: Theory and Methodology ............................................................................... 34

3. 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 34

3. 2 Theory: agency, practice and structure .............................................................................. 34

3. 3 Practice and structuration theories: dialectical agency....................................................... 35

3. 4 Methodology: Chaîne opératoire approach ....................................................................... 38

Chapter Four: Occupational identities of the Oromo, the Yem and the Dawro ethno-

linguistic groups of the southwestern highlands. ..................................................................... 44

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 4. 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 44

4. 2 Occupational Identities in Oromo Society ......................................................................... 45

4. 3 Occupational Identities in Yem Society ............................................................................. 49

4. 4 Occupational Identities in Dawro Society .......................................................................... 51

4. 5 Summary ............................................................................................................................ 55

Chapter Five: Agency of pottery objects and functional repertoire of pots in Wallaga ...... 57

5. 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 57

5. 2 Agency of pots ................................................................................................................... 58

5. 3 Pottery functional categories in Wallaga ........................................................................... 67

5. 3. 1 Cooking pots ............................................................................................................... 68

5. 3. 2 Coffee pot, fermentation and brewing jars ................................................................. 70

5. 3. 3 Service bowls .............................................................................................................. 73

5. 3. 4 Storage and transportation pots .................................................................................. 74

5. 3. 5 Bread baking utensils.................................................................................................. 75

5. 4 Summary ............................................................................................................................ 75

Chapter Six: Pottery chaînes opératoires in the Southwestern Ethiopian Highlands .......... 76

6. 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 76

6. 2 Oromo Chaîne Opératoire ................................................................................................. 77

6. 2. 1 Clay selection ................................................................................................................. 82

6. 2. 2 Clay source accessibility ............................................................................................ 82

6. 2 .3 Mining clay ................................................................................................................. 85

6. 2. 4 Transporting mined clay ............................................................................................. 86

6 .2. 5 Temper ........................................................................................................................ 87

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 6. 2. 6 Paste Preparation ........................................................................................................ 89

6. 2. 7 Fabrication Practices................................................................................................... 90

6. 2. 8 Pre-firing Treatments .................................................................................................. 95

6. 2. 9 Drying Vessels ............................................................................................................ 95

6. 2. 10 Firing ........................................................................................................................ 96

6. 2. 11 Post-firing Treatment ................................................................................................ 99

6. 2. 12 Seasonal Variation in Pottery-making .................................................................... 101

6. 2. 13 Marketing and distribution ..................................................................................... 103

6. 3 Yem Chaîne Opératoire ................................................................................................... 104

6. 3. 1 Selection of Clay Mineral ......................................................................................... 105

6. 3. 2 Clay source accessibility .......................................................................................... 106

6. 3. 3 Mining ...................................................................................................................... 110

6. 3. 4 Transporting mined clay ........................................................................................... 111

6. 3. 5 Temper ...................................................................................................................... 112

6. 3. 6 Paste Preparation ...................................................................................................... 114

6. 3. 7 Fabrication Practices................................................................................................. 117

6. 3. 8 Pre-firing Surface Treatments .................................................................................. 119

6. 3. 9 Drying Vessels .......................................................................................................... 120

6. 3. 10 Firing ...................................................................................................................... 121

6. 3. 11 Post-firing Treatment .............................................................................................. 123

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 6. 3. 12 Seasonal variation in pottery-making ..................................................................... 124

6. 3. 13 Marketing and distribution ..................................................................................... 126

6. 4 Dawro pottery Chaîne Opératoire ................................................................................... 127

6. 4. 1 Selection of clay ....................................................................................................... 128

6 .4. 2 Mining ...................................................................................................................... 129

6. 4. 3 Temper ...................................................................................................................... 129

6. 4. 4 Paste Preparation ...................................................................................................... 130

6. 4. 5 Fabrication Practices................................................................................................. 131

6. 4. 6 Drying ....................................................................................................................... 132

6. 4. 7 Pre-firing surface treatments .................................................................................... 133

6. 4. 8 Firing ........................................................................................................................ 134

6. 4. 9 Post-firing Treatment ................................................................................................ 136

6. 4. 10 Seasonal variation in pottery-making ..................................................................... 137

6. 4. 11 Marketing and distribution ..................................................................................... 138

6. 5 Summary....................................................................................................................... 139

Chapter Seven: An overview of Oromo culinary practices .................................................. 141

7. 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 141

7. 2 Oromo Cuisines ................................................................................................................ 141

7. 2.1 Porridge ..................................................................................................................... 142

4. 2. 2 Leavened and unleavened bread ............................................................................... 146

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 4. 2. 3 Beverages and Stimulants ......................................................................................... 148

7. 2. 4 Steamed tuber crops.................................................................................................. 158

7. 2. 5 Summary................................................................................................................... 158

Chapter Eight: Tuber crop cultivation and processing technology in the Wallaga region 159

8. 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 159

8. 2 Tuber crop cultivation ...................................................................................................... 161

8. 3 Root crops in Oromo Society ........................................................................................... 162

8. 4 Anchote (Coccinia abyssinica) ......................................................................................... 164

8. 4. 1 Oral accounts on domestication of anchote .............................................................. 168

8. 5 Oromo potatoes (Plectranthus edulis).............................................................................. 170

8. 6 Yam (Dioscorea cayenensis) ........................................................................................... 173

8. 7 Enset (Ensete ventricosum) .............................................................................................. 177

8. 8 Tuber crop processing technology .................................................................................. 181

8. 8. 1 Tuber crop steaming technology .............................................................................. 182

8. 8. 2 Processing cooked tubers.......................................................................................... 183

8. 8. 3 Serving tuber meals .................................................................................................. 184

8. 9 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 188

Chapter Nine: Wallaga tuber steaming pot use-alteration analysis .................................... 189

9. 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 189

9. 2 Forms of ceramic use-alteration ....................................................................................... 193

9. 3 Wallaga cooking pot use-alteration .................................................................................. 196

9. 3. 1 Oxidation and carbonization ..................................................................................... 197

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 9. 3. 2 Encrusted residues .................................................................................................... 199

9. 4 Steaming pot reuse ........................................................................................................... 202

9 .5 Discarding steaming pot ................................................................................................... 203

9. 6. 1 Materials and methods .............................................................................................. 208

9. 6. 2 Results ...................................................................................................................... 211

9. 7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 214

Chapter Ten: Discussion and Conclusion ............................................................................... 216

10. 1 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 216

10. 2 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 222

References ................................................................................................................................... 224

Appendix A ................................................................................................................................. 265

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 List of Tables

Table 2. 1 Rainfall patterns in the Oromia region of Ethiopia...................................................... 13

Table 2. 2 Climate zones of southwestern Ethiopia highlands. .................................................... 20

Table 3. 1 Approximate age category of project participants........................................................40

Table 4.1 Comparison of social features of artisans in three ethno-linguistic groups. Note that the

Oromo oral tradition indicates that the artisans who had a prestigious social status in society lost

this status because they were cursed by Waaqa because they failed to follow his order. The Yem

and Dawro traditions show that the artisans are settlers who migrated to the region from

elsewhere. Note that although intermarriage is not acceptable in their society, it does occur

between artisans and mainstream people in Oromo society. ........................................................ 54

Table 6. 1 Comparison of pottery production techniques among Oromo potters in Wallaga .... 103

Table 6. 2 Comparison of pottery production techniques among Yem potters in Jimma .......... 126

Table 6. 3 Comparison of pottery production techniques among Dawro potters in Jimma ....... 138

Table 9. 1 General comparisons of use-alterations that develop on different pots used for cooking

in Wallaga. .................................................................................................................................. 196

Table 9. 2 Forms of residue and typical locations where they deposit on pots, based on

observations of Wallaga cooking pots. It is important to note that most encrustations occur on the

base of the cooking pots, although they also occur on the lower and upper bodies of some

vessels. ........................................................................................................................................ 203

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 List of Figures

Figure 2. 1 Map of the study area. ................................................................................................ 10

Figure 2. 2 Physical features of southwestern Ethiopia. (Souce: GIS data National Atlas of

Ethiopia, EMA Minitry of Agriculture). ....................................................................................... 14

Figure 2. 4 Broad-leafed forest in the wet season in Wallaga July 2013. ..................................... 16

Figure 2. 5 Wetland under maize farming in May 2012. .............................................................. 17

Figure 2. 6 Wetland clay mining to make pots and construction bricks in Jimma in 2013. ......... 18

Figure 2. 7 Shrine center (galma) surrounded by a mound of sand and stones deposited by

worshippers as part of their ritual practice. Picture taken in Wallaga in June 2013. .................... 26

Figure 2. 8 Stelae standing in the galma compound in Wallaga region of Ethiopia in June 2013.

....................................................................................................................................................... 27

Figure 2. 9 Oromo community in Calgary celebrating Irreessaa at Edworthy Park, Calgary in

September 2013. ........................................................................................................................... 28

Figure 2. 10 A farmer tilling his farmland to cultivate finger millet in July 2013 in West Wallaga.

He is tilling the third time and after 15 days the cereal will be sown. .......................................... 29

Figure 2. 11 Rural landscape in Wallaga in July 2013. Some of the farmers' plots are covered

with banana, maize and coffee while others are being prepared to sow either teff or finger millet.

....................................................................................................................................................... 30

Figure 2. 12 Woman selling her decorated baskets (hodhaa) in Jimma town in May 2012. ....... 31

Figure 2. 13 Smiths forging iron Seqa, Waalaga, in May 2013................................................... 32

Figure 5. 1 Pottery anatomy in Wallaga. ...................................................................................... 59

Figure 5. 2 Ceramic figurines: a) represents a pregnant woman with a male fetus; and signals

society's preference for male babies; b) represents figurine with adult man’s face; c) symbolizes a

xiii
pregnant woman with a fetus in her womb. Most of the ceramic figures have rows of appliqués in

which each row has nine pellets. The nine appliqués signify the Oromo’s belief that their

primordial father, Borana, had nine children who grew to patrilineal clans (nine goosa). Each

appliqué represents one Oromo clan. ............................................................................................ 66

Figure 5. 5 a) Coffee pot, b) Dough fermentation jar. Picture taken in Wallaga in May 2013. ... 70

Figure 5. 6 a) Large brewing jar, b) Large jar showing accumulated residues. Pictures taken in

Wallaga in May 2013. ................................................................................................................... 71

Figure 5. 7 a) Bowl with leg (waciitii), b) Bowl without legs (waciitii). Pictures taken in

Wallaga in June 2013. ................................................................................................................... 72

Figure 5. 8 a) Water jars used for both collecting and storing water, b) Storage jar used to store

filtered beer. Pictures taken in Wallaga in June 2013. .................................................................. 73

Figure 5. 9 Ceramic griddles in Wallaga in July 2012: a) Coffee roasting griddle, b) Thin bread

baking griddle, c) Thick bread baking griddle. ............................................................................. 74

Figure 6. 1 A potter instructing her daughter on how to finish her pot in Wallaga in June 2013. 78

Figure 6. 2 Children scraping pots fabricated by their mother after having finished forming their

own vessels in Wallaga in June 2013. .......................................................................................... 79

Figure 6. 3 This figure shows the variety of clay types that the potters recognize, based on clay

quality. a) A dark blue clay (suphee) is the best quality. It usually occurs naturally with fine

textured sand. b) Brown clay (boorrajjii) is the second in quality, and c) mud (dhoqqeee) that is

rarely used but is mixed with the dark blue clay using a ratio of one part mud: three parts blue

clay. The potters reported that mixing the two clay types enhances its workability because the

mud tends to be fragile and lacks elasticity. Pictures taken in June 2013. ................................... 81

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Figure 6. 4 Mining pit filled with acacia thorns by the property owner to obstruct clay-mining

activity in Wallaga in April 2013.................................................................................................. 83

Figure 6. 5 Senior potters are accompanied by their daughters in Wallaga in June 2013. ........... 84

Figure 6. 6 Mined clay being prepared for transport in Waalaga in July 2013. ........................... 86

Figure 6. 7 Potter grinding potsherds to make temper in Wallaga in July 2013........................... 87

Figure 6. 8 A potter mixing grog temper with clay using her hands in Wallaga in July 2013. ... 89

Figure 6. 9 Griddle is being formed on a mold supported by a basket woven from bamboo in

Wallaga in June 2013. ................................................................................................................... 90

Figure 6. 10 A potter forming a clay ball into a concave shape in Wallaga in July 2013. ........... 91

Figure 6. 11 The wall of pot being built up by drawing of a lump in Wallaga in July 2013. ....... 92

Figure 6. 12 A potter trimming the surface of a pot with a knife at the leather-hard stage May in

Wallaga in July 2013. ................................................................................................................... 93

Figure 6. 13 Pots undergoing pre-firing heat treatment in Wallaga in May 2013. ....................... 94

Figure 6. 14 Pots being fired in Wallaga in April 2013. .............................................................. 96

Figure 6. 15 Profile of firing pit. Iron slag buried at the base of the firing pit is believed to

protect the pots from witchcraft, during the phase of transformation from childhood to adulthood.

....................................................................................................................................................... 98

Figure 6. 16 A client determining whether the vessels are well fired by ringing in Dongoro,

Wallaga, in May 2012. A high pitch sound and redness are indicators of good firing. ................ 99

Figure 6. 17 Potters undertaking post-firing treatment by smearing the surface of the vessel with

hot liquid prepared from cereal flour in Wallaga in May 2013. ............................................... 101

Figure 6. 18 Potters selling vessels at Dongoro town in Wallaga in May 2013. ....................... 105

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Figure 6. 19 Variety of clay used by the Yem potters in Jimma in June 2012. a) Red clay. b)

White clay. .................................................................................................................................. 106

Figure 6. 20 Degraded land caused by clay mining activity in Jimma in May 2012. ................ 107

Figure 6. 21 Eucalyptus tree spreading its roots in a clay-mining site that disrupts mining

activity in Jimma in May 2012. .................................................................................................. 108

Figure 6. 22 Potters digging to obtain the desired clay type in Jimma in June 2013. ................ 109

Figure 6. 23 Potters transporting clay to the manufacturing site in Jimma in July 2013............ 110

Figure 6. 24 Organic temper of teff chaff is used by Yem potters to increase clay plasticity and to

make their vessels durable. Picture takin in Jimma in May 2012. .............................................. 111

Figure 6. 25 Potters reported that organic temper teff straw is used by Yem potters to increase

clay plasticity and to make their vessels durable. Picture taken in Jimma in May 2013. ........... 112

Figure 6. 26 Ground clay ready to be mixed with teff chaff. Picture Jimma in May 2012......... 113

Figure 6. 27 Potters mixing clay with teff chaff in Jimma in Junly 2013. .................................. 114

Figure 6. 28 A potter fashioning a pot by drawing of a lump in Jimma in June 2012. .............. 115

Figure 6. 29 A potter shaping a griddle in Jimma in June 2012. ................................................ 116

Figure 6. 30 Potter making a Yem variety of a thick bread-baking griddle in Jimma in June

2013............................................................................................................................................. 117

Figure 6. 31 A woman painting and rubbing the Yem variety of griddle with a slip of red termite

mound soil. Picture taken in Jimma in June 2013. ..................................................................... 118

Figure 6. 32 Bread-baking griddle being dried in the sun in Jimma in May 2012. ................... 119

Figure 6. 33 Griddles undergoing pre-firing heat treatments in Jimma in May 2012. ............... 120

Figure 6. 34 A potter covering firing pit with leaves of enset and teff straw and ashes. Picture

taken in Jimma in June 2013. ...................................................................................................... 121

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Figure 6. 35 Pots being fired in firing pit covered with leaves of enset and teff straw and ashes.

Picture taken in Jimma in June 2013. ......................................................................................... 122

Figure 6. 36 Yem pottery firing shallow depression profile. ...................................................... 123

Figure 6. 37 Post-firing treatment: a woman smearing stew pot with cooked Solanum plant

extract. Picture taken in Jimma in June 2013. ............................................................................ 124

Figure 6. 38 Yem potter mining clay under forest trees in the wet season in Jimma in May 2013.

..................................................................................................................................................... 125

Figure 6. 40 Variety of clay used by the Dawro potters in Jimma in June 2013. ....................... 128

Figure 6. 39 a) A Dawro potter mining clay, b) Dawro potter removing inclusions from teff straw

and chaff temper. Pictures taken in Jimma in June 2013. ........................................................... 129

Figure 6. 41 A potter mixing clay and teff straw by hand. Picture taken in Jimma in June 2013.

..................................................................................................................................................... 130

Figure 6. 42 a) A potter shaping a griddle by drawing of a lump, b) A potter shaping the bottom

and lower body of a pot using the drawing of a lump technique. Pictures taken in Jimma in May

2013............................................................................................................................................. 131

Figure 6. 43 Griddles being dried in the sun in Jimma in June 2013. ........................................ 133

Figure 6. 44 A potter painting a griddle with a mixture of white clay and petroleum oil in Jimma

in July 2013. ................................................................................................................................ 134

Figure 6. 45 A potter igniting fire after arranging firewood at the firing site in Jimma in May

2013............................................................................................................................................. 135

Figure 6. 46 Dawro firing pit profile. ......................................................................................... 135

Figure 6. 47 A client in Jimma checking level of dryness of a bread baking plate with her tongue.

Picture taken in Jimma in May 2012. ......................................................................................... 136

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Figure 6. 48 a) Dawro potter practicing post-firing treatment by smearing griddles with cow

dung. b) Ceramic griddles ready for transportation. Pictures taken Jimma in May 2013. ......... 137

Figure 7. 1 Profile drawing of waciitii ........................................................................................ 144

Figure 7. 2 A girl baking buddeena in Wallaga in June 2013. ................................................... 146

Figure 7. 3 Buddena is served with anchote stew in Wallaga in June 2013. .............................. 147

Figure 7. 4 Caccabsaa ready to eat in Wallaga in July 2012. .................................................... 148

Figure 7. 5 Finger millet malt in Wallaga in July 2012. The malt dries in the sun and then is

ground into flour with a mortar and pestle before adding it to the beer. Although the major

ingredients of local beer are sorghum, finger millet and gesho, more recently maize and barley

are used widely. .......................................................................................................................... 149

Figure 7. 6 Gesho plants in Wallaga in June 2013. .................................................................... 150

Figure 7. 7 The coffee ceremony is usually a ritualized practice associated with green grasses

(sign of blessing from God), incense (its aromatic smoke is believed to appease God) and rue

(Ruta graveolens), which is used to flavor coffee. Picture taken in Jimma in June 2012. ......... 152

Figure 7. 8 Ceremonial coffee table and coffee cups at Jimma Museum, Jimma, where

traditionally coffee is believed to have first been domesticated. Picture taken in Jimma in June

2012............................................................................................................................................. 153

Figure 7. 9 A woman preparing buna qalaa in Wallaga in July 2013. ....................................... 154

Figure 7. 10 Buna qalaa to be served in bowl (waciitii) with a spoon made of horn. Picture taken

in Wallaga in July 2013. ............................................................................................................. 155

Figure 7. 11 Chat being sold in the market place, Jimma. Picture taken in Jimma in June 2013.

..................................................................................................................................................... 156

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Figure 7. 12 A Yem man feeding his wife chat with his hand while she is making pottery .

Picture taken in Jimma in July 2013. .......................................................................................... 157

Figure 8. 1 Anchote farm from Warra Gigsa village of Wallaga. The climbing foliage of anchote

is annual but it can regenerate mainly from its crown if it remains unharvested in the summer

rains. Picture taken in Wallaga in July 2013............................................................................... 163

Figure 8. 2 Anchote tuber attached to its crown in Wallaga in June 2013. ................................. 164

Figure 8. 3 A girl tending anchote in Wallaga in May 2013. ..................................................... 165

Figure 8. 4 Anchote fruits in Wallaga in July 2013. .................................................................. 166

Figure 8. 5 Anchote seeds. .......................................................................................................... 168

Figure 8. 6 Oromo potato farm in Wallaga in July 2013. ........................................................... 171

Figure 8. 7 Oromo potato tubers in Wallaga in June 2013. ........................................................ 172

Figure 8. 8 Yams ready for harvesting in Wallaga in July 2013. ............................................... 173

Figure 8. 9 Yam-tuber attached to its crown in Wallaga in July 2013. ...................................... 174

Figure 8. 10 Yam tuber (takka). Picture taken in Wallaga in July 2013. .................................... 175

Figure 8. 11 Yam seed tuber (sanyii) in Wallaga in September 2015. ....................................... 176

Figure 8. 12 Enset plants in Wallaga in June 2013. .................................................................... 178

Figure 8. 13 A Dawro potter harvesting enset in Jimma in May 2013. ...................................... 179

Figure 8. 14 Wild enset in Wallaga in April 2013. .................................................................... 180

Figure 8. 15 A girl harvesting wild enset corm to feed cattle in Wallaga in April 2013. .......... 181

Figure 8. 16 Anchote tuber ready for steaming in Wallaga in June 2013. .................................. 183

Figure 8. 17 Tubers being cooked in Wallaga in June 2013. ...................................................... 184

Figure 8. 18 Ground anchote tuber in Wallaga in July 2013. ..................................................... 185

Figure 8. 19 Horizontally sliced yam ready to serve in Wallaga in June 2013. ......................... 186

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Figure 9. 1 Cooking pot with oxidized base in Wallaga in June 2013. ...................................... 194

Figure 9. 2 Cooking pot exhibiting carbonized lower and upper bodies in Wallaga in May 2013.

..................................................................................................................................................... 195

Figure 9. 3 Cooking pot with carbonized food in its interior lower body. This picture was taken

immediately after the pot was used for steaming yam in Wallaga in June 2013. ....................... 197

Figure 9. 4 Steaming pot with visible carbon accretion caused by food burning during cooking.

Although not yet discarded in the garden, this pot was no longer used for cooking tubers because

it was reported that the vessel leaked water. Importantly, potters reported that they do not use

sherds from these types of vessels as temper because the accreted organic remains mix with the

temper and burn out during firing. This results in the formation of openings in the walls of the

newly formed pot, causing it to leak.Picture taken in Wallaga in June 2013. ............................ 198

Figure 9. 5 Encrustations on the interior surface of a cooking pot with multiple layers that can

possibly be an indicator for several use-episodes. Picture taken in Wallaga in June 2013. ....... 199

Figure 9. 6 Discarded cooking pot with encrusted food at the base and lower body of its interior

wall. Picture taken in Wallaga in June 2013 ............................................................................... 200

Figure 9. 7 Sherd of steaming pot with thick encrustations in Wallaga in June 2013. It was

collected from a farmer's garden. The encrusted residues appear to be intact at the time of

collection. .................................................................................................................................... 201

Figure 9. 8 Displays oxidized exterior surfaces with no visible residue encrustation in Wallaga in

May 2013. ................................................................................................................................... 204

Figure 9. 9 Illustration of Wallaga steaming pot, indicating both interior and exterior views of the

vessel. Recognition of morphology of the pot helps to identity parts of the pot where specific

use-alterations may develop. ....................................................................................................... 205

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Figure 9. 10 This illustration shows the distribution of food crusts on the interior surface of a

cooking pot in Wallaga. It reflects the fact that encrustations tend to be thick at the bottom and

thin around the upper body. The lower part of the pot experiences high heat during cooking

which leads to burning and encrustation of some of the contents. ............................................. 206

Figure 9. 11 Morphology of uncooked anchote starches 500x. Anchote produces a round starch

with centric helium. While lamella are not clearly visible, anchote’s starches exhibit a clear

extinction cross. Scale bar equals 20μm. .................................................................................... 211

Figure 9. 12 Morphology of starch of uncooked yam at 500x. Yam produces an oval type of

starch. The starch also exhibits clear lamellae, an eccentric hilum and a clear extinction cross.

Scale bar equals 20μm. ............................................................................................................... 212

Figure 9. 13 Morphology of starch of uncooked Oromo potato at 500x. Oromo potato produces

an elongated oval type of starch, an eccentric hilum, clear lamellae and extinction cross (The

right side pictures on Figures 9.11-9.13 are under cross-polarized light). Scale bar equals 20μm.

..................................................................................................................................................... 212

Figure 9. 14 a) Morphology of cooked anchote starch at 500x. b) Morphology of starch of

cooked yam. c) Morphology of starch of steamed Oromo potato at 500x. Clearly, steaming

destroys the morphologies of starch to the level that species is not identifiable, but they support

the interpretation of vessel use. Scale bar equals 20μm. ............................................................ 212

Figure 9. 15 Starches extracted from cooking vessels show completely gelatinized starch grains.

Magnification at 500x. Scale bar equals 20μm. .......................................................................... 213

xxi
 Chapter One: Introduction

1. 1 Research goals and objectives

The primary goal of this study is to determine a material means to investigate the little-

known history of the Oromo of Wallaga people and their contribution to tuber crop

domestication in southwestern Ethiopia. The Oromo are speakers of Afan Oromo, an eastern

highland Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (Bender 2000; Ehert 2002;

Greenberg 1955). They are the largest ethnic group in northeastern Africa. Although the majority

of Oromo live in Oromia Regional State, a significant number of Oromo also live in Wambara

and Kamise in the Amhara region in the central Ethiopian highlands, and in the Rayya and

Asabo areas of Tigray State in the northern highlands. Oromo are also found in Kenya and

Somalia (Ehret 1969, 2002; Hassan 1990; Kusimba and Kusimba 2005; Lewis 1962, 1966; 1970;

Robbins 1972, 2006; Ta’a 2006).

Despite their demographic importance in Ethiopia, Oromo history is poorly investigated.

This situation can be attributed to at least three factors: 1) the Oromo did not possess a written

language to record their own history; 2) there is little archaeological investigation of their

history; and 3) their achievements were dismissed by the dominant social and political groups in

the Ethiopian Empire, particularly by the Amhara and the Tigrayans (see Ahmed 2001; Hassan

1990; Holcomb and Ibssa 1990; Jalata 1993, 2001, 2005; Magarsa 1994; Melba 1988).

One potential achievement of the Oromo is the domestication of tuber crops. Tuber crop

domestication is poorly understood in tropical Africa partly because physical evidence of tubers

rarely preserves (but see Hildebrand 2003, 2007; Hildebrand and Brandt 2010; Hildebrand et al.

2010). Nevertheless, tuber crops are an important staple in southern Ethiopia and in other parts
1
of sub-Saharan Africa. In the highlands of southwestern Ethiopia, indigenous tuber crops that are

grown by the Oromo include anchote (Coccinia abyssinica), Oromo potatoes (Plectranthus

edulis) and some species of yam (Dioscorea spp.) (see Hora 1995; Wayessa 2006, 2011a,

2011b). Anchote is unique among the tuber crops because it is propagated by seed, and both the

leaves and the underground organ are consumed (Hora 1995; Wayessa 2011). Other non-Oromo

groups (e.g., the Dawro and the Yem) in the region cultivate the corm crop enset (Ensete

ventricosum) (Addis 2005; Ababora 2008; Agren and Gibson 1968; Atlabachew 2007; Belehu

1982; Debebe 2006; Hildebrand 2003, 2007; Hildebrand and Brandt 2010; Hildebrand et

al.2010; Tamiru 2006), which is their staple food. Enset is not a crop grown by the Oromo of

Wallaga. Anchote is only grown as a domesticated crop by the Oromo in Wallaga, Jimma and

Iluababor and is believed to be indigenous to the study area although that has not been

researched. For the reason that anchote is specifically used by the Oromo, that is possible that

their ancestors first domesticated this crop. The study of anchote in Wallaga is an important step

toward the understanding of this tuber crop and its domestication.

Ultimately, the history of the Oromo of Wallaga and anchote domestication must be

answered through archaeological research. The ethnoarchaeological research presented in this

dissertation lays the groundwork for such future archaeological studies by determining a) the

Oromo of Wallaga pottery technological style, a material signature of their social identity; and b)

how tuber processing affects ceramic assemblages differently than other food processing

activities. If the ceramic assemblages can be so characterized, then ceramic assemblages can be

used as a proxy to investigate tuber consumption in the archaeological record. The use of

ceramics to investigate social practices is important because ceramics are a material medium that

preserves in tropical conditions.

2
 Ethnoarchaeological field work was conducted over two field seasons from May to July,

2012 and April to August, 2013, in Wallaga and Jimma Zones of the southwestern Ethiopian

highlands (Figure 2.1). The University of Calgary Carter Fieldwork Grant and a National

Geographic Society Grant # W239-12, funded the field research.

This dissertation contributes signficantly to the understanding of ceramic production in

Africa, in general, and in southern Ethiopia, in particular. Additionally, it offers a significant

contribution to the study of Oromo history and accomplishment. I was born to a rural Oromo

household and grew up in the region. I maintain that the nature of this study will help to

invalidate the dominant but uncritical perception held for generations by Ethiopianist scholars

that people without written languages are without history. The concern to document all people’s

history is shared broadly by other Africanist researchers working in other parts of the continent

(e.g., Lane 1994, 2004, 2005, 2006; Reid 2005; Schmidt 2006; Schmidt and Walz 2007; Stahl

2009). The following sections introduce current interpretive problems in the study of Oromo

history and the organizational framework of the dissertation.

1. 2 Problems in interpreting Oromo history

It is reported that the Oromo occupied some of their present day territories during the

Oromo population expansion in the 16th century (e.g., Bartels 1983; Gidada 1984; Hassan 1990;

Hultin 1984; Huntingford 1955; Ta’a 1986). There are two competing theories regarding the

geographic origins of the Oromo people in Ethiopia. One theory proposes that the Oromo

originated outside of Ethiopia, while the other argues that the Oromo originated within Ethiopia.

Researchers who argue for Oromo origins outside of Ethiopia do not agree on the processes of

this population expansion. Some (e.g., Bauru 1987; Huntingford 1985) claim that the Oromo

3
moved to the African continent around the 15th century AD from southwestern Asia via Arabia to

East Africa. The second group of theorists argue that the Oromo originated within Africa, but

outside of the present-day Ethiopian political boundary. According to Woldeargey (1971), the

Oromo originated in southern Somalia from where they migrated to Ethiopia. Bruce (1805)

suggests that the Oromo migrated to Ethiopia from Sudan, and more recently Megalommatis

(2007), based on some cultural and religious traits, and claims that the Oromo had earlier

connections with northern Sudan (Nubia) and Egypt (see also Verharen 2008).

Contrary to the migration theory, other scholars maintain that the Oromo originated

within the current Ethiopian political boundary and that the 16th century AD Oromo population

expansion occurred within that territory. Two schools of thought underlie this indigenous model.

One group of researchers believes that the Oromo homeland was Mada Walabu in the Bale

highlands in southern Ethiopia (e.g., Haberland 1984; Hassan 1990). According to Haberland

(1963), some Oromo expanded from Mada Walabu to different regions of Ethiopia and northern

Kenya in the 16th century AD.

Hassan (1990), however, suggests that before the 16th century Oromo population

expansion, groups of Oromo moved to present-day central Ethiopia and formed communities

within the medieval empire ruled by the Amhara Solomonic dynasty in Ethiopia’s central

highlands. Hassan (1990) asserts that the 16th century migrants followed the footpaths of their

predecessors northward. Hassan (1990, 1994, 2015) also suggests that the Oromo groups in the

central highlands in the medieval period were sedentary farmers and those who occupied the

southern and eastern borders of the empire were pastoralists.

Alternatively, based on ethnographic, historical and linguistic data, Bulcha (2011) and the

Oromia Culture and Tourism Commission (OCTC) (2004) propose that the Oromo were on the

4
Shawan Plateau in the central highlands before the 13th century AD, prior to the arrival of

Muslim traders who came from the east, and Ethio-Semitic speaking groups, who came from the

north. For instance, two Oromo communities, Galan and Yaya, are mentioned in the

hagiographical literature from the early 13th century. Their descent groups now live in the central

highlands and other regions of Oromia. If this interpretation is correct, then Oromo communities

lived in central Ethiopia before the 16th century.

The Amhara, the ethnic group that dominated the medieval Ethiopian state, arrived in the

region in the 13th century. Consequently, the Oromo communities were pushed southward

(Bulcha 2011; OCTC 2004). In the 16th century, the Oromo began to move northward to reclaim

the territory that they had lost to the Amhara. Generally, these contesting theories about the

origin of the Oromo are not substantiated by historical data. The available written sources tend to

be biased in favor of the politically dominant ethnic Amhara and no archaeological research has

been conducted on the subject. Systematic investigation of historical and linguistic data,

accompanied by archaeological and ethnoarchaeological studies, can help to address topics

related to the Oromo's history.

Although the Oromo school of thought is growing and challenging the Ethiopianist

perception that misinterpreted Oromo history and culture, it continues to foster bias in its

research agenda. Specifically, the Oromo school focuses on the socio-cultural history of the

Oromo from the perspective of the dominant Oromo groups: mainstream society and men (e.g.,

Bassi 2005; Bulcha 2011; Burka 2006, 2009; Eteffa 2006, 2012; Gidada 1984; Gnamo 2014;

Hassan 2015; Holcomb and Ibssa 1990; Jalata 1993, 2001; Magarsa1994; Ta’a 2006).

Importantly, some scholars have looked at the history of Oromo women in Ethiopia,

focusing mainly on mainstream women's social and political roles (e.g., Alemu 2007; Assegued

5
2004; Deressa 2004; Dugassa 2005; Gow 2002; Klemm 2003, 2009; Kumsa 1997, 2002;

Swanson 2008; Yedes 2009; Yedes et al. 2004). There are limited studies of Oromo artisan

women and their craft technology and Oromo women’s agricultural knowledge (Hora 1995;

Wayessa 2000, 2011a). Indeed, research among non-Oromo artisan women (e.g., Abebe and Dea

2003; Arthur 2002, 2006, 2009, 2013a, b; 2014; Freeman and Pankhurst 2003; Haaland, R., and

Gunnar 2004a, 2004b; Hallpike 1972; Kaneko 2009; Petros 2003a, 2003b; Silverman 2000;

Tekle 2005; Weedman 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008; Weedman et al. 2010; Yoshida 2008) and

studies of women’s agricultural knowledge in the region are growing (e.g., Hildebrand 2003,

2007; Fuller and Hildebrand 2013). Therefore, a significant need exists to carry out

corresponding studies of Oromo women to contribute to the growing body of research in the

southwestern Ethiopian region.

1. 3 Organization of the Dissertation

This dissertation is organized into ten chapters. Chapter Two presents an overview of the

physical and cultural setting of the Wallaga Region in the southwestern Ethiopian Highlands.

Chapter Three describes the theoretical and methodological framework for the study. The fourth

chapter investigates occupational identities of the Oromo, the Yem and the Dawro ethno-

linguistic groups of the southwestern highlands. The major theories of the origins of the artisan

social category and their social segregation in Ethiopia are discussed. More specifically, the

social mechanisms that limit potters’ and other artisans' participation in societal affairs are

presented. The first section of Chapter Five discuses agency of pottery and symbolism associated

with pottery-making in Wallaga. It investigates the association between pottery technology and

persons, and how this relationship creates identities. The second section of the chapter describes

6
the functional requirements of pots in the Wallaga region. It documents pottery functional

typology and examines the relationship between pottery forms and functions. Technology is a

deeply embedded social product through which societies materialize their social identities. The

symbolic meanings loaded onto pottery vessels are intended, indirectly, to enforce the

performance requirement of these vessels and these are examined in the last section of this

chapter. More specifically, it is demonstrated that the functional requirement and symbolic

aspects of pots are not mutually exclusive. Instead they are bound together by social relations

where people make the material objects to meet their daily cultural and material requirements.

Chapter Six describes pottery chaînes opératoires that were observed in the field study of the

Oromo, Yem and Dawro in Wallaga. Chaîne opératoire provides a material identity for each

potting community. In Chapter Seven, Oromo culinary practices associated with ceramic

consumption and its implications in social identity are presented. Chapter Eight investigates

tuber cultivation and processing in the Wallaga region of the southwestern Ethiopian highlands.

In the introduction of this chapter, major trends in archaeological and ethnoarchaeological

research on early agriculture in Ethiopia and some methodological issues in the study of the

origin of tuber crop cultivation in the country are presented. Also examined in this chapter are

the major indigenous tubers in southwestern Ethiopia, and the harvesting and post-harvesting

methods for these crops. The post-harvesting activity, especially Oromo cooking practices, is

presented in detail to help extrapolate how this activity leaves traces on the cooking pots.

The ninth chapter investigates the impact of steaming tubers on steaming pots. It

examines major changes that develop on the interior walls of steaming pots from cooking tubers

over time. Food residues that accrete on the interior of contemporary steaming pots are analyzed

and archaeological implications for the study of tuber domestication in the southwestern

7
Ethiopian highlands are discussed. In Chapter Ten, a summary of the results of the study and

suggestions of areas for future research are presented.

8
 Chapter Two: Physical and Cultural Context

2. 1 Physical setting of the Southwestern Highlands

The southwestern Ethiopian highland region is characterized by considerable

geographical diversity. Its physiographic features include mountains, undulating and rolling

plateaus, gorges, incised river valleys and plains. Altitudes range from 500 to 3300 masl in the

region. The highest peak is Tullu Welel, a sacred mountain to Oromo rainmakers, located in the

village closest to Dambi Dolo town (Figure 2.1). The region is also characterized by dense

evergreen forest vegetation, including wild coffee trees. This provides a habitat for a variety of

wild animals, including antelopes (Antilope cervicapra), colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza)

and spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta).

2. 1.1 The Study Area

The study area is located in the southwestern Ethiopian highlands (Figure 2.1), a region

comprising Wallaga, Jimma, Illubabor and Kaffa. With the exception of Kaffa, which is situated

in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPR), most of the

southwestern Ethiopian highlands region is located in Oromia Regional State. This study was

conducted in the villages of Lalo Asabi of Wallaga, and Jiren and Seka in the Jimma Zone of

Oromia (Figure 2.1).

Because of the geographical proximity and better infrastructure, it is common for people

to migrate from Kaffa in the SNNPR to the Jimma Zone of the Oromia Regional State. For this

reason, the largest number of potters in Seka and Jiren are from the Yem and Dawro ethno-

9
linguistic groups who originated in SNNPR. The potters in Lalo Asabi are predominately

Oromo.

Figure 2. 1 Map of the study area.

2. 1. 1. 1 Geology

The present surface rock distribution, land configuration, and other natural phenomena of

the southwestern Ethiopia highlands resulted from tectonic movements of the Precambrian and

Cenozoic eras (CPGO 1997; EMA 1988; Mohr 1971; Nyamweru 1980). No significant rock

formations occurred in the southwestern highlands during the Mesozoic era. As a result,
10
Precambrian rocks are overlain by Cenozoic strata. The Cenozoic formations, particularly the

basalt, underwent an intensive chemical weathering from humid climatic conditions and the

natural vegetation cover. The chemical weathering, which resulted in a complete change in the

internal structure of the rock in the region, resulted in the development of soil units suitable for

agriculture, and other lateritic soils suitable for iron smelting and pottery-making.

2. 1. 1. 2 Soil Type

Four soil units are recognized in Wallaga. The dystric nitosols soil unit forms one of the

major groups occurring in most parts of Wallaga. Dystric nitosols are deep, clay-like red soils

that occur in flat to sloped terrain in high rainfall areas. These soils have important physical

properties, such as a high moisture storage capacity, that are required for agricultural practices.

The second soil type is orthic acrisols, which occur mainly in sloped terrain. This soil’s moisture

storage capacity is poor because of its shallow loam layer depth. Consequently, these soils have

limited agricultural potential (CPGO 1997; WWZSEP 2011).

The remaining two soil units are chromic and pellic vertisols, heavy clay soils found in

low-lying areas that flood during the rainy season. In the dry season, these soil types shrink and

develop deep cracks. Pellic vertisols are dark-brown, usually occupying areas that are

waterlogged during the wet season, while chromic vertisols are brownish and better drained. The

pellic vertisols have good but limited agricultural potential due to their low permeability and

poor drainage. Pellic vertisols are the most common soil type used in pottery-making in the

Wallaga region (Wayessa 2011b; WWZSEP 2011).

11
 Additional soil units common in the southwestern highlands are calcaric and eutric

fluvisols. Fluvisols are young soils that develop in recent alluvial deposits (Westphal 1975;

CPGO 1997; WWZSEP 2011) and are used intensively as good agricultural soils (CPGO 1997).

2. 1. 1 .3 Climate

Ethiopia’s climate is determined by the general patterns of wind and pressure systems on

the African continent, topography and proximity to the Indian Ocean. There are three seasons in

Ethiopia: the main rainy season (June-September), the dry season (October-January), and the

small rainy season (February-May) (Table 2.1) (NMSA 1996; Seleshi 2004; Viste and Sorteberg

2012).

The seasonal distribution of rainfall in Ethiopia is the result of moisture-laden winds and

altitude. All rainfall in the country is ultimately derived from the Indian and Atlantic oceans

(Friis 1992). Seasonal rainfall is generated mainly by the migration of the Intertropical

Convergence Zone (ITCZ) that controls the rainy season. Convergences of the wet monsoon air

mass from the Indian and Atlantic oceans generate the total amount of annual rainfall in the

country. In the main rainy season, all parts of Ethiopia receive rain except the southeastern

lowlands that fall in a rain-shadow area (CPGO 1997). The exact position of the ITCZ changes

over the course of the year, oscillating across the equator from its northern most position over

northern Ethiopia in July and August, to its southernmost position over southern Kenya in

January and February (NMSA 1996; Viste and Sorteberg 2012).

The North East Trade winds from Arabia dominate Ethiopia’s climate in the dry season.

The southwestern highlands are the only area of Ethiopia to receive rainfall during this season,

12
and rain continues in the southwestern highlands and the southeastern lowlands through the

spring (CPGO 1997; Friis 1992; Friis et al. 1982).

Table 2. 1 Rainfall patterns in the Oromia region of Ethiopia.

Oromo Amharic English Duration Average monthly

name name rainfall (mm)
Ganna Kiremt Summer (the main June-September 350
rainy season)
Bona Bega Winter (dry season) October -January 150

Arfasaa Belg Spring (small rainy March-May 100

season)

Souce: CPGO (Condensed Physical Geography of Oromia).

The timing of the onset and duration of rain is affected by latitudinal patterns associated

with the seasonal movement of the ITCZ, with maximum rainfall in the southwestern highlands.

The southwestern highlands are wet throughout the year with an annual rainfall of approximately

1400 to 2000 mm. This region is the wettest part of Ethiopia because: 1) the Atlantic cells leave

abundant moisture in the area, and 2) the southwestern highlands are closer to the equator and

the ITCZ (CPGO 1997; Friis 1992; Friis et al. 1982; Hildebrand 2003).

2. 1. 1. 4 Natural Vegetation

Ethiopia’s extreme variation in climate and terrain has produced considerable plant

diversity. Ethiopia is known for high endemism of wild plant species in Africa (CPGO 1996),

and Ethiopian forests and woodlands are repositories and gene banks for several domesticated

13
plants, wild plants, and wild relatives of domesticated plants (Gurmessa et al. 2012). For

example, coffee (Coffea arabica L), anchote (Coccinia abyssinica), and enset (Ensete

ventricosum) are endemic to Ethiopia. They are found in the wild in the moist evergreen montane

forests in the southwestern part of the country (Gurmessa et al. 2012).

Figure 2. 2 Physical features of southwestern Ethiopia. (Souce: GIS data National Atlas of
Ethiopia, EMA Minitry of Agriculture).

Scholars categorize Ethiopian vegetation into the following groups (see Demissew 2004;

Demissew and Friis 2009; Demissew et al. 1996; Friis and Demissew 2001; Gurmessa et al.

2012; Kelbessa et al. 1992) (Figure 2.2):

14
2. 1. 1. 4. 1 Broad Leafed Forest: This forest, which covers a significant part of the region, is

found in the most humid parts of the southwestern highlands with a mean annual rainfall in

excess of 1300 mm per annum in areas between 600 to 3200 masl. The broad-leafed forest has

four sub-divisions of plant communities. One of the subdivisions is the semi-deciduous Baphia

forest, growing between 600 and 1100 masl. The top storey of the Baphia forest consists of

various broad-leafed species that reach heights of 30 to 40 m. The second storey consists of

shorter broad-leafed trees. The third storey consists partly of Baphia abyssinica that reaches 15

m in height, and a shrubby layer of varied composition (see Kelbessa et al. 1992).

Figure 2. 3 Broad-leafed forest in the dry season in Wallaga in May 2012.

15
 The Olea (Ejjersa) forest is the second sub-division of broad-leafed forest found between

1100 and 1900 m in elevation. Olea welwitchii makes up the dominant top storey and grows up

to 40 to 50 m in height (FAO 1996; CPGO 1997). Szygium genes (baddeessa) and other

hardwoods that grow to heights of around 30 to 40 m high dominate the second storey. The

Aningeria (qaraaro) forest forms the third category of forest and occurs in a narrow altitudinal

belt between 2000 m (in the more humid areas) and 2400 m (in the less humid areas above the

Olea forest (WWZSEP 2011).

Figure 2. 4 Broad-leafed forest in the wet season in Wallaga July 2013.

The Aningeria forest is characterized by Aningeria adolfifriderici that grows to heights of

35 to 45 m in its top storey. The second storey is dominated by Croton (bakanniisa), Ebergia

16
(somboo) and Szygium species. Above the Aningeria, the Arundinaria (leemaana) forest occurs

at elevations between 2400 and 3200 m (Figures 2.3 & 2.4) with undergrowth of mixed shrubs

and poorly developed ground layers of grasses and sedges (CPGO 1997; WWZSEP 2011).

Figure 2. 5 Wetland under maize farming in May 2012.

2. 1. 1. 4. 2 Grasslands: The dominant vegetation in this climax vegetation is various species of

grasses, found within the woodlands and savanna environments at lower elevations and in

relatively drier parts of the region (CPGO 1997; WWZSEP 2011). In grassland areas, thorny

trees, including acacia (laaftoo), grow commonly. The grassland areas of southwestern Ethiopia

are known for their abundance of wild honeybees and bee-keeping activities.

17
2. 1. 1. 4. 3 Wetlands: The wetlands consist of marshes and swamps, including phragmites

(Phragmites australis), typha (Typha laximannii), and ambatch (Aeschynomene elaphroxylon),

found in narrow strips along the courses of rivers. These areas are widely cultivated (CPGO

1997; WWZSEP 2011) with main crops that include maize, taro, potatoes and sugar cane,

introduced crops that revolutionized wetland cultivation in the southwestern highlands.

Figure 2. 6 Wetland clay mining to make pots and construction bricks in Jimma in 2013.

18
 Wetlands are valuable areas for rural communities in this region. They contribute directly

to food security through the production of green and mature maize and vegetables. Wetlands are

also important sources of clay minerals used for making pottery vessels and the production of

construction bricks. The area is also an important source of sedges and wetland grasses used for

roofing and floor covering (Figures 2. 5 & 2. 6).

2. 1. 2 Drainage Systems

The heavy precipitation in the southwestern Ethiopia highlands accounts for the high

water volume carried by the rivers (CPGO 1997). The southwestern highlands are divided into

two major drainage basins: the Abbay (Blue Nile) basin in the northern part of the southwestern

highlands and the Baro basin in the southern part. Some of the major rivers that flow into the

Baro basin include the Birbir, Laga Hida and Gibe rivers. The major tributaries of the Abbay (the

Blue Nile) are the Anger, Dhidessa, Dabbus, and Fincha'a rivers.

2. 1. 3 Agro-ecological Zones

The five agro-ecological zones found in the Oromia region are based on temperature

differences in latitude: dhaamota (cold highlands), baddaa (cool, humid, highlands), badda-

daree (temperate, cool sub-humid, highlands), gammoojji (warm, semi-arid lowlands), and ho’a

(hot and hyper-arid lowlands) (Hurni 1998; CPGO 1997; Westphal 1975; WWZSEP 2011)

(Table 2.1). In the dhaamota zone, rain-fed crops are not expected to grow. In this ecological

zone, frost is a frequent phenomenon, and afro-alpine grasslands are the dominant natural

vegetation. The baddaa zone is a zone where crops, including barley, wheat, and pulses, are

grown (CPGO 1997; WWZSEP 2011).

19
 The most dominant agricultural zone is the badda-daree. The agro-climatic condition of

this zone is highly suitable for rain-fed farming, particularly of teff, maize and finger millet. This

zone also supports cash crops, including coffee and tea, and the major staple tuber and corm

crops that include anchote (Coccinia abyssinica), Oromo potatoes (Plectranthus edulis), some

species of yam (Dioscorea spp.) and enset (Ensete ventricosum). The badda-daree zone has

sufficient rainfall to crop for most of the year.

The gammoojji belt falls below the badda-daree zone. This zone has warmer

temperatures than in the highlands, greater variability in rainfall and recurring drought

conditions. This zone supports production of pulses and the dominant sorghum crop, but it has

moisture limitations for crops such as maize and tubers. Below the gammojji is the ho'a zone

(Table 2.2). In this belt, rain-fed agriculture is normally not possible due to persistent drought.

Large-scale irrigation systems are possible along the major rivers, including the Dhidhessa, Gibe,

Baro and Dabbus rivers that drain the region.

Table 2. 2 Climate zones of southwestern Ethiopia highlands.

Altitude Mean Annual Description

(m) temperature
>3300 (c0) Afan Oromo Amharic English
2300-3300 <10 Dhaamota Wurch Cold highlands
1500-2300 10-15 Baddaa Dega Cool, humid highlands
500-1500 15-20 Badda-daree Woina dega Temperate, cool, sub-
humid highlands
<500 20-25 Gammoojji Kolla Warm, semi-arid lowlands

Source: CPGO (Condensed Physical Geography of Oromia).

20
 In the southwest Ethiopian highlands, badda-dare is the most populated ecological zone.

This zone supports livestock production due to the absence of lowland animal diseases. Wild

animal diseases, particularly trypanosomiasis, restrict the distribution of livestock herding in the

lowland areas. It is argued that trypanosomiasis caused by tsetse flies, which is especially lethal

for cattle, could have challenged the expansion of cattle-based pastoral lifeways in the region

(see e.g., Gifford-Gonzalez 2000; Marshall 2000; Marshall and Hildebrand 2002). The recent

discovery, however, of trypanosomiasis vaccines has encouraged the practice of cattle breeding

to spread into the lowland areas of Ethiopia.

2. 2 Cultural context

2 .2. 1 Cultural groups in the study area

The study region is home to several ethno-linguistic groups (Bender 2000, Haberland

1984; Hassan 1990; Hayward 2000). It is beyond the scope of this dissertation to examine all of

these groups and so the project focused on the Oromo (Figure 2.1). Nevertheless, aspects of the

Yem and Dawro groups are presented in order to contrast pottery production and social practices

within the study area. The Oromo history is described in Chapter One. This chapter presents a

brief history of the Yem and Dawro and an overview of the social organization and subsistence

practices of the Oromo of the study area.

2. 2. 1. 1 Yem

The Yem are one of the indigenous peoples of southwestern Ethiopia. Their native

language is Yemsa, which belongs to the Omotic sub-family and Afroasiatic super-family of

21
languages (Bender 2000; Ehert 2002; Greenberg 1955). The region lies between the Gibe River

in the west and the Omo in the east. The name of the old capital is uncertain, but Fofa, the

headquarters of the modern government, is believed to be the administrative center of the Yem.

These people are known by their Yamma Kingdom, which emerged before the 14th century. The

kings of Yamma belonged to a dynasty called Halman Gama that, in turn, belonged to the royal

clan known as the Mwa (Huntingford 1955; Lewis 1965; Yilma 1993).

The Yamma kingdom was neighbor to the powerful, warrior Jimma Oromo kingdom. In

1844, soldiers of the Kingdom of Jimma defeated the army of Yamma and the king of Yamma

was taken to prison (Huntingford 1955). He regained his freedom in 1847 and resumed his

struggle against his more powerful neighbor. Jimma conquered parts of Yamma in the 1880s.

The rest of the kingdom was incorporated into the Ethiopian Empire in 1894 (Huntingford 1955;

McCann 1995). Early 20th-century anthropological accounts show that the Yem had few herders

and were mainly agriculturalists, growing barley, sorghum, finger millet, coffee, flax, cotton and

enset. Coffee grows so abundantly that they use the stems for house building. Cerulli (1922,

1956) reports that maize was introduced to the Yem in the 18th century (see also Huntingford

1955; Lewis 1966; McCann 1995). The Yem region comprises mountain ranges, gorges and

deep valleys that pose some ecological problems, including land degradation.

The Yem in the study area now speak both Oromo and Yem languages. Most of the Yem

immigrants in the Oromia region belong to the artisan social group. Lewis (1962) states that fuga

migrated from Yem to Jimma. Two groups of marginalized minorities in Yem society (Freeman

and Pankhurst 2003; Todd 1977, 1978) exist: the fuga (tanner-potters) and the yirfo

(blacksmiths). The fuga, the largest category of craft workers, practice pottery and tanning as

22
well as agriculture and hunting for subsistence. Lewis (1962) states that fuga migrated from Yem

to Jimma. Other craft workers including weavers and woodworkers are despised in Yem society.

2. 2. 1. 2 Dawro

The Dawro are the third indigenous people of the southwestern Ethiopian highlands.

They speak Dawrots'ua, which is an Omotic language with close affinity to the Walayta, Gamo

and Gofa languages (Bender 2000; Ehert 2002; Greenberg 1955). The Dawro region shares

boundaries with the Konta Zone to the west, Hadiya and Kambata-Tambaro Zones to the

northeast, Wolayta Zone to the east, the Gamo-Gofa Zone to the southeast and the Jimma Zone

of Oromia Region to the northwest.

The major subsistence of the Dawro is similar to that of the Yem, and is based in enset

cultivation as well as teff, sorghum, maize, yam, taro, bananas and some coffee. The villagers are

farmers who keep some livestock, mainly cattle and goats. The houses and plots of cultivated

land are dispersed. It takes approximately one and a half hours to walk from one end of the

village to the other. The people commonly practice slash and burn farming techniques and use

hoes for cultivation. Ox ploughing is rarely practiced because of the trees and underground roots

of fallen trees that prohibit ploughing, although ploughs are used on a few cleared plots for teff

cultivation. The main agricultural tool is the digging stick with or without an iron point (Abebe

and Dea 2003; Pankhurst and Freeman 2003).

It is worth noting that the Dawro and other ethno-linguistic groups in the region continue

to produce microliths (Brandt 2000) and modern tanners still manufacture flaked stone hide

scrapers on a regular basis (Brandt 1996; Weedman et al. 2008). Ongoing production of flaked

23
stone artifacts makes this region an important location to investigate economic and technological

change over time (Abebe and Dea 2003).

2. 2. 1. 3 Oromo

The Oromo belong to the eastern highland Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language

family. Traditionally, the Oromo are known for their age-grade organization known as the gadaa

system, and by their religious institution known as Waqefanna. These two institutions control

everyday life of the society, including craft technology and agriculture. For example, pottery-

making is deeply rooted in the gadaa system and Waqefanna. Life histories of pots are related to

age grades of the gadaa system and Oromo myths of origin. In relation to agriculture, the Oromo

cultivate a variety of cereal and tuber crops. Oromo mythology suggests that some tubers were

domesticated by their ancestors. In the society’s tradition, cultivation and processing of tubers

are associated with fertility. As a result, Oromo social organization, religion, craft technology

and agriculture are intertwined both metaphorically and factually.

2. 2. 1. 3. 1 Socio-political organization of the Oromo

The Oromo political culture is based on a system known as the gadaa (Baxter 1978;

Legesse 1973). The gadaa is a system of classes (Luba) in which male individuals succeed each

other every eight years. The gadaa has 11 age-grades: Dabballee (ages 0-8), Folle (8-16 years of

age), Qondaala (16-24 years of age), Kuusa (24-32 years of age), Raaba Doorii (32-40 years of

age), Gadaa (40-48 years of age), Yuuba I (48-56 years of age), Yuuba II (56-64 years of age),

Yuuba III (64-72 years of age), Gadamoojjii (72-80 years of age) and Jaarsa (80 and above years

of age) (Baxter 1978; Legesse 1973; OCTC 2004).

24
 After completing his fifth gadaa cycle (Raaba Doorii) at the age of 40, the elected person

assumes political, military, judicial, legislative and ritual responsibilities (Baxter 1978; Legesse

1973). It is reported that this system has been in use for the last 500 years (Bahrey 1954; Bulcha

2011; Hassan 1990). Every eight years, the people elect a new gadaa government composed of a

nine-man presidium. The elected officials are collectively called gadaa (the ruling group) who

are presided over by the Abbaa Gadaa (a president) (Bulcha 2011; Legesse 1973).

2. 2. 1 .3 .2 Oromo religion

The Oromo believe in one Supreme Being known as Waaqa, which literally means God

(Bulcha 2011; Ehert 2002; Legesse 1973; Melba 1988; Ta'a 2006). The people believe that

Waaqa is a creator (uumaa) of all things; the created things are referred to as creatures

(uumamaa) (Melba 1988; Ta'a 2006). The Oromo believe that Waaqa put everything in order

and if anybody breaks his order, it results in sin, which in turn leads to punishment. They also

believe that Waaqa can punish anyone who commits sin because Waaqa also guards the truth.

Punishment can be in the form of a bad harvest, disease, famine and other hazardous natural

events. The traditional Oromo also believe in life after death, upholding the idea that after death,

the human soul goes to an abode that is regarded as holy. This monotheistic religion is known as

Waaqeffannaa (Bartels 1983; Bulcha 2011).

Waaqeffannaa religious affairs are controlled by Qaallu (priests) and Qaallittii

(priestesses), who carry out their religious duties and responsibilities from the ritual home known

as galma where ritual ceremonies are held usually on Fridays and Saturdays. Besides the weekly

worshipping, a pilgrimage takes place every eight years to a holy shrine of Abba Muudaa, the

Father of Anointment (Figures 2.7 & 2.8).

25
Figure 2. 7 Shrine center (galma) surrounded by a mound of sand and stones deposited by
worshippers as part of their ritual practice. Picture taken in Wallaga in June 2013.

The pilgrimage to Abba Muudaa and his shrine functions at the national level by

maintaining contact between the different parts of Oromia and preserving a sense of Oromo

national unity. Usually the Abba Muudaa shrine centers are situated on mountains and hills. In

Oromo mythology, the first qaalluu was sent to the Oromo by Waaqa. Qaalluu is known for his

knowledge of traditions and the ability to resolve conflicts. People constantly come to his galma,

26
where the qaalluu blesses people and undertakes hammachiisaa, a traditional ritual of blessing

and name-giving for the newborn.

Figure 2. 8 Stelae standing in the galma compound in Wallaga region of Ethiopia in June 2013.

Related to this is the Irreessaa festival, Oromo Thanksgiving day, in which the Oromo

thank Waaqa for the blessings and mercies that they believe they received throughout the past

year in the sacred areas. The Irreessaa festival is celebrated annually at the beginning of Birraa

(the sunny new season after the dark rainy winter season) throughout Oromia and around the

world in the Oromo diaspora.

27
Figure 2. 9 Oromo community in Calgary celebrating Irreessaa at Edworthy Park, Calgary in
September 2013.

Irreessaa is celebrated not only to thank Waaqa, but also to welcome the new season of

plentiful harvests after the rainy winter season. During Irreessaa festivals, friends, family, and

relatives gather together to celebrate with joy and happiness. Irreessaa festivals bring people

closer to each other and forge social bonds. At the time of celebration, all the pilgrims carry

green grass in their hands and put these bundles in locations near Malkaa (rivers or lakes)

(Figure 2.9).

28
Figure 2. 10 A farmer tilling his farmland to cultivate finger millet in July 2013 in West Wallaga.
He is tilling the third time and after 15 days the cereal will be sown.

Toward the middle of the 19th century, the gadaa system and the traditional religion were

in the process of decline (Bartles 1983; Baxter 1978; Hassan 1990), mainly due to long years of

transformation of the Oromo socioeconomic and political order that gave rise to a new system of

governance within the community (Ayana 1984; Bartles 1983; Hassan 1990). Because the gadaa

system was the pillar of the traditional Oromo culture, its decline led to the disruption of the

religion. Although the traditional religious system was breaking down, it was the introduction of

alien religions that exacerbated the process (Ayana 1984). The major alien religions introduced

29
to Wallaga were Orthodox Christianity, Seventh-day Adventists, the Lutheran Protestant Church

and Sunni Islam (Wayessa 2000).

Figure 2. 11 Rural landscape in Wallaga in July 2013. Some of the farmers' plots are covered
with banana, maize and coffee while others are being prepared to sow either teff or finger millet.

Despite the introduction of Christianity and Islam into the region, the indigenous religious

practices continue to be performed mainly by descendants of Abba Muudaa families. The

traditional ceremonies, like ateetee, worship the Ayyoolee (female spirit) for proper pregnancy,

and annual Irreessaa festivals continue to be practiced. There are clearly religious borrowings

between these three religions. For example, practitioners of Waaqeffannaa began to use Ayyoolee

and St. Mary synonymously. It is also important to note that, currently, the Irreessaa festival
30
appears to be a non-religious gathering in which Oromo people from different religious

backgrounds participate. The participants claim that they take part in the Irreessaa festival not

because it is their religion, but because it is an identity marker shared by Oromo society.

2. 2 .1 .3. 3 Economic organization

2. 2. 1. 3. 3 1 Farming

The Oromo of Wallaga practice a mixed economy. Cattle are widely bred both for symbolic

and economic purposes. Symbolically, they serve as a source of prestige and a sign of Waaqa's

blessing. Economically, cattle are a source of natural fertilizer and food; oxen serve as major

draught animals in farming.

Figure 2. 12 Woman selling her decorated baskets (hodhaa) in Jimma town in May 2012.

31
 Like other parts of the southwestern highlands, Wallaga Oromo is endowed with suitable

agro-climatic conditions. Its climate and fertile soils encourage the growth and production of

many diverse crops. The major cereal crops cultivated include sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), teff

(Eragrostis teff), maize (Zea mays) and finger millet (Eleusine coracana) (Figures 2.9 & 2.11),

and these crops are reported by local people as having been cultivated for generations. Maize,

introduced in the late 18th century (McCann 1995), has become one of the popular cereals used to

bake local bread (buddena) and to make porridge (marqaa).

Figure 2. 13 Smiths forging iron Seqa, Waalaga, in May 2013.

32
 In addition to cereal grain, tuber crops such as anchote, Oromo potatoes, yam and taro, are

widely cultivated. The major cash crop is coffee. A variety of vegetables, including Ethiopian

kale and mustard seeds, are also grown. The most common oil seed cultivated in Wallaga is niger

seed (Guizotia abyssinica). Although niger seed is primarily cultivated to generate cash, some

families, who do not have a dairy cow to milk in order to make butter, will produce oil from

niger seed to spice their food.

2. 2. 1. 3. 3. 2 Craft

Crafts are also important in the contemporary economy of the Wallaga Oromo and in the

study area. These crafts include woodcarving, weaving, tanning, iron smelting and pottery-

making (Figures 2.12 & 2:13). Craft products are major sources of livelihood for the artisan

society who have insufficient or no land to support their families’ needs. More important,

craftwork, including pottery-making and basketry, assist rural artisan women’s partial

independence from their husbands in meeting basic family needs.

An inseparable relationship between agriculture and handicraft technology exists in this

region. It is certain that if there were no agriculture, there would be little demand for these

handicraft products and vice versa. Equally, no agricultural activities can be undertaken without

farm implements that are products of the local handicraft workers. Ultimately, agriculture and

these crafts have a symbiotic relationship. Although artisans are socially despised, they hold a

special position in Oromo society. Artisans are conscious of their economic “insignificance” in

society; they express resentment for their stigmatized status and keep morally strong by

reiterating the Oromo proverb “hojii jaallachuu fi horii quusachuun abbaa badhaasa,” which

literally means, “loving one's own work and saving money makes a person rich.”

33
 Chapter Three: Theory and Methodology

3. 1 Introduction

The goals of this study are to determine a material means to investigate the little known

history of the Oromo of Wallaga and tuber crop use in the southwestern Ethiopian highlands.

This requires a theoretical and methodological framework that identifies material evidence of

Oromo social identity and practices that are useful in tracking their history in the archaeological

record in the study area. Both Oromo social identity and their consumption of tuber crops can be

investigated through ceramics. The theory and methodology used to determine material evidence

of Oromo social identity and tuber consumption are outlined in this chapter.

To achieve these research goals, this dissertation is framed in agency as it is informed by

the theories of Pierre Bourdieu (1977), Anthony Giddens (1984) and, more recently, by scholars

of symmetrical archaeology (Knappett 2012; Olsen 2007; Olsen and Kobylinski 1991; Witmore

2007). Agency is compatible with the chaîne opératoire methodology (Barrett 1988, 2000, 2001;

Dietler and Herbich 1998; Dobres 1995, 2000; Dobres and Robb 2000, 2005; Meskell 2001;

Pauketat 2001,2012; Pauketat and Alt 2005; Robb 2005; Sillar 2009), which is widely used in

Africa to investigate social identity, social history, and technological knowledge (e.g., Dietler

and Herbich 1989, 1998; Haour 2011; Herbich 1987; Gosselain 1992, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2008a,

2008b; Gosselain and Livingstone Smith 2005; Mayor 2010, 2011; Livingstone Smith 2000;

Lyons 2007, 2009, 2014; Sterner 1989, 1992; Sterner and David 2003).

3. 2 Theory: agency, practice and structure

Agency was introduced into archaeological research in the early 1980s, but the use of the

concept of agency by archaeologists varies (Barrett 2000; Dobres 2000; Dornan 2002; Gero
34
2000; Robb 2010). In a recent overview, Robb (2010) identifies three approaches to agency in

archaeology: agency as intentional political action, agency as dialectic, and relational agency.

Agency as intentional political action assumes individual intentionality, particularly of self-

aggrandizing individuals who pursue power and prestige through strategies of self-interest

(Flannery 1999; Hayden 1995). This approach to agency is criticized because it focuses on elite

ambitions without explaining how such inequalities are integrated with other sectors of these

societies (Barrett 2000; Robb 2010). The second approach of agency as dialectic is based in

Bourdieu’s (1977) practice and Giddens’ (1984) structuration theories. This form of agency

views all human action as both enabled and constrained by social structures. In daily practice,

people reproduce, modify or fail to reproduce social structures, both consciously and

unconsciously (e.g., Barrett 2000; Robb 2010). As Robb (2010) points out, in this perspective,

agency and power are not situated in the individual but in historically situated social

relationships. This approach is criticized for not considering the individual as an active agent

(Dobres 1995, 2000; Dobres and Robb 2000, 2005; Dornan 2002). Finally, relational agency

emerged in the late 1990s and includes concepts of personhood, actor network theory and

symmetrical archaeology, which emphasize the relationships that connect people and things

(Robb 2010: 502). The dialectic and relational agency approaches are linked and both inform the

approaches used in this dissertation.

3. 3 Practice and structuration theories: dialectical agency

Bourdieu’s (1977) practice theory is based around the concept of habitus. Habitus refers

to internalized social dispositions (e.g., social structures) that individuals learn, consciously and

unconsciously, as members of a society in the course of daily social practice (Bourdieu 1977).

35
The major criticism of practice theory is that social structures are primarily learned and practiced

unconsciously, which does not allow for individuals to consciously bring about change (Downey

2010, Joy 2009; Joyce and Lopiparo 2005; Lyons 2014). Like Bourdieu, Giddens (1984) argues

that social structures are learned and these structures provide a means and medium for individual

social action. Giddens’ structuration theory (1984) is based on the concept of the duality of

structure: human agency is reflexively the product and (re)producer of social structure. Social

structures do not exist without knowledgeable social agents who reproduce, modify or change

social structure, consciously or unconsciously, in daily action. Giddens recognizes that agents

can consciously bring about change in historically situated contexts of action when other socially

knowledgeable agents, who monitor their own and other people’s actions, choose to support a

change or innovation of an individual or group (Hegmon and Kulow 2005; Lyons 2014). For

example, the chaîne opératoire of pottery making is a form of habitus. Potters learn how to

make pots as members of a pottery making community. This does not mean that chaîne

opératoire are unchanging. Potters respond to changing social and economic conditions (e.g.

when interactions with other groups affect access to grog sources) and changing markets (new

plastic and metal alternatives), by consciously modifying their practices within the limitations

and opportunities of social technological practices.

This dissertation explores two related fields of discourse. Fields of discourse or action as

described by Barrett (1988, 2001:158) are historically and spatially situated social contexts

where individuals are engaged in specific activities that create or manipulate materials in ways

that can affect the value of these materials. In short, fields are situations where agency is enacted.

Fields of discourse also overlap. In relation to the study presented, pottery production is one field

of discourse and it overlaps with culinary practices that are the second field of discourse

36
investigated. Both of these fields overlap with other Oromo fields of discourse, including

political structure, social hierarchies, and ritual practices. For example, potters produce vessels

for their farmer neighbours to process tuber crops within a socially prescribed Oromo culinary

practice. Farmers also supply tubers to potters. The commodities that they exchange carry

messages about them and reproduce structures of social inequality that farmers and potters

understand within a shared social and ritual worldview (see Chapter Seven).

While practice and structuration theories investigate human agency, symmetrical

archaeology explores the entangled relationships between people and things (e.g., Hodder 2012;

Knappett 2012; Latour 1993; Witmore 2007). This is important to examine how people and

pottery are entangled in the Oromo worldview. This theoretical perspective argues that objects

and non-human organisms have agency that affects how human agents interact with them (see

Robb 2005; Sillar 1996). Secondary agency (Gardner 2007; Gell 1998, Sillar 2009) is understood

as the cultural perception that people hold in which certain objects are perceived to embody the

power to act in particular ways, or that require humans to act in certain ways with these materials

(e.g., Frank 2007; Gosden 2001, 2005, 2012; Gosden and Marshall 1999; Sillar 2009). For

example, Oromo potters perceive that clay has agency and must be treated like a human being.

The potter’s technological choices at certain stages of pottery production must consider the clay

to be vulnerable and to be treated similarly to a human infant, explored further in Chapter Five.

The interaction between people, materials and material objects in daily and ritual

interaction is referred to as materiality (Knappett 2012, 2014). For instance, social perceptions of

people who embody certain skill sets (including making pottery or farming) directly affect how

such individuals are perceived within society in terms of their social status, access to resources

and capacity for political decision-making (see papers in David 2012; Lyons 2014). In the

37
Oromo example investigated here, pottery-making is in the domain of marginalized artisans and

tuber crop cultivation is dominated by members of mainstream society. These relations are

materially reproduced, for instance, when farmers cultivate tubers and redistribute them on

special occasions to the needy, including potters.

3. 4 Methodology: Chaîne opératoire approach

Chaîne opératoire, as it is used in this dissertation, is premised in concepts of agency as

outlined above. Chaîne opératoire assumes that individuals are socially knowledgeable agents

whose technological choices in making or processing material objects are primarily social

choices, learned as members of a social community. For example, potters learn to make pots as

members of a social group of potters and consumers (e.g., within a field of discourse) (see

Gosselain 2000; Lemonnier 1992, 1993, 2012). Consequently, each choice or act that a potter

makes at each stage of pottery production is guided by social factors learned as a member of that

community. Learning skill is a conscious process (Downey 2010; Lyons 2014), but once learned,

the performance of the skills becomes unconscious and routine. Nevertheless, conscious change

or the choice to resist change may arise when communities or individuals are confronted with

events that affect daily practice, including environmental changes, changes in access to

resources, or the impact of globalizing markets.

Of importance in tracking Oromo history, is that the total range of choices that potters

employ in producing pots in a given potter community is referred to as their technological style.

Technological styles are material manifestations of a potter community’s social identity (Dietler

and Herbich 1998; Dobres 2000). Determining the ceramic technological style of the Oromo of

38
Wallaga is an important step as it provides a material means to track their history in future

archaeological investigations of the region.

The second field of discourse investigated using the chaîne opératoire was Oromo

culinary practices that involve the pottery assemblage. In particular, this study focuses on the

chaîne opératoire of cultvating, harvesting, processing and serving tubers that are specific to the

Oromo of Wallaga’s cuisine. In addition to intangible technological knowledge of tuber farming

and processing, the study shows how aspects of tuber processing create specific use-alterations

on Oromo pottery. These use-alterations may be useful as a proxy to investigate the history of

the Wallaga Oromo’s tuber cultivation and consumption.

The chaîne opératoire of Wallaga pottery-making and tuber crop production and

processing was determined using standard ethnoarchaeological methods of interview and

observation (David and Kramer 2001). Interviews included a structured set of questions for all

participants in order to compare responses by age, gender and life history events. In addition,

unstructured interviews probed each individual’s specialized knowledge of the history and

practices of pottery-making, tuber production and processing, and changes involving these

practices that they recall over their lifetime. Oral traditions of ritual practices related to pottery-

making and tuber consumption were recorded, and these ritual practices are used to reproduce

social structures in Wallaga society.

The project participants were selected from both artisan and mainstream social categories

depending upon their age, family background and occupation. I selected participants whom their

community members designated as knowledgeable and recommended to me. Selection of the

participants were made at market places and home villages. Accordingly, in summer 2012 (June

39
to August), I consulted 92 people and in the summer of 2013 (April to August), an additional 104

people were interviewed. The age range of the participants was between 12 and 60 years of age.

The interviews were held in villages, market centers, clay-mining sites, farmlands, shrine

centers and kitchens. Of the total 195 participants, 68 were Oromo potters, 19 were Oromo

mainstream farmers, 51 were Yem potters, 11 were Yem mainstream farmers, 39 were Dawro

potters and the remaining eight were Dawro mainstream farmers (see table 3.1 for their age

distribution). The Oromo were interviewed in the villages of Seqa, Dongoro, Warra Gigsa and

Didibe in Wallaga zone of Oromia. The Yem were interviewed in the villages of Jiren, Shororu

and Sokoru, and the Dawro potters were consulted in the villages of Dobi, Qofe and Bore of

Jimma zone of Oromia (Figure 2.1).

Table 3. 2 Approximate age category of project participants.

Potters Farmers
Age 12-20 21-40 ≥ 41 12-20 21-40 ≥ 41
categories years years years years years years
n=68 16 40 12 n=19 4 6 9
Oromo Total % 23.5 58.8 17.7 Total % 21 31.6 47.4
Yem n=51 8 37 6 n=11 2 3 6
Total % 15.7 72.5 11.8 Total % 18.2 27.3 54.5
Dawro n=39 13 23 3 n=8 2 2 4
Total % 33.3 59 7.7 Total % 25 25 50

At the beginning of field work I used a set of structured interview questions (see

Appendix A). However, it was apparent that the participants were not conformable with the

40
structured interviews. Specifically, the participants felt dominated by me as an outside

researcher, and they felt that I was commanding them to respond to my interview questions. For

this reason, I decided to frame my questions using a semi-structured interview approach to give

privilege to the participants and to follow their narration. During their narraation, I posed

questions about pottery making and utilization in a conversational manner. The potters were also

interviewed about their social and the economic conditions in comparison with the non-potters.

Potters were asked why and how they became involved in pottery-making and their attitude

towards the technology. Furthermore, they were asked how they perceive the non-handicraft

people and how the non-handicraft people perceive and treated them in the past and in the

present in the study areas. In addition, interviews were made with non-potters to be familiar with

their views of the potters. Non-artisans were asked about the importance of pots for the whole

community and how the potters were perceived and treated. I also asked potter and non-potters

which types of foods leave residues on pots.

The interviews were made at individual and group levels. Individual interviews were

organized because in group interviews I observed that some people were dominated by the

others. At the same time, some people feared to express their ideas when other people were

present. However, group interviews helped to fill information gaps that resulted in some

individual interviews.The group interviews were conducted at clay mining sites, market places,

and coffee gatherings.

Most interviews were held in my native language, Afan Oromo, while I had interpreters

to assist me in interviewing informants who were not familiar with or fluent in Afan Oromo.

This was the case with the Dawro and the Yem people who had recently moved from the

Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region to the Jimma region of Oromia. The average

41
time I spent with each potter was six hours and each potter was visited at least three times. I

spent an average of one hour with each mainstream farmer. The interviews were held mainly in

the daytime, although interviews with busy farmers were held in the evening when they were

free to share their ideas.

I collected the data as both a cultural insider and outsider. I am an outsider for the Yem

and Dawro potters because I am from the Oromo ethnic group. At the onset of my field work, I

expected that I would do my research as a cultural insider among the Oromo because of my

ethnic affiliation. I expected that this would give me the privilege to carry out research that

would generate detailed information. Other researchers also assume that the cutural insider will

be more accepted and experience privileged insider knowledge that is not available to cultural

outsiders (see DeLyser 2001; Geleta 2014; Harklau and Norwood 2005; Kassam and Bashuna

2004). However, as I began my field work, I realized that I was perceived as both cultural insider

and outsider by the participants. I learned that I was a cultural outsider in Wallaga because I was

a man working with women and because I am a man from the mainstream social group working

with women from the artisan social category. This experience taught me that the insider/outsider

perspecitves are contextual and fluid in nature. As a result, the data collected and its

interpretation is from the point of view of myself as a researcher who is both a cultural insider

and outsider. As a trained archaeologist, I had the capacity to analyze the data from the

perspective of the scientific community. Essentially, both the insider's and outsider’s view, and

views of the scientific community, influenced the interpretation presented. Samples of tubers and

tuber steaming pots were collected in order to identify starches of previously under-investigated

tuber crops and to investigate specific use-wear associated with their processing. This

information provides new material evidence to study tuber cultivation and consumption by the

42
Oromo in this region. In the following chapters, the information from these interviews are

presented and compared to demonstrate differences in the local production of ceramics and the

cuisines that are produced with them.

43
 Chapter Four: Occupational identities of the Oromo, the Yem and the Dawro ethno-
linguistic groups of the southwestern highlands.

4. 1 Introduction

Occupational identity refers to the social identity given to certain groups of people who

practice the same occupation, but not all occupations result in socially equal identities. One of

the attributed occupational identities in the southwestern Ethiopian highlands is pottery-making.

In this region, potters are a socially despised and endogamous group. Intermarriage between

potters and other social categories, including farmers, violates socially acceptable practices.

Marriage between potters from different ethnic backgrounds also is uncommon as is

intermarriage among farmers of different ethnic groups in the southwestern highlands. Because

potters must marry other potters within their own ethnic group and they cannot marry potters

with whom they share an immediate blood relationship, the potters typically marry out of their

natal village. In their husbands’ villages, however, potters continue to practice the technological

styles that they learned at an early age from their families. For this reason, pottery learning-

networks tend to be bounded by ethnic identity with girls learning pottery-making from their

parents or immediate kin. Consumers also have a strong tendency to buy pottery vessels made by

potters of their own ethnic group. It is suggested here that pottery production, distribution and

consumption in the southwestern Ethiopian highlands tends to be strongly structured by ethnic

identity. In all groups studied, potters are socially marginalized by mainstream society. This

chapter describes and compares the social treatment and status of potters among the Oromo,

Yem and Dawro.

44
4. 2 Occupational Identities in Oromo Society

The major crafts in Oromo society include pottery-making, blacksmithing, woodcarving,

tanning, beehive-making and weaving. Of these, woodcarvers and weavers are not marginalized.

In Oromo society, craftworkers are collectively known as ogeyyii (the skilled ones). The ogeyyii

social class also includes medicine men/women, traditional midwives (deessiistuu), and

traditional circumcisers who will not be described further in this dissertation. Artisans are

referred to by other members of their communities in pejorative terms. For instance, tumtu is a

derogatory term for blacksmiths and potters, and dugduu for tanners. Both categories of artisans

hold low social status in Oromo society, which can be understood from the proverb "kan ulfina

hin qaabne boyyiicha tumtu deema", literally meaning, “he who has no respect goes to the

funeral of blacksmith."

Oromo society has four social classes: the Borana, the Gabro, the ogeyyii and the slave

social classes. The Borana (senior), the upper social status, control both the ritual and

administrative structures of society. The Gabro (junior) holds the next highest position in the

social hierarchy and, in the absence of the Borana, they perform the Borana’s social and

religious duties. The tumtu and dugduu occupy the second lowest social position. Slaves were

either war captives or laborers who had no farmland of their own and worked for the Borana and

the Gabro. Slaves could be given a plot of land to build a house for their family and grain to

support their families after performing daily service (see Gidada 1987; Hultin 1984, 1982).

Craft society, however, did not have rights to communal or private ownership of land.

They lived under the protection of each clan lineage landlord (sooressa). The land right, qabiyye,

was only for those who were members of the dominant social group, although land ownership

could be granted by clan leaders. Often, such land was the least productive fallow land (borqii).

45
Artisans were not allowed to pay for this land so that their land could be expropriated at any

time. As a result, the artisans were dependent on their crafts and not on farming. Potters reported

that the lack of access to land forced their predecessors to undertake handicraft technology as

their major activity.

Marriage was possible between the Borana and Gabro social classes. The tumtu, dugduu

and slaves could also marry within their own respective social class (Bartles 1983; Hultin 1979,

1984). Members of the mainstream do not marry with the artisans because they believe that they

will die. If marriage between them occurred by chance, the household would have four

hearthstones instead of the usual three stones. The four hearthstones symbolize the fact that

something unusual has happened in the family though marriage.

In Oromo society, hearthstones designate the alliance of two families through marriage.

The largest stone, buried halfway into the ground, represents the husband and his position of

authority within the family. Fire is a common metaphor used to designate his wife. The Oromo

people believe that there is no household without a wife and no wife without a household

(Magersa 1994; Wayessa 2011). The Oromo practice is that a man establishes a fire (ibidda) and

hearthstone (sunsumaa) as soon as he gets married and, in so doing, he establishes his individual

family line. The birth of a son in a family is considered to be a sign of continuity of the family

line because the son will marry and establish a blaze/fire (ibidda) (Duressa 2002). The idiom in

Oromo, ibidda isaatu dhaame (his fire ceased to exist), refers to the death of the wife. At the

same time, the expression ibiddi haa gabbatu literally means, “let the fire grow fat,” and is used

as a blessing from the elders to the bride and bridegroom at their marriage. This implies the wish

for the newly formed family to prosper in all areas of life.

46
 The artisans were not allowed to participate in the formulation of rules and regulations in

Oromo society (Bartles 1983). Different myths were used to exclude the occupational minorities

from these political processes. For instance, the tumtu, who smelt iron by beating (sibila tumuu)

on the bellows, were not allowed to take part in law-making (seera tumaa) because it was

believed that the community would start fighting immediately with one another (Bartles 1983,

see also Burka 2008, 2009). Furthermore, if dugduu participated in making society’s laws, then

the community would get an itchy skin disease; if the potters participated in law-making (seera

tuma), the law would be as fragile as their pots (Bartles 1983; Haberland 1984). As a result, the

material objects that the artisans produce carry messages that exclude them from certain social

practices and give special privilege to the non-artisan social groups. In relation to the connection

between a person and objects that they produce, an Oromo proverb states, “meeshaan abba

fakkattii,” which literally means “a person produces himself by producing material objects.” As a

result, the objects that individuals produce as members of a certain social class affect the

producer who is perceived differently from members of other social groups (see Gosden 2005;

Sillar 2009).

The Oromo social hierarchies are not rigid and it is possible for a person, including

artisans, to move between classes if they perform a certain ritual ceremony known as Luba basa

(emancipation). This ceremony involves bleeding two persons who represent the social groups

and then mixing their blood. Oromo also could bring non-Oromo members from the social

periphery into communal life through guddiffacha (adoption). According to Oromo tradition,

adopted people have full rights to participate in Oromo socio-political and religious affairs,

regardless of their previous social or ethnic background (Eteffa 2012; Wayessa 2011).

47
 Following the transformation of internal socioeconomic and political developments, and

recently with the introduction of Islam and Protestant Christianity, belief in the superiority of the

Borana as sons of Waaqa has declined (Bartles1983; Knutsson 1967). The major factor was the

impact of Protestant missionaries who introduced practices that affected the social position of the

craftworkers. This change was instigated by their democratic messages and the equal treatment

these groups used in elections of members of the two social groups in church services and

leadership, including the provision for equal chances to be deacons, deaconesses and ministers.

In 1974, a socialist revolution ended the imperial regime in Ethiopia. Before the 1974

revolution, artisan settlements were spatially separated from settlements of other members of

society. Following the revolution, the socialist Derg government introduced the policy of

villagization in Ethiopia. The 1974 popular revolution also contributed to the decline (but not the

end) of social discrimination of artisans. During the revolution, both groups played equal roles in

socioeconomic activities. The Socialist Government of Ethiopia (1974-1991) implemented the

villagization policy (resettlement), which terminated the settlement patterns that separated the

craftworkers from the upper social strata and ordered both groups to occupy government

proposed areas. The villagization policy also led to widespread pottery-making because non-

artisan women managed to learn pottery-making from relocated artisans. Although some non-

artisan women took up pottery-making, it does not mean that the work became acceptable and

respectful among the mainstream society. Some members of the mainstream group were annoyed

with those who took up the craft because it is considered to be disgraceful.

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4. 3 Occupational Identities in Yem Society

One of the myths about the origin of artisans in Yem indicates that the artisans migrated

into the region from the north, with a dominant group who conquered the southern highlands

(Getachew 1995). The dominant group came with knowledge of state and hierarchy and they

brought their artisans with them (Haberland 1984; Lange 1982). This migration model affected

the artisans because they were considered to be foreigners and this status deprived them of the

right to land.

The marginalization of the artisans in Yem is partly manifested in their settlement

patterns. For instance, the fuga often settle on rugged land and on forest margins without mixing

with the mainstream Yem. One exception is the Yifro who do settle with the mainstream Yem

(Fulle 2003), but with whom they do not share equal access to resources.

Fuga women make pottery, while the men practice agriculture, tanning and sometimes

hunting. In contrast to the Oromo society where potters’ husbands are blacksmiths, husbands of

the fuga are not blacksmiths. The fuga are despised because they are believed to eat wild animals

(e.g., porcupines and monkeys) and carrion, which other members of society consider to be

unclean. Tanners work with skin and they were reported to eat the pieces that they scrape from

the skins they process, which is perceived as a violation of accepted social practice. Tanners

were also reported to live near streams because their work required ready access to water

Fuga are strictly forbidden from marrying the mainstream Yem. The latter perceive the

fuga as kofa (evil-eyed) (i.e., a person who is believed to possess malicious eyes that can cause

harm or injury to others) and for this reason the Yem avoid any social interaction with the fuga

except when buying their pottery vessels. The fuga also believe that some of the mainstream

Yem are evil-eyed, able to harm them and their pots. To protect them from such danger, the fuga

49
usually wear a metal bracelet (Getachew 1995; Pankhurst 1999, 2003; Pankhurst and Freeman

2003).

The mainstream Yem and fuga consider contact with one another as polluting. The two

groups claim that their relatives would die if a marriage took place between them. Moreover,

informal sexual interaction between fuga and mainstream Yem is strictly forbidden. These

actions are believed to trespass the rules of nature that would disappoint the creator. As a result,

it is reported that a fuga man, who has sexual intercourse with a non-fuga woman, is obliged to

sacrifice a goat to his deity for purification, and a non-fuga Yem man, who has had sexual

intercourse with a fuga woman, is required to sacrifice an ox or a cow for purification (Fulle

2003).

Fuga perform a ritual prayer to ensure the successful production of pottery vessels. It is

reported that every year in the spring, all married fuga women sacrifice a cup-shaped vessel,

known as samsamo. They believe that the sacrifice to the deity will ensure their success in

pottery-making. If they fail to carry out the sacrifice, their pots are believed to break during

firing or their vessels will not sell. The potters also believe that their pottery is susceptible to the

evil eye (kofa) and that they should make the sacrifice to their deity more regularly. The sacrifice

is held in spring after the dark summer rain has passed and when intensive pottery-making

begins. This is the time when the deity is believed to expect sacrifices from its followers. In

addition, the potters try to hide the firing process, a most sensitive stage of pottery-making, by

doing the firing in the evening (Fulle 2003; Lewis 1966). In interviews, fuga potters stated that

the firing stage is critical because it is a stage at which 'blood becomes a child.' They

symbolically associate this stage with childbirth. As among the Oromo of the southwestern

Ethiopian highlands (see e.g., Wayessa 2010, 2011b), the Yem believe that a newly born child is

50
susceptible and cannot survive the eyes of outsiders. As a result, pots behave like babies in the

presence of strangers and must be treated similarly.

4. 4 Occupational Identities in Dawro Society

The same social hierarchy and practices of marginalization of potters reported for the

other two groups investigated were observed among the Dawro. Like the Yem, one theory

supports the notion that, among the Dawro, the artisans are immigrants from northern Ethiopia

who came along with the ideology of state and hierarchy (Behailu 1997).

Several factors control social relationships in Dawro society (Abebe and Dea 2003).

There are five social classes among the Dawro: the malla (citizens, farmers, and rulers), the

wogatche (iron forgers), the degelle (tanners), the mana (potters) and the manja (charcoal-

makers, forest users, hunters). In Dawro society, social identities are associated with

occupational tasks and are still taken as basic controlling principles for daily interaction in

several socio-cultural fields, such as economy, marriage, ritual practices and residential location

(Haaland et al. 2004a, 2004b).

The top of the Dawro social hierarchy is the malla class, which constitutes farmers and

leaders. Members of the malla class are socially legitimate holders of land and they have the

social capacity to order members of other social classes to provide free labor for their farm or to

supply them with crafts. The second highest social group is the wogatche, the iron forgers.

Members of this class are in charge of ritual practices in the Dawro society. The third highest

social class is that of the degelle, the tanners, whose hide-working members are despised for the

reasons that they make hides of dead animals and are polluted because they are believed to eat

flesh scraped from these hides. The mana, the potters, are also considered to be polluters who are

51
believed to be cursed by the mother earth deity. They are reported to be evil-eyed, capable of

endangering the innocent ones. According to Dawro myth, the mana came out of a gourd with

other Dawro clans (Behailu 1997; Pankhurst 1999).

At the bottom of the social hierarchy is the manja group. Oral traditions of the society

show that the manja hunters migrated to Dawro from the north (Behailu 1997). They occupy the

outskirts of settlements considered by other residents to be susceptible to wild animals. The

manja continue a tradition of skilled hunting using traps, nets, and spears. They are also skilled

tree climbers and the main suppliers of firewood and charcoal to the surrounding towns. In the

past, the manja subsisted mainly on wild game, including monkeys, porcupines and pigs. More

recently, the government put restrictions on hunting. Today, the manja rely mainly on

agriculture. Even after farming was established, the Dawro continued a wide range of food

procurement and production practices. Manja can still be observed collecting edible wild plants,

including wild yams and fruits of Syzygium guineense.

In Dawro society, marginalization of minorities is regulated by social control

mechanisms known as pila, tuna and gomia. Pila are social rules that determine the position of a

person by their social roles and food ways. In this manner, each social group has its own peculiar

food avoidances and other cultural practices. It also demarcates the domain from which a person

can choose marriage partners. More importantly, pila involves banning certain forms of

interaction and exchange of goods between social groups and, most particularly, between the

manja and mana social categories (Abebe and Dea 2003; Orent 1969, 1970a, 1970b; Pankhurst

1999).

Tuna refers to a concept of violating social rules and the fact that a violator should clear

the transgressions by undertaking purification ceremonies. For instance, if a malla has sexual

52
intercourse with a woman from a minority group, he is required to perform purification rituals in

order to avoid the danger of the supernatural as well as social sanctions. If a manja or mana

enters the house of a mala ritual leader, it breaches the social rule and the home should be

purified. If a person failed to undertake the purification ritual, the individual would experience

gomia (suffering) in the form of sickness, starvation or even death. These social rules maintain

deeply rooted rifts among the social classes (Dea 1998; Freeman and Pankhurst 2003; Petros

2003a, 2003b).

Food prohibition is one manifestation of this rift. For example, the manja and degala do

not eat sheep and chicken; however, sheep and chicken are the most favored food for the farming

majority mala. Furthermore, the manja and the dengala do not perform female circumcision,

which is common among the mala (Dea 1998; Freeman and Pankhurst 2003; Petros 2003a,

2003b). The different food preferences of artisans and mainstream groups affect daily social

interaction among members of the groups.

The artisans’ homesteads are located in a low-lying part on the outskirts of the main

village. In the past, artisans were not allowed to own land and livestock. It was claimed that they

were dependent on the chief for their food and, in return, had to provide objects needed for

agriculture and for warfare and special spears for royal inaugurations of chiefs. The settlement of

the artisan class in low-lying separate quarters is also observed among the Oromo and the Yem

societies (Abebe and Dea 2003; Tekle 2005; Yoshida 2008). In general, as in the Oromo and

Yem ethnic groups, the major social practices that reinforce marginalization of the artisans in

Dawro society are land alienation that limit artisan access to some resources and the notion that

artisans eat polluted animals ( see also Lyons 2014; Van Beek 1982, 1992). In daily interaction,

53
the different social groups, including the potter social group, reproduce these unequal social

relationships through avoidance behaviors and ideological perceptions that artisans are evil-eyed.

Table 4.1 Comparison of social features of artisans in three ethno-linguistic groups. Note that the
Oromo oral tradition indicates that the artisans who had a prestigious social status in society lost
this status because they were cursed by Waaqa because they failed to follow his order. The Yem
and Dawro traditions show that the artisans are settlers who migrated to the region from
elsewhere. Note that although intermarriage is not acceptable in their society, it does occur
between artisans and mainstream people in Oromo society.

Variables Oromo artisans Yem artisans Dawro artisans

Language Oromo Yem & Oromo Dawro & Oromo
Myth of origin Cursed by Waaqa Migration Migration
Marriage in general “Flexible” Restricted Restricted
endogamy endogamy endogamy
Inter-ethnic group marriage Not allowed Not allowed Not allowed
between marginalized
categories
Intra-ethnic group marriage Allowed Allowed Allowed
between marginalized
categories
Intra-ethnic group marriage Not allowed Not allowed Not allowed
between the marginalized and
mainstream categories
Social status Marginal Marginal Marginal
Social mobility across class Possible Not possible Not possible
Land ownership rights Not allowed Not allowed Not allowed

54
5 Summary

Pottery-making groups are despised by the Oromo, the Yem and Dawro ethno-linguistic

groups. In Oromo society, the artisans’ access to land and land ownership was intended to keep

them subordinate as land was an important political and social asset. Similarly, in Yem and

Dawro societies, artisans are held in contempt by the mainstream group because they are alleged

to eat unclean food, a strategy to exclude them from having equal access to common resources,

including land, and social privileges, including community leadership. For example, the mana

group of Dawro are forbidden by social rules and regulations to eat certain foods (e.g., sheep and

chicken), which are very important among the mainstream members of society. As a result, the

relationships between people and objects, including differences in the perceptions of

foods/cuisines that are embodied, affect the relationship between peoples of different social

categories (see Barthelme 1985; Lyons 2014; Robb 2005; Sillar 1996; 2004, 2009).

The social interaction between artisans from different ethno-linguistic backgrounds is

limited in southwestern Ethiopia (see Table 5.1). Potters from Oromo, Yem and Dawro reported

that marriage occurs only within their respective ethnic group. Oromo potters usually marry

Oromo blacksmiths, whereas Yem and Dawro potters marry Yem and Dawro tanners,

respectively.

The marginalization of artisan groups and the limitation of their marriage partnership

within their respective ethnic group is an important research avenue for the ethnoarchaeology of

social identity in the study area. For example, potters of a given ethnic group incorporate the

norms and values of their respective society in their pottery technology. Since inter-ethnic

marriage is limited and that the learning network is contained within kin groups, investigation of

55
their technology would facilitate an understanding of the history of the artisans, in particular, and

the ethnic groups with which they are affiliated in general (see also David et al. 1988; Gosselain

2000; LaViolette 2000; MacEachern 1998). In the next chapter, agency of pottery and its

material manifestations are examined.

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 Chapter Five: Agency of pottery objects and functional repertoire of pots in Wallaga

5. 1 Introduction

Pottery technology as a social practice, is associated with other areas of production

activities including processing cereal grains for baking bread and tubers for steaming. The skills

and vocabulary used in other production activities are transferred and used in pottery-making. In

this situation, pottery technology cannot be singled out from the rest of the social practices and

assumed to be framed by performance requirements that tend to be universal in nature. During

pottery production, potters' technological choices are determined by other social practices rather

than solely environmental factors. For this reason, pottery technology is the result of complex

relationships among materials, and between materials and people. As a result, it is misleading to

polarize the “world of materials on the one hand and culture on the other, with the former acted

upon by the latter” (Knappet 2014: 4702).

Technology connects people and the objects that they manufacture symbolically and

literally (Dobres 2000). Many researchers have demonstrated that people’s social identities are

entangled with the objects that they produce and consume (e.g., Barrett 2012; Dobres 2000; Gell

1998; Gkiasta 2011; Knappett 2012; Lyons 2014; Miller 1998, 2007; Olsen 2003, 2012; Robb

2005; Sillar 1996, 2004, 2009; Witmore 2007). In Ethiopia, the social identity of potters and

their treatment within their community is based in how their occupation is socially perceived.

Potters transform raw materials from a natural state into a cultural object (David et

al.1988). In the course of production, consumption and discard, pottery comes to embody social

meaning. In the course of daily practice, the meanings embodied in pots are actively engaged in

social interactions and interactions between people and pots (see Sillar 1996, 2004, 2009;
57
Gosden 2005). Presented in this chapter are the symbolic meanings and functional repertoire of

the pottery produced and used by the Wallaga Oromo.

5. 2 Agency of pots

In Wallaga, pottery is more than a functional object. Pottery is perceived to have agency

in terms of its capacity to embody spirits and certain deities, and in its need for specific types of

human behaviors. For example, pottery is important in human-human social interactions in

addition to their functional uses in cuisine. In some interactions between pots and people, the

boundaries between people and pots become blurred.

Field participants in Wallaga claim that in Oromo traditions people are formed from clay,

and pots are perceived and treated as persons. The stages of pottery production are also

associated with the stages humans pass through in their lifetime. Pots are also active

intermediaries in human-human and human-deity ritual interactions. Pots are essential entities in

Oromo society and Oromo myths of origin. One version of the myth traces Oromo origins back

to a person known as Umamama. According to this myth, the creator, Waaqa, raised Uumama

from clay. Just after his creation, Umamama looked around but found no one. Waaqa was

concerned about Uumama’s situation and he ordered Uumama to prepare a female figurine from

clay and to perform a ritual called raqoo (sacrificing an animal by shedding blood) for the

figurine. As he was ordered, Uumama performed the raqoo on the clay figurine, which

transformed the figurine into a woman who Uumama named Uumee. They made love and

produced children, one of whom was a girl named Ullukee. Ullukee wanted to have a husband to

bear children, but all of the men were her brothers. Realizing her worries, Ullukee was advised to

pray to Waaqa to give her children through his miraculous interference. Ullukee prayed as she

58
was ordered and she gave birth to nine children from the spirit of Waaqa, who are collectively

called the Salgan Boranaa.

Figure 5. 1 Pottery anatomy in Wallaga.

Uumama was not yet satisfied with what he had, so he again presented his concerns to

Waaqa through prayer. Waaqa had him prepare 30 clay figurines. Because Uumama was so

greedy, he prepared 60 figurines. Waaqa knew all this and asked Uumama how many figurines

he molded. Uumama lied, claiming that he had formed only 30, in accordance with the order

Waaqa had given him. Although Waaqa was not happy with the disobedience of Uumama, he

ordered 29 of the figures to be humans and one to be a horse for Uumama. Waaqa ordered the 30

figurines that Uumama had hidden from him to become other creatures including insects and

wild beasts.

59
 The relationship between the Oromo myth of origin and ceramics enables us to

understand the fact that pottery objects are deeply rooted in the worldview of Oromo society.

Because pottery objects are associated with human beings, pots are described like people and

elements are named for parts of the human body: teessuu (seat), garaa (stomach), waist (mudhii),

moorma (neck), afaan (mouth), hidhii (lip/rim) and gurra (ear) (Figure 5.1). The close

association between human anatomy and pottery morphology is also recognized in many African

societies and elsewhere (see David et al 1988; Gosselain 1999).

Pottery is also symbolically and technologically likened to stages of human life, and is

treated accordingly. For instance, Wallaga Oromo potters strictly follow all the steps in drying

wet vessels to the leather-hard stage because the pots are likened to a newborn baby. Failure to

follow these steps risks the ‘survival’ of the pots. For instance, exposing a wet pot to direct sun is

equated with exposing a naked baby to the high heat of the sun that people claim causes skin

eruptions.

Furthermore, it is reported that eyes of strangers (orma) are perceived to be powerful and

can harm both babies and wet pots. For this reason, children are not shown to strangers.

Similarly, durjii (all stages of pottery-making prior to firing) must be protected from passersby

because their eyes will break wet vessels or vessels in the fabrication stage. A ‘stranger’ in this

context refers to anybody who is not a member of the potter’s family. Even a potter from one

village can be considered as a ‘stranger’ in another pottery-making village. Furthermore, potters

from the same village, but from different ethnic backgrounds, can be perceived as strangers. If a

stanger views wet pots, then the stranger is asked to spit on the ware and say “haa oofkalu,”

which means “let it be spared from eyes.” If a person is not familiar with the tradition

surrounding pottery-making, the potter tells him/her to say, ‘ha oofkalu jedhi durjiin ija hin

60
baatu,” which means “say let it be spared from eyes for a ware cannot survive eyes” (Wayessa

2010, 2011). Pots broken by a stranger’s eyes are deemed equivalent to persons who are

murdered.

In Oromo society, because pots are conceived of as human beings, potters pay due

attention to fabrication practices that affect vessel quality and durability. The three ingredients of

pottery vessels are suphee (clay), qiraacoo (grog) and ciraacha (sand), these have metaphoric

meanings in the society. In the society’s tradition, Waaqa created the first person from clay and,

hence, making pots is a metaphor to create a person. A person maintains his lineage through

marriage that involves the union of a man and a woman. Grog, pulverized pottery or baked clay,

added to clay for tempering purposes, is reported to maintain the continuity of a lineage by

mixing parts of old pots to form a new pot. In Oromo myth, sand is associated with human

populations, so adding sand to clay signifies growth in the total population of the lineage.

More importantly, making a good quality pot is a means of accumulating and maintaining

social recognition in society. In a household, making and selling pots gives a woman the

economic freedom to manage and allocate the income earned from pottery sales. After

combining appropriate amounts of the three ingredients (clay, sand and grog) the potter prepares

the paste for fabrication. Preparing ingredients is associated with preparing dough for bread,

whereby the grog is considered as yeast that facilitates fermentation. In Oromo society, a woman

keeps a small proportion of bread dough to use as yeast (raaciitii) for the next loaf, which

sustains continuity in the dough and linked with continuity, of her lineage. Potters use a variety

of fabrication techniques to form pottery vessels that are associated with baking bread. More

important, the same terminologies are used in forming pots and baking bread among Oromo

potters in Wallaga.

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 In this society, pottery fabrication using balls of clay is associated with social cohesion.

In particular, waciitii (bowl) is shaped from many pinches of clay and every pot, in its turn, is

made of several individual parts like a social group (Bartels 1983; Wayessa 2011). In preparing

buna qalaa, the split coffee beans are added to the waciitii and then mixed with melted butter.

The buna qalaa is served often in the same waciitii and all participants eat together. Having buna

qalaa from the same waciitii is also a material demonstration of social cohesion. The tears of

Waaqa (coffee) cleanse the pot, which is described as a person (see Chapter Seven). In Oromo

society, traditional religious cleansing results in blessings from Waaqa that manifest in fertility,

peace, prosperity and generosity.

Some beauty treatments observed on the human body are similarly applied to pots,

including incised marks. To make incisions, a potter presses a pointed object on the leather-hard

surface of a pot to create a series of parallel lines. This is done commonly on the neck (moorma)

of vessels and, hence, is known as hamartii (necklace). The tumaa (tattooing) that is commonly

applied on the neck of Oromo women is also incised on the neck of pots, especially water jars

that is linked to women. The tattoo pattern on the neck of water vessels is known as the vessels’

tumaa.

In Oromo society a man is circumcised at the age of 40, after completing the first five

gadaa cycles (Raaba Doorii) and as a rite of passage in joining the sixth gadaa cycle (Gadaa)

(see Chapter Four). When a man joins the sixth gadaa grade, he is allowed to take on social and

political responsibilities, including the right to be circumcised and to marry. In Oromo culture,

the foreskin is removed from the penis and is placed under the base of a water jar filled with

water. Water jars, which is associated with women, are believed to heal the male organ.

According to Oromo proscribed practice, uncircumcised males should never have sexual

62
relationships with a woman. The placement of the removed foreskin underneath the water jar

means the man is officially allowed to have sex.

Premature death of a person is considered to be abnormal in Oromo society and attributed

to someone in the family who deviated from the society’s moral codes. This behavior disappoints

the guardian spirits. When this happens, the elders pray to appease the spirits and to restore

social order. In the same manner, a pot that is broken before proper usage (ergaraama) is

perceived as similar to the sudden death of a person before taking on socio-cultural

responsibilities. The person who is responsible for the pot's breakage is treated as a murderer and

they must take measures to be liberated, accordingly. In Oromo society, a person who kills

another person is expected to make a compensation payment (gumaa). The money for gumaa is

not paid from one's pocket. Rather, it is collected by the murderer from the local society. The

person who is guilty of breaking a pot is expected to pay the gumaa. In this case, he/she collects

money from the surrounding people and pays the gumaa. The ‘murderer’ holds one piece of the

broken pot to collect the money. People put money for him/her on the potsherd saying, “an

akkana lamuu si hinmudatiin,” which means “let you not encounter such kind anymore.” This

money is used to buy a pot for the replacement of the broken one (see Wayessa 2011). The

replacement is called bultuu, which means “the one who shall have a long life." In Oromo

tradition, parents give the name bultuu to a daughter who is born after the death of one of her

sisters.

Objects, including pots, are believed to have agency (see e.g., Gell 1998; Sillar 1996,

2004, 2009; Gosden 2005; 2012; Gosden and Marshall 1999; Jones 2002; Knappett 2012, 2014;

Thomas 1991, 2007). Through their perceived agency, vessels are believed to inform and

constrain the ways that they are made and used. It is a tradition in Wallaga that the water jars are

63
not used for any other purpose than storing water, not because of any functional requirement but

because of the symbolic meaning attached to these vessels. According to local participants, even

damaged water jars were rarely given other uses because it was regarded as violating the social

system that regulates the male behavior by exposing them to impure or socially unacceptable

sexual acts, including sex before completing the expected gadaa grades and being circumcised.

The following reveals additional ways in which the boundary between people and pots

are blurred. Pots undergo similar cultural treatments as they develop. Dried pots that are ready

for firing are equated with a person in the liminal state between childhood and adulthood; firing

pots is the rite that transforms pots from "childhood to adulthood." A person who makes the

transition from a youth to an adult undertakes a rite of passage known as butta, in which a sheep

or an ox is slaughtered and the initiate is anointed with the blood of the killed animal. This butta

ceremony is held at the age of 40, when a person completes his fifth gadaa cycle (Raaba

Doorii). Similarly, pots undergo a post-firing treatment known as siilessuu. One form of siilessuu

involves splashing the pot with thin soup prepared of the flour of grains of finger millet or

sorghum (see Chapter Six). Potters report that, analogous to a man completing the butta

ceremony that prepares him to take on great social and political responsibility, pots are ready to

perform their function in society after post-firing treatment (siilessuu).

Post-firing treatment has other meanings. Splashing liquid on dry red vessels is equated

with giving water to a thirsty person. It is believed that the pot then blesses the person who does

the treatment saying, “garaan kee hin gogiin,” meaning “let your stomach never go empty,” after

which the food prepared in this pot is believed to be blessed. Similarly, a thirsty person who is

given water then blesses the giver saying “jiidhi,” meaning “stay wet”, whereby wet symbolizes

fertility and prosperity.

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 Traditionally, only adult women can perform ‘post-firing treatments’ and eat the

buddeena siilettii, experimental bread baked on a new ceramic griddle. The women in the

neighborhood come together to eat the first experimental bread and sing songs that wish a long

life to the griddle. No young boys and girls are allowed to eat siilettii because it is believed that

eating such bread will make them childless. Girls are not allowed to participate in post-firing

treatments because it is believed that if they do so, they will face excessive bleeding during

circumcision. This prohibition is also linked to taking control of firing. Overheated ceramic

griddles are poor for baking. Likewise, a griddle overheated during siilessuu will need more

firewood for baking bread, which uses too much fuel. The effectiveness of a griddle in baking

bread is a mark of the reputation of the potter who shaped the griddle and the woman who uses

the griddle. The potter takes care to perform all of the taboos around pottery-making for the sake

of her dignity and for that of her customers. Thus, in this region, pottery production is associated

with social production and reproduction, including social identities and the reputations of women

as potters and cooks. These social perceptions of pots and people guide technological choices

made during pottery production and consumption. As Jones (2002:84) states “the technological

and functional properties of objects cannot be divorced from their cultural and social

significance.”

In Wallaga, potters provide customers with a 14-day warranty. The warranty is valid only

for vessels broken because of problems linked to manufacture, e.g., leaking due to cracks in

vessel walls. The customer, however, is required to pay at least half of the actual price for the

new vessel. This money is known as harka gubii, meaning ‘subsidy for her time and energy.’

The vessels that the client is given for the replacement of the broken vessels are known as furee,

meaning 'replacement.' To get this replacement, the client must demonstrate that the vessel was

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damaged because of a manufacturing defect and not from the customer’s misuse. To claim the

replacement vessel, the client takes an oath. If she claims wrongly, it is believed that her pots

will have a short use-life and may even cost the claimant her life.

Figure 5. 2 Ceramic figurines: a) represents a pregnant woman with a male fetus; and signals
society's preference for male babies; b) represents figurine with adult man’s face; c) symbolizes a
pregnant woman with a fetus in her womb. Most of the ceramic figures have rows of appliqués in
which each row has nine pellets. The nine appliqués signify the Oromo’s belief that their
primordial father, Borana, had nine children who grew to patrilineal clans (nine goosa). Each
appliqué represents one Oromo clan.

In the study area, lugs (gurra) are loaded with symbolic meanings and vessels can have

two, four, five and nine lugs. Potters state that two lugs represent a husband and wife, because

there cannot be a pot without a family, and the backbone of a family is the husband and wife.

Three lugs represent the three sunsumaa—the hearthstones—in the home, which in turn presents

the husband, wife and children of a household. In sum, the Oromo perceive the success and fate

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of pots and people as interrelated; pots and people have social interrelationships and act upon

each other in similar ways.

Four lugs represent cow teats, which is the manifestation of Waqaa’s blessing. Five lugs

represent a ceremony held on the fifth day after a mother delivers a child. On this day, women

from the surrounding area come together at the home of the woman to celebrate by preparing and

eating porridge (see Chapter Seven).

There are also varieties of other non-utilitarian ceramic objects, some of which are

reported to have agency. Although some families keep these figurines in their homes, most often

they are kept in a holy hall, the galma, which is headed by the Qaalluu and the Qaallittii. Some

of these figurines are presented by the followers of the Waqefanna to give thanks to Waaqa upon

what they perceive as the fulfillment of their wishes. Other figurines are made by local potters, as

ordered by local religious leaders (Figures 5. 2). People offer the figurines beer to satisfy and

appease the deity on behalf of the people. In short, the figurines act as intermediaries between

people and deities.

5. 3 Pottery functional categories in Wallaga

In Wallaga, forming pottery vessels is associated with creating human beings, and all

humans are believed to be created from identical clay. Different persons in a society have

different roles to play. Similarly, pots which are formed from identical paste render different

services based on their intended function as cooking pots, brewing and fermentation jars, serving

bowls, storage and transportation jars, and bread baking griddles. Presented here are functional

categories of Wallaga pottery and their implications for the study of Wallaga Oromo history.

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5. 3. 1 Cooking pots

The Wallaga Oromo have a variety of cooking pots. Cooking vessels usually have an

open mouth that has a wider body at the shoulder. The most common cooking pots in Wallaga

are stew (xuwwee hittoo), steaming (xuwwee hafeellii) and porridge pots (xuwwee marqaa). The

stew pot is used to prepare spicy stew known as hittoo, which is processed from animal and plant

products and is served with bread (buddeena) (Figures 5.3 & 5.4). Stew pots are thoroughly

washed after each batch of use and they have clean, shiny interior surfaces.

Figure 5. 3 Stew pot being used to make stew in Wallaga in June 2013.

The steaming pot (xuwwee hafeellii) is used to steam tubers. This vessel type has a

slightly restricted mouth and wider body around the shoulder. The wide shoulder helps to
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accommodate more tubers for cooking, and to close the mouth in order to fit a lid and retain heat.

Steaming pots were observed to have carbonized food crusts at the base of their interior surface.

Because the interior surface of the steaming pot is not vigorously washed after each round of

cooking, residues accumulate rapidly in the interior wall. The host community reported that users

are less concerned to wash these pots after use because tubers are washed before cooking and the

outer layer of steamed tubers are peeled off before serving (Figures 5.5 & 5.6).

Figure 5. 4 Steaming pot with accumulated residue on the interior base in Wallaga June 2013.

Depending on the occasions of use, porridge pots (xuwwee marqaa) have two forms:

regular and ritual pots. The regular porridge pot is similar to the steaming pot, but usually it has

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two handles (gurra) and they are clean because they are properly washed after each use. The

ritual porridge pots have several appliqués and are used to make porridge on special occasions,

including delivery ceremonies (see Chapter Seven). The porridge pot can be used for steaming

tubers, but the steaming pot cannot be used for making porridge because steaming is believed to

leave residues that contaminate the porridge. For this reason, once the pot is used for steaming

tubers, the pot is never used again for porridge making. Note that stew pots are too small for

steaming tubers and cooking porridge.

Figure 5. 5 a) Coffee pot, b) Dough fermentation jar. Pictures taken in Wallaga in May 2013.

5. 3. 2 Coffee pot, fermentation and brewing jars

A coffee pot (jabanaa) is used to make coffee (Figure 5.5a). The coffee pot is a handled

and spouted bottle used to pour coffee into coffee cups. Coffee pots are always black, which is

traditionally associated with the Waaqa gurraacha (black God), who is believed to provide

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people with all good things, contrary to Waaqa diima (red God), who the community perceives

as the source of all evil and human suffering. For this reason, red-fired coffee pots are darkened

by smoking them with teff straw and then their surfaces are smeared before they are used with a

black hot liquid prepared from roasted and ground coffee beans. It is likely that smearing the pot

with this oily coffee substance fills in pores in the pot fabric and improves its performance

(Skibo 1990, 2009, 2013; Skibo et al. 1989, 1997). The preparation of coffee pots is an example

of how technological choices of consumers are primarily guided by social choice, which in turn

affects vessel functionality (see Dobres 2000; Dobres and Robb 2000; Livingstone Smith 2000,

2007).

Figure 5. 6 a) Large brewing jar, b) Large jar showing accumulated residues. Pictures taken in
Wallaga in May 2013.

The dough fermentation pot (qodaa bukoo) is used to ferment dough to bake local bread

(buddeena) (Figure 5. 5b). Dough pots show signs of interior wall attrition caused by the

fermentation process. The other jar is the beer jar (huroo farso). Basically, huro is used for

making local alcoholic beverages: a thin beer (farso), a thick local beer (bordee) and mead
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(daadhi). These two pots can be distinguished in their use through residue analysis (Wayessa et

al. 2015).

Figure 5. 7 a) Bowl with leg (waciitii), b) Bowl without legs (waciitii). Pictures taken in
Wallaga in June 2013.

Beer jars are either small or large. The small size jar (huro xiqqaa) is wide-mouthed with

an average holding capacity of 100 l (liters) and is used to brew beer for a family. The large jar

(huroo guddaa) is used to brew beer on special occasions when people gather for cooperatives,

marriages, funerals and other related societal events. The larger jar can hold an average of 500 l

(Figure 5. 6). This form of brewing jar has greater longevity as compared with other jars, and

some are more than 100 years old. The long lifespan can be attributed to the fact that the vessels

are rarely moved from place to place, and users take greater care with them than other regular

pots. This is because large jars are expensive and only a few specialists make these particular

vessels.

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Figure 5. 8 a) Water jars used for both collecting and storing water, b) Storage jar used to store
filtered beer. Pictures taken in Wallaga in June 2013.

5. 3. 3 Service bowls

Serving pots are collectively known as waciitii (bowl). The small bowl is used for serving

porridge, buna qala and other liquid foods. Some waciitii have legs while others do not (Figure

5.7). Waciitii is not only used for serving food but they are a traditional unit of measurement.

Traditionally, the Oromo use waciitii safaraa (measure bowl) as a unit of measurement in

everyday bartering. To maintain its standard, the society buy the waciitii safaraa from

designated potters and, thus, a number of customers visit these potters to get this particular bowl.

Because the makers of waciitii safaraa have many clients, there is a saying "gursummaan waan

ittiin maqaa of dhoofsiistu barbaaddee waciitii safaraa dhoofti", which means "a widow who

wants to be famous makes a measure bowl."

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Figure 5. 9 Ceramic griddles in Wallaga in July 2012: a) Coffee roasting griddle, b) Thin bread
baking griddle, c) Thick bread baking griddle.

5. 3. 4 Storage and transportation pots

The other major category is the storage pot. Pottery vessels are used to store both dry and

liquid substances. In this region, there is no specific pot made for the storage of dry substances,

including cereal grains and coffee beans. Instead, people use damaged beer jars for storage

purposes. The other storage pot is the water jar (okkotee bushanii) for collecting and storing

water. The water jar (okkotee) has a highly constricted neck with a small mouth to reduce

evaporation and to prevent water loss in transport (Figure 5.8).

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5. 3. 5 Bread baking utensils

Ceramic griddles (eelee cabetaa) are used to bake thin local bread (buddena). This griddle

is flat and has a black surface created from post-firing treatment. The baking surface is shiny and

the side exposed to the fire is rough. Often the parting agents, including crushed potsherds and

chaff on the mold’s interior surface, leave their trace. The second baking griddle is eelee

cumboo, which is used to bake very thick sourdough bread known as cumboo. The difference

between eelee cumboo and eelee cabetaa is that the former tends to be thicker and oval in shape

whereas the latter is flatter and thinner. There is also a relatively small ceramic griddle known as

beddee, which is used for roasting coffee and toasting beans, peas, barley and wheat (Figure 5.9).

5. 4 Summary

This study of the Oromo Wallaga’s pottery demonstrates that pots are more than

utilitarian vessels. Pots are believed to be analogous to people and are perceived to be sentient.

This relationship of pots and people is such that it is believed that the agency of people affects

pottery and vice versa. This perceived close association between persons and pots influences the

choices potters and consumers make during production and consumption respectively.

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 Chapter Six: Pottery chaînes opératoires in the Southwestern Ethiopian Highlands

6. 1 Introduction

Chaînes opératoire is a predominant approach to archaeological and ethnoarchaeological

analysis of pottery in Africa (Gosselain 2000; Livingstone Smith 2000). Chaîne opératoire is a

compatible methodology with agency and practice theory, because it assumes that individuals are

socially knowledgeable agents whose technological choices in making or processing material

objects are primarily social choices learned as members of a social community (e.g., Dietler and

Herbich 1998; Gosselain 1992, 2000; Gosselain and Livingstone Smith 2005; Lemonnier 1992;

Lyons 2007, 2014; Mayor 2010).

The choices potters make as social agents at each stage of pottery production are guided by

the deeply rooted social practices that they have learned as a member of their community. The

potters learn pottery-making skills consciously but once learned, the practices become

unconscious and routine (see also Downey 2010; Lyons 2014). However, there are contexts in

which these choices can become conscious after they are learned. For example, potters are

conscious of choices when teaching their daughters, and also choices may be changed or resisted

in contexts where they are confronted with new social, economic, political or ideological

circumstances. Presented in this chapter are the pottery technological styles of the Oromo, Yem

and Dawro ethnolinguistic groups in the southwestern Ethiopian highlands and how each group

makes different choices that create unique material identities for each group.

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6. 2 Oromo Chaîne Opératoire

Pottery-making is in the domain of women in Oromo society. Men do not partake in

pottery-making because it is perceived to make them infertile. For this reason, males abstain

from the practice and, importantly, men’s female relatives (including wives) distance men from

the task. Potters do expose their daughters to the skill from an early age and, on average, girls

take up pottery-making by the age of seven. The potters teach their daughters ceramic

manufacturing through actual hands-on instruction, proverbs and storytelling.

The hands-on instruction of young potters occurs in all stages of production including

collecting firewood for firing pots, going to the mining sites with their mothers, participating in

clay preparation and molding of simple pots (Figures 6.1 & 6.2). The daughters share the same

tools with their mothers (e.g., cobbles for scraping, knives for trimming, gourd fragments for

smoothing vessel surfaces). More recently, with the establishment of elementary schools in rural

areas, potters tell their daughters to make pots in order to generate income to purchase school

supplies.

The proverbs and storytelling revolve around the reputation of women who have the

skills to make pots and who are then compared to the non-skilled women who lack this

knowledge. Girls are told that pottery-making is their inheritance from their ancestors and should

be passed to future generations. The storytelling also gives information and criteria about how to

choose marriage partners in the future. One criterion is that the daughter should marry into a

potter family because it is only in this situation that she can keep the skill and pass it to the next

generation. Potters claim that early training is necessary for a successful future life and often

reiterate one of the Oromo proverbs, “durbaaf jiboota garaa gogaa leenjiisu,” which literally

77
means “girls and yearling bulls are trained when their stomachs are empty,” where ‘empty

stomach’ is a metaphor for “youth” in Oromo society.

Figure 6. 1 A potter instructing her daughter on how to finish her pot in Wallaga in June 2013.

Ironically, the potters never tell their daughters that pottery-making is despised and that

they have low status in society. When potters were asked in interviews why they do not tell their

daughters about the potters’ stigma, one of the Oromo potters reported that “maaltu bekaa kunis

darbuu dandaa'a akka hursaa galaanaa,” which means, “who knows this situation may pass

away as a summer flood.” She stated that their ancestors were not stigmatized and that the

present-day social segregation is a more recent phenomenon. Based on the oral information
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collected in Wallaga, Bartles (1983) also states that, in the past, artisans in Wallaga took pride in

their work and even looked down on the other Oromo people. Because their feelings of

superiority violated rules and regulations, elders were annoyed with them and a leader, by the

name Mako Bili who was reported to rule between 1589 and 1618, formulated rules that

degraded their status (see also Hassan 1990).

Figure 6. 2 Children scraping pots fabricated by their mother after having finished forming their
own vessels in Wallaga in June 2013.

One Oromo potter interviewed reported that artisan ancestors were more privileged

because they made tools that were important in the reproduction of Oromo society. For example,

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this same potter noted that knives (aalbe) used to cut the umbilical cord were made by artisans,

as were the pots that women used to make porridge for the new mother to recover from delivery.

The potters complained that the introduction of modern blades and other foreign products,

including metallic dishes and plastic jerry cans, has eroded their role in society. When the

narrative of mainstream social categories was sought, one participant reported that, “dhugaa

dubbachuuf yoo ta'e jarri jaboo turaan, yeroo ciniinsuu ta'e yeroo dhanna qabaa isanumattii

fiinna ture,” which means, “to speak the truth these guys [the artisans] were strong, we all used

to rush to them on the occasion of either laboring or circumcision.”

This potter narrative falls within the popular perception that cooking food in pottery

objects can influence human society by affecting the health of mother and offspring. According

to this theory, cooking makes foods accessible to the weak teeth of mothers and infants

(Braun1983; Buikstra et al. 1986; Cook and Buikstra 1979; Curtis 2003; Wrangham 2009). This

may have reduced both mother and infant mortality rates, by transforming plant and animal

foods into nutrient-dense, soft, and digestible forms, as is argued elsewhere (Haaland 1992,

1997; Handwerker 1983). In addition, the higher energy value of cooked food should have

promoted a faster growth rate for the offspring by increasing the availability of suitably

nutritious and safe foods, cooking should facilitate weaning and shorten the duration of

lactational amenorrhea (Curtis 2003; Haaland 1992; Wrangham 2009).

The other learning network for pottery is through marriage. Although most potters marry

into other potter families, some non-potter women marry into potter families. Some of these

women learn pottery-making to integrate with their new community; if such women refuse to

make pots, then they are isolated from the artisan community. The newly married woman learns

pottery-making from her husband’s family and usually she makes pots in the same way as her

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teachers (e.g., the women in her husband’s family). The other learning system is through

guddiffacha (adoption), in which a mainstream child is adopted by the artisan family and learns

pottery-making as part of the socialization process into their new cultural milieu.

Figure 6. 3 This figure shows the variety of clay types that the potters recognize, based on clay
quality. a) A dark blue clay (suphee) is the best quality. It usually occurs naturally with fine
textured sand. b) Brown clay (boorrajjii) is the second in quality, and c) mud (dhoqqeee) that is
rarely used but is mixed with the dark blue clay using a ratio of one part mud: three parts blue
clay. The potters reported that mixing the two clay types enhances its workability because the
mud tends to be fragile and lacks elasticity. Pictures taken in June 2013.

Wallaga artisans once lived in villages separate from mainstream members of society, but

following the Derg government’s resettlement policies in the1980s, the former settlement pattern

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was disrupted, enabling potters and non-potters to live in the same villages. Through daily

interaction in the new villages, some non-potting families learned pottery-making from the

potters and have begun to make pottery to generate income. The unmarried non-artisan women

who took up pottery-making chose marriage partners from the artisan community, because men

from the mainstream group reportedly despised them. In interviews with potters, it is also

reported that non-artisan men are less likely to marry into pottery-making families because it is

widely believed that if they marry a potter, they will have a short lifespan.

6. 2. 1 Clay selection

The Oromo potters determine quality of clay by its color, texture and location where it

appears as a raw material. Clay with a dark blue color is reported to be better in quality

(Figure 6.3). Potters identify the texture size by pressing a pea-sized piece of clay between their

fingers. The potters state that this clay type develops in waterlogged areas and it is mined in a

wet state. It is also important to note that although the same quality of clay can be found in other

sites, potters always go to the mining sites that they were taught to use from their families and

that have been used by their families for generations.

6. 2. 2 Clay source accessibility

Clay is a widespread resource in southwestern Ethiopia. It occurs along riverbanks and

low-lying marshy areas. However, both natural and cultural factors affect the potters’

accessibility to clays in this region. One natural factor affecting clay accessibility is the heavy

summer rain that overruns the mining sites and pollutes the clay source by depositing non-clay

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sediment in the mining pits. Clay access is also impeded by the rugged landscape that hinders

free movement and dense forest coverage with its underground roots that impede clay mining.

The political factor that affects clay accessibility for the potters is the Ethiopian

government land policy. In the Ethiopian feudal system (i.e., where lands were held by

landlords), potters occupied plots given to them by landlords and they had access to clay

resources situated in their respective lands. In return, the potters were expected to supply their

lords with utensils, free of charge. In addition, the potters were required to provide the lords free

corvée labor on special occasions, including weddings, marriages and funerals.

Figure 6. 4 Mining pit filled with acacia thorns by the property owner to obstruct clay-mining
activity in Wallaga in April 2013.

Wallaga potters no longer have free access to clay sources and they are harassed and

intimidated; the landowners confiscate sometimes illicitly mined clay. Potters try to avoid such

encounters by going to the mining sites only when they believe that the landowners are not

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around. The property owners block any attempts to mine clay during their absence in the field by

filling mining pits with poisonous thorns (Figure 6.4). Potters mine clay with their bare hands

and the thorns often hurt them. Usually a potter prays to the mining site before her journey,

reciting, “Ya Waaq qorattii dhoqqeee kessaa isa itu hin argiin nama miidhuu na oolchi,” which

means “Oh God! Shield me from the thorns concealed in a mud that hurts unnoticeably.” Potters

also reported that the property owners add salt to the mining site, which is believed to pollute the

clay and cause pots to crack when drying and firing.

Figure 6. 5 Senior potters are accompanied by their daughters in Wallaga in June 2013.

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6. 2 .3 Mining clay

In Wallaga, clay is mined from riverbanks and low-lying marshy areas in a wet state.

Individual potters or neighbors mine the clay, as needed, for each batch of pottery-making, or

several families may go together to the mining site (laga suphee). To obtain clay, potters dig

through the surface soil until they discover the high quality clay (which is usually waterlogged),

remove the water, and mine the clay (Figure 6.5). The potters in Wallaga associate mining clay

with harvesting tubers. Sillar (1996) has also reported the conceptual resemblances between

mineral exploitation and harvesting potatoes among the Andean societies.

Among the Oromo potters, large amounts of clay are not kept on hand because clay is

often difficult to store in quantity and can become contaminated with soil, grain, and animal

dung. Normally, clay is stored in potters’ compounds and is left for two to three days to ferment,

similar to bread dough that is kept for hours in a fermentation pot. Processing the clay to make it

suitable for use usually requires removing material from the clay and/or adding material to it.

The potters in the region practice both procedures. Potters remove natural inclusions, such as

leaves, rootlets and larger grains of sand, at mining sites when they process the clay. This

practice is associated with the process of winnowing cereal grains to remove impurities. Women

use axes and hoes in both agriculture and clay mining and often common etymologies are used to

describe both activities. As a result, pottery technological practice is embedded within other

technological practices women use in food production and processing (see also Arthur 2014;

Haaland 2007; Lyons 2009, 2014; Sillar 1996; Stahl 2014).

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6. 2. 4 Transporting mined clay

In the southwestern highlands, potters and their daughters transport clay from the mine to

the manufacturing site (Figure 6.6). Traditionally, clay is packed as a large ball wrapped in broad

leaves such as the leaves of enset. Today, potters use the same bags to carry clay that are also

used to transport grain from the threshing site to home. Typically, an adult potter between 25 and

50 years of age can transport up to 50kg of clay. The younger potters transport smaller amounts

of clay.

Figure 6. 6 Mined clay being prepared for transport in Waalaga in July 2013.

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6 .2. 5 Temper

Clay is rarely used without modification because it is extremely fine or course-grained in

texture. Potters interviewed reported that too fine of a clay texture is not desired because vessels

shaped from this clay shrink during drying and firing. In addition, too coarsely grained a texture

is not favored because it is less elastic and hard to shape. As a result, the potters need to add

modifiers to make the raw material suitable to fabricate vessels. The potters see this

synonymously with preparation of bread dough. To make the right bread dough, a woman is

required to mix fresh dough with a small proportion of fermented dough (raacitii) to accelerate

the fermentation process. Similarly, the grog added to clay as temper helps to make the desired

pottery vessels.

Figure 6. 7 Potter grinding potsherds to make temper in Wallaga in July 2013.

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 Modifiers used by the Oromo potters include grog, fired raw clay and sand. Grog is

produced from pots that break while in use or during firing. These pottery fragments are then

ground into powder and used as temper. The ado also obtains damaged pots from their clients to

make grog. The value of these broken pots depends upon the potters’ situation. If the potter does

not have a hoard of potsherds at home, then she must buy broken pots at an elevated price. Grog

is produced by crushing sherds using a grinding stone, and the resulting powder is mixed with

clay to make a paste (Figure 6.7).

Recently, potters in the Seqa village of Wallaga began to use a batch of dried and fired

raw clay for tempering, which they reported to be an uncommon practice in the past. The potters

claimed that they began to use fired clay as temper because of the social friction that occurred

between the artisans of Seqa and the non-artisan villagers in Warra Gigsa. Warra Gigsa was the

village where potters obtained their main source of grog, and the social tensions affected their

access to damaged pots. The cause of the friction was the result of sons of the artisans marrying

daughters of the non-artisan group without consent of the latter’s parents. The non-artisan

parents condemned this marriage, believing that their daughters were brainwashed into marrying

such unacceptable partners. In short, breaking the social structures of marriage between potters

and non-potters created a rift that led to potters modifying their technological choice of temper.

Now they must fire clay to produce their own grog, a new technique, consciously made to

produce a similar temper.

The other temper used by the Oromo potters is sand obtained from the surrounding river

courses where it is deposited by running water. The potters associate the texture size of sand

temper with the texture of flour prepared for bread dough. Potters stated that too fine and too

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coarse flour used in bread dough makes the bread stick to the griddle during baking. Dough

made from these flours will not produce ‘eyes’ (the holes in the bread that are desired in injera).

6. 2. 6 Paste Preparation

Among the Oromo of Wallaga mined clay is kept covered with green leaves for two to

three days to ferment. The leaves are believed to keep the clay moist, to protect it from dirty

substances and to facilitate fermentation. Potters claim that fermentation helps to uniformly

distribute clay particles, increase clay workability and limit risk of the pots cracking during

drying and firing. The potters prepare the clay in a similar manner to the way that they prepare

dough for bread, and use the same vocabularies for both practices. Since baking good-quality

bread is the mark of a good wife, a woman prepares the bread dough, adding appropriate

amounts of all required ingredients and then allows it to be well fermented. Similarly, the

making of a good quality pot makes a potter respected, so she follows all of the required steps in

preparation and forming of her vessels.

Figure 6. 8 A potter mixing grog temper with clay using her hands in Wallaga in July 2013.

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 Mined clay is processed first by removing natural inclusions, such as leaves and rootlets.

When the clay is wet enough, the potters add only small amounts of water to make the clay

wetter for further processing. Then temper is added to make the clay pliable for pottery-making

(Figure 6.8). After adding the temper, the paste is wedged by pushing the paste with the hands

when preparing small batches, or by trampling it with the feet when preparing larger quantities.

Figure 6. 9 Griddle is being formed on a mold supported by a basket woven from bamboo in
Wallaga in June 2013.

6. 2. 7 Fabrication Practices

The selection and preparation of suitable paste is followed by vessel fabrication.

Fabrication techniques are aspects of the chaîne opératoire that are most resistant to change

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(Gosselain 1999; Livingstone Smith and Van der Veken 2009, 2010; Van der Leeuw 1993).

Fabrication practices potentially leave a signature that may help archaeologists decipher

manufacturing techniques and pottery producing communities, even from discarded sherds

(Ashley 2010; Livingstone Smith and Van der Veken 2010; Manning 2011; Manning et al. 2010;

Mayor 2010). The Wallaga Oromo potters practice three shaping techniques: 1) molding, 2)

drawing of a lump and 3) coiling. Different shaping techniques are used for griddles and bowls.

Ceramic griddles (eelee) are plates used for baking local bread and roasting coffee.

Figure 6. 10 A potter forming a clay ball into a concave shape in Wallaga in July 2013.

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 Griddles are shaped using a concave mold that is similar to the actual griddle, but thicker.

In this case, potters first prepare a ball of clay and place the ball on clean level ground, usually in

their backyard. Because the mold could break when forming a vessel, a potter supports the mold

by placing it in a concave-shaped basket. They then flatten the ball of paste by pressing it with

their foot. Afterwards, the flattened clay is placed on the mold where it is finished. This mold is

also used to turn the griddle during molding so that the potter can remain stationary. The mold is

carefully designed to taper so that the griddle can be removed easily. Fine ash or grog is dusted

on the mold’s interior surface to prevent the clay from sticking. These parting agents leave

behind recognizable traces on the outer surface of the vessels, visually distinguishing the

molding technique from other forms of vessel fashioning (Figures 6.9- 6.12).

Figure 6. 11 The wall of pot being built up by drawing of a lump in Wallaga in July 2013.
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 Drawing of a lump and molding, the other common shaping techniques in Wallaga, are

used to form pots, including water jars, stew and boiling pots. In this case, potters first prepare a

larger ball of clay and flatten it by hand or with their leg on the ground. Then the potter folds the

flat clay and compresses it against a rock or wooden object that gives the clay a concave shape.

This concave-shaped lump of clay is placed in a concave mold. The potter pulls up the vessel

walls and presses with her right hand from inside the vessel against the left hand that supports

the exterior wall. This continues until the vessel takes on the desired size, shape and wall

thickness. In case there is insufficient clay in the initial clay ball, the potter adds smaller balls of

clay to build up the wall. The vessel rim is finished by adding coil segments. In Wallaga, potters

stated that coiling is used only to finish and to decorate a pot.

Figure 6. 12 A potter trimming the surface of a pot with a knife at the leather-hard stage May in
Wallaga in July 2013.
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 Once the body is finished, the lugs (gurra) are added. A lug is formed by adding a ball of

clay and pressing it to the upper body of the pot. The rim of the pot is made by adding a small

clay coil to the lip of the pot, crushing the coil with the fingers and smoothing it with the hand

and a piece of calabash. In Wallaga, rim thinness varies from vessel to vessel. The rim size is

influenced both by the size and function of the pots, whereby larger pots will have thicker rims,

as will pots that need lids, to help the rim fit the lid.

Figure 6. 13 Pots undergoing pre-firing heat treatment in Wallaga in May 2013.

In Wallaga, potters between the age of 50 and 60 tend to make bigger pots than do other

potters. Younger potters prepare the older potters’ clay for them under the older potters’

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instructions. Older potters choose to make bigger pots because of customer demand; there is no

cost to transport these pots to market centers because clients come to their homes to buy them.

Young and middle-aged potters rarely make bigger pots because they are time-consuming,

preferring instead to make small- and medium-sized pots that require less time and energy. The

potters who are more than 60 rarely make pots and, if they do, they usually form smaller and

simpler pots, like griddles and bowls, because they do not have the strength.

6. 2. 8 Pre-firing Treatments

Among the Oromo of Wallaga, pots are subjected to burnishing, carried out when the

pots are in the leather-hard stage to make the surface regular and smooth. Burnishing also

compresses the pot surface and reduces porosity. A pebble is used to eliminate surface

irregularities by rubbing it over the vessel surface until it is polished. Potters reported that this is

done also for decorative purposes to attract customers and to make the surface stronger. The

potters also use sharp objects, including knives, to trim or to eliminate any surface irregularities

(Figure 6.13). As is the case with most stages of pottery technological practices in Wallaga,

trimming the surface of wet pots is associated with cutting rootlets from newly harvested tubers.

The implement used for both purposes is a knife and synonymous terms are used to describe both

practices (see also Sillar 1996, 2004, 2009).

6. 2. 9 Drying Vessels

The time needed for drying vessels is closely related to weather conditions, which vary

seasonally. Vessels take longer to dry in the rainy season (ganna) (May-September); however,

potters can facilitate rapid drying by pre-firing their vessels to meet market days. Pre-firing is

carried out both in rainy and dry seasons.

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6. 2. 10 Firing

Pots are pre-fired to ensure that all moisture is driven out of the clay before the final

firing begins. Potters stated that doing so reduces the chance of breakage during the actual firing

and helps vessels retain their shape. Pre-firing is usually undertaken at the firing pit located

outside of the main gate to the potter’s compound, and in a location where strangers rarely visit.

Firing usually takes place on the evening before, or early morning of market day. Potters do not

fire their vessels between noon and 2:00 pm because they believe that is the time when the

ekeraa (ancestor’s sprits) come to the village and rest. Firing pots when they are around would

disturb them, resulting in breakage. In addition, disturbing the ekeera is believed to upset the

moral order that may ignite strong flames by generating high velocity winds that risk the potter's

property, including their grass-roofed houses.

Figure 6. 14 Pots being fired in Wallaga in April 2013.

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 In Wallaga, potters do not cut down trees for firing pots. They consider it immoral to kill

a living tree to fire pots that will in turn be used to prepare food that sustains the soul. This tenet

seems to be part of the traditional Oromo environmental mores that values trees for their ritual,

economic and medical uses. The potters reported that green wood would also hold too much

moisture for firing vessels, causing them to crack. Instead, fuel for firing pots is made up of

straw from crops, as well as naturally fallen and dried wood.

Pots are fired in a small structure (godoo suphee) or near the potter’s residence in a firing

pit that is approximately 1m in diameter and 0.5 m deep (Figures 6.14 & 6. 15). The firing pit is

dug by the potter’s husband or by another close male relative, such as her father or son. Women

do not dig the pit themselves because it is symbolically related to the slaughtering of animals,

done by men only. Immediately after the pit is dug, the potter splashes finger millet or sorghum

beer (farsoo) into the pit to appease the guardian spirit (ayyaana), who is said to ensure proper

firing as well as the vessels’ longevity. The potters also bury a piece of slag from the

blacksmith’s forge at the base of the pit, because it is believed to protect vessels from witchcraft

in this phase of transformation. Pit size is determined by the number of pots to be fired in one

batch. As much as possible, potters try to prepare the pit to be efficient in firewood consumption

relative to the number of pots being fired. Additionally, Oromo potters reported that pit firing

shields the vessels from strangers' eyes, which is important because vessels undergoing firing are

susceptible to damage if exposed to this form of harm. After continuous use, the pit becomes

larger as it is deepened by the firing process and removal of the ash by the potter. When it is too

large for the potters’ needs, a new pit is dug beside the abandoned one. The abandoned pit is

filled with ashes cleaned from the new pit. Firewood is positioned at the base of the pit during

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firing. Vessels are piled into the pit and arranged by turning them so that they are placed mouth-

to-mouth.

Firewood is placed between the pots arranged in rows, and additional fuel-wood and

straw are placed on top of the vessels until the latter glow red. The time for firing depends on the

weather conditions and the dryness of the vessels. Potters reported that it takes about 30 minutes

to fire well-dried vessels, while a relatively wet vessel will be fired for at least one hour. With

experience, potters are able to determine the amount of firewood needed to fire vessels based on

size and levels of dryness. Potters also reported that during firing, vessels in the firing pit give a

crackling sound that signals a proper firing.

Figure 6. 15 Profile of firing pit. Iron slag buried at the base of the firing pit is believed to
protect the pots from witchcraft, during the phase of transformation from childhood to adulthood.

In the southwestern Ethiopia highlands, potters use different mechanisms to detect

whether vessels are properly fired or not. The most common technique is tapping the vessels

with the knuckle of their middle finger to hear the tone (Figure 6.16); a high tone signals proper

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firing. Tapping is also used in Wallaga to detect whether the vessel has any cracks on the surface

of a pot; a dull sound signifies the presence of cracks (also Rice 1987).

Figure 6. 16 A client determining whether the vessels are well fired by ringing in Dongoro,
Wallaga, in May 2012. A high pitch sound and redness are indicators of good firing.

6. 2. 11 Post-firing Treatment

Fired pots undergo post-firing treatments. The potters stated that these treatments are

intended to seal vessel surfaces by decreasing permeability, increasing vessel strength, and

making vessel surfaces' smooth. The potters believe that this process seals fine holes in vessel

walls and ensures the proper functioning of the pot. Potters or consumers can perform post-firing

treatments. Treatments vary by vessel type and involve the application of substances to both the

internal and external surfaces of the pots.

In Wallaga, distillation jars (okkotee araqii), stewing pots (xuuwwee hittoo), boiling pots

(xuuwwee hafeellii), water, brewing and storage jars are treated by splashing both interior and
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exterior walls of the vessel with a soup of boiled water and flour made of the grains of finger

millet, sorghum or teff (Figure 6.17). Different post-firing treatments (siilessuu) are applied to

pottery vessels. The post-firing treatment is intended to coat surfaces to reduce permeability and

to increase strength of the vessels. Well-fired tuber steaming pots are coated to make the surface

impermeable so as to improve performance of the vessels by reducing water loss. This involves

coating interior and exterior vessel walls with a thin soup (mooqa) prepared from flour made of

grains, especially millet and teff, chosen because they are believed to make the vessels stronger.

The substance is splashed on the inner and outer surfaces of the pots (Figure 6.17). Although this

form of post-firing surface treatment can improve cooking pot performance, potters reported that

the post-firing treatment is part of pottery production and the process is not specific to the

cooking pot. For example, water jars, beer jars and serving bowls are treated in the same manner.

Once the cooking pot is coated with the soup mixture, it is ready to steam tubers. First,

however, a woman experiments before putting the vessel into household cooking practice by

steaming a few tubers, which are then only eaten by women. Men avoid eating this batch of

tubers because society believes that eating such food disables men's reproductive capacities and

makes them sterile.

Griddles are also treated. They are placed on hearthstones over the fire and when they

become hot enough, a mixture of dry cow dung and teff straw is placed on the griddle. Firing

continues until the fire is ignited and burns the materials on the griddles. After clearing the

remaining ash from the griddle, it is rubbed with a piece of cotton cloth. In the next stage,

powdered mustard seeds, niger seed (noog), cottonseed, or beeswax is placed on the well-heated

griddle. As soon as the substance becomes hot, the woman rubs it into the griddle’s baking

surface with a piece of cloth. This is done repeatedly until the surface of the griddle becomes

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shiny black. Finally, buddena siilettii (experimental bread) is baked on the griddle to ensure that

the treatment is sufficient enough for proper baking. This practice is socially learned and

symbolic and it is not intended to achieve the optimal performance of the cooking pot, as

suggested by Schiffer and Skibo (Schiffer 1983, 1987, 1992, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2011; Schiffer

and Skibo 1987) (symbolism associated with the practice is discussed in Chapter Five).

Figure 6. 17 Potters undertaking post-firing treatment by smearing the surface of the vessel with
hot liquid prepared from cereal flour in Wallaga in May 2013.

6. 2. 12 Seasonal Variation in Pottery-making

Seasonal variation of climate in the southwestern highlands is one factor that affects the

pottery economy in the region; such variation affects agriculture, which in turn influences the

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pottery types produced. In addition, seasonal climate also influences the amount of energy

women can spend on pottery-making and the price of pots. Potters also practice some farming

and, thus, the rainy season takes time away from pottery manufacture to cultivate their gardens.

Seasonal climate change has an effect on pottery-making. In Wallaga, potters mine clay

every other day. During the rainy summer season, clay mines flood and hinder clay accessibility.

Wet conditions make it incredibly difficult for potters to bring the clay across hilltops and down

slopes. This forces potters to bring only a small amount of clay per trip and limits the number of

pots that can be produced, resulting in a pot shortage.

Heavy rainfall in the area affects potters’ efficiency by limiting clay mining, outdoor

pottery fabrication and drying activities. There is also the problem of protecting the clay from

contaminating mud, and that it takes several weeks to make pots ready for consumption. Firing is

also an expense that potters incur. Firewood is scarce, wet and does not burn properly in the

rainy season. In short, the rainy season is a difficult time for pottery-making in the study area and

it is also a period when income in rural communities is low. Therefore, although greater energy

is invested in the activity, the cost or price of pots declines during the summer rains. In the dry

season, relatively less time and energy is invested in pottery-making and the price of pots is at its

highest. This season is also when community income is high because of the harvest of cash

crops, including coffee. In spite of seasonal difficulties, Oromo potters manufacture pottery

vessels throughout the year. They respond to the mining difficulty by removing water in the clay

mines in order to access the clay. In the rainy season, often the potters fabricate their vessels in

the house or in a hut built for this purpose. The Oromo potters also use a mobile mold to move

vessels being shaped to shelter when the rain comes.

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Table 6. 1 Oromo ceramic chaîne opératoire in Wallaga.

n= 68 Total %
Learning network:
Learned from kin 68 100
Learned from non-kin - -
Paste Recipe:
a. Clay type
Dark blue 68 100
Red - -
White
Brown - -
b. Type of temper
Teff straw - -
Teff chaff - -
Potsherds 68 100
Sand 68 100
Fired clay 47 69.1
Paste preparation - -
Hand sorting of impurities 68 100
Pounding with stick - -
Sieving to remove impurities
Kneading paste with hands 68 100
Kneading with legs 68 100
Firing
Outdoor bonfire 68 100
Indoor bonfire 68 100
Fuel
Maize stalks 68 100
Sorghum stalks 68 100
Teff straw 68 100
Green leaves - -
Green grass - -
Post-firing treatments
Cow dung 20 29.4
Boiled Solanum fruits - -
Boiled flour soup 68 100

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6. 2. 13 Marketing and distribution

The Oromo potters sell vessels primarily in the marketplace (Figure 6.18). Oromo potters

are not full-time specialists; they also engage in agriculture. Potters use pottery sales to subsidize

their farming income. In Wallaga, the four market centers of Aroji, Dongoro, Gimbi and Gulliso

were visited. It was determined that pots are transported by foot to the market centers by the

potters and their daughters. Usually potters do not have enough time to take their products to

distant market centers because it disturbs their pottery-making schedule for the next market. As a

result, intermediaries are needed to take the products to distant market centers. For example,

intermediaries transport pots from Dongoro Disi for sale in Gumuz, which is about 60 km away.

The intermediaries are non-artisan local women who generate income from transporting and

distributing pots.

6. 3 Yem Chaîne Opératoire

Pottery-making in Yem society is a long-term indigenous technology. In this society,

pottery is made by potters who are derogatively called fuga, the ugly ones. As this pejorative

indicates, the potters are outcast and marginalized. Pottery-making is influenced by both social

and economic factors, including learning networks and accessibility to resources. In Yem

society, the knowledge of pottery-making is transmitted between individuals who have a blood

relationship (e.g., mother/grandmother and daughter). Potters’ husbands and young sons engage

in agriculture, and meanstream respondents to my inquiries stated that this was subsidized by

hunting wild animals.

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Figure 6. 18 Potters selling vessels at Dongoro town in Wallaga in May 2013.

6. 3. 1 Selection of Clay Mineral

Based on their learning network, the Yem potters (fuga) in Jimma use two types of clay

(ho'a): red clay (hoya) and white clay (shuwa) (Figure 6.19). These types of clay are usually

mined in the dry season from lowland areas that are submerged for at least two to four months

per year. According to the people interviewed, identical clay types also develop on hillsides.

Potters mine clay from hillsides, especially in the wet season when the low-lying clay mines are

underwater. The potters reported that to obtain the clay they must dig down to remove the top

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soil layers that are considered to be unsuitable for pottery-making. The digging continues until

they come to the red clay layer, which usually develops above the white clay layer.

Figure 6. 19 Variety of clay used by the Yem potters in Jimma in June 2012. a) Red clay. b)
White clay.

The Yem fuga determine the quality of clay by soaking the mineral in water for a few

minutes, and then they break and press the clay between their fingers. The best quality clay

shows good plasticity when pressed between the fingers. The Yem fuga also state that when

soaked in water, best quality clay tends to absorb more water.

6. 3. 2 Clay source accessibility

Like Wallaga potters, the Yem fuga in Jimma do not have free access to clay. The

restrictions are based on people’s claims that potters degrade farmland and pasture land with

their mining activity (Figures 6.20). Usually the clay mining sites are situated on private property

and the potters must deal with owners in order to access the clay. The potters and landowners

reach an informal agreement that regulates their interactions. Depending on the number of active

individuals in a family that make pots, the property owner imposes an informal tax on the

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potters, which is paid annually. The average annual fees range between 250 Ethiopian Birr (15

CDN$) and 370 Birr (22 CDN$). This accounts for about 13% to 19% of the annual income an

avarage potter generates from selling pots. This system is not made known to the public or any

government agent, because both partners believe that it would result in the government

confiscating the land, or an additional tax assessment would be incurred by the property owners.

The potter could also face charges from the local government for negotiating with landowners

without the knowledge of the government representative.

Figure 6. 20 Degraded land caused by clay mining activity in Jimma in May 2012.

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 It was also stated that a relatively rich pottery-making family deals with the property

owner and buys the plot with the clay resource. Such deals are expensive and secretive because

land cannot be sold in the country. In the Sokoru area of Jimma, for example, Yem pottery-

making families could buy an area estimated to be 200 m2 for 6000 Birr (350 CAD$). Because

the deal is informal, the buyer cannot state in public that the land belongs to him/her; neither will

the seller expose this situation. Both groups can pretend that they traded permanent property

(e.g., coffee plantation) that is legal to buy and sell in Ethiopia.

Figure 6. 21 Eucalyptus tree spreading its roots in a clay-mining site that disrupts mining activity
in Jimma in May 2012.

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 The other factor that challenges potters’ access to clay is the property owners’ practice of

planting eucalyptus trees in clay mining areas to stop mining activity (Figures 6. 20 & 6. 21).

Eucalyptus trees grow fast and extend their roots over wide areas. The root of the tree obstructs

potters from mining clay. Moreover, potters report that the trees change the soil texture and clay

soil rarely develops under its canopy. They further report that the property owners know this

situation and that is why they plant the trees. Some farmers do allow the potters to mine clay

freely and these farmers are endowed with special respect that builds social capital among

pottery-making communities. These landholders and potters eventually develop a donor-recipient

social relationship that elevates the patrons’ self-esteem and honor relative to the recipients.

Figure 6. 22 Potters digging to obtain the desired clay type in Jimma in June 2013.

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6. 3. 3 Mining

The Yem potters usually go to the clay-mining site in the morning, often traveling 15 to

30 minutes. Usually potters do not want anyone to accompany them to avoid any possible

conflict with the property owner. The property owner often inspects the mining site and if he/she

sees a strange person with the client, the property owner questions the potter as to why she

brought someone to the mine. The potters prefer to mine dry clay, because if they mine wet clay,

it requires that they dry it in the sun so that it can be pulverized and sieved (Figure 6. 22).

Figure 6. 23 Potters transporting clay to the manufacturing site in Jimma in July 2013.

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6. 3. 4 Transporting mined clay

In the past Yem potters transported mined clay to the manufacturing sites in animal skins.

Due to the rising cost of animal skins in the market and restrictions on the killing of wild

animals, people have turned to plastic bags (Figure 6.23). Like Wallaga Oromo potters, the Yem

potters use the same plastic bags to transport clay from the mine to the manufacturing site that

they use to transport grain from threshing floors to their homes. Because clay is available in

nearby localities, potters do not travel farther than 5 km to get clay. Usually potters prefer to go

to the mine in a group because they motivate each other during mining and transportation. It is

also a time when they share stories with one another.

Figure 6. 24 Organic temper of teff chaff is used by Yem potters to increase clay plasticity and to
make their vessels durable. Picture takin in Jimma in May 2012.

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6. 3. 5 Temper

The Yem fuga reported to use two types of organic temper. These are teff straw

(hukuchu) and teff chaff (cidii) (Figures 6. 24 & 6. 25) bought from local farmers. The straw and

chaff are beaten separately and sieved to remove any inclusions, including sand, which the

potters believe may cause damage to their pots during firing.

Figure 6. 25 Potters reported that organic temper teff straw is used by Yem potters to increase
clay plasticity and to make their vessels durable. Picture taken in Jimma in May 2013.

It was observed that potters winnow teff straw to obtain what they referred to as quality

chaff in a process that is similar to the way farmers winnow teff to separate seeds from their

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stocks. A synonymous vocabulary is used to describe the stages of these activities. This supports

an interpretation that Yem pottery technology is a cultural practice that is situated within the

broader technological tradition of this society, including technological practices of food

processing. This further supports the contention that technologies are historically situated

cultural choices and that optimal performance and functionality are not the primary structuring

principles in ceramic production (Lemonnier 1992, 1993; Sillar 1996).

Figure 6. 26 Ground clay ready to be mixed with teff chaff. Picture Jimma in May 2012.

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6. 3. 6 Paste Preparation

Among the fuga of Yem, pottery-making is practiced in both summer and winter seasons.

Mined clay undergoes different processing stages in different seasons. Clay mined in the winter

season, which is normally dry, is ground by beating it with a stick until it turns to dust. Clay

mined in the summer tends to be wetter, although potters try to mine dry clay. The potter beats

the clay using the same technique used to thresh sorghum heads to separate seeds from panicles.

This is then followed by winnowing to eliminate unnecessary inclusions (Figure 6.26).

Figure 6. 27 Potters mixing clay with teff chaff in Jimma in Junly 2013.

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 The powdered clay is sieved using a basket to eliminate inclusions, such as sand, rootlets

and cereal grains. Thereafter, water is added and mixed. The next stage is the addition of well-

prepared teff chaff. Chaff is prepared by sieving the material with a basket made from bamboo

stems. Sieving removes inclusions including sand and pieces of animal dung. Sieved chaff is

added to the clay. This is followed by the addition of more water, mixing with a stick, and

kneading the mixture by hand. The mixture is beaten continuously with a stick until it forms a

ball. The clay ball is then softened by trampling with the foot. When the clay becomes plastic,

prepared teff straw (cidii) is added to complete the paste.

Figure 6. 28 A potter fashioning a pot by drawing of a lump in Jimma in June 2012.

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 The preparation of the straw involves removal of thicker straw and grinding the rest into

a manageable size. Potters believe that inclusions of thicker straw result in the formation of

undesirable and extraordinarily large holes in vessel walls during firing. The straw is mixed with

clay by pounding it with a stick on level ground. Well-mixed clay and chaff are rolled into a ball,

which is followed by further smoothing by trampling with the feet (Figure 6.27).

Figure 6. 29 A potter shaping a griddle in Jimma in June 2012.

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6. 3. 7 Fabrication Practices

Among the Yem potters, three fabrication techniques are used: 1) drawing of a lump, 2)

coiling, and 3) pinching. The Yem drawing technique involves placement of a bulky lump of

clay on level ground that is covered with teff straw. The lump is opened by pushing out with the

thumbs or by using a round stone cobble (Figures 6.28-6.30). The potters then build up vessel

walls by adding several small balls of clay. The potters use their thumb to build up the walls

whereas the other fingers are used to support and to smooth the vessel's surface.

Figure 6. 30 Potter making a Yem variety of a thick bread-baking griddle in Jimma in June 2013.

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 In the fabrication process, potters usually use a piece of leather, which differs from the

Oromo who usually use a piece of calabash. The rims are finished with a coil similar to the

Oromo practice. It is important to note that the Yem potters in Jimma do not use the molding

technique even to fabricate big jars. Instead, they build up vessel walls with courses of coils,

allowing the walls to firm up so as to stand without any support.

Figure 6. 31 A woman painting and rubbing the Yem variety of griddle with a slip of red termite
mound soil. Picture taken in Jimma in June 2013.

Coiling is another shaping technique common among the Yem potters. This technique is

applied to the upper body of vessels with elongated walls and restricted rims (e.g., water, beer

and distillation jars) whose lower body is built by drawing of a lump. Coiling is not

independently used to form vessels, but to finish the process already begun with another

technique. The third common fabrication practice in Yem is pinching, which is used to form
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simple vessels like coffee cups. Potters first make a small ball of clay that can be held in the

palm of their hands, and opened with the thumb to make the desired shape and size of a coffee

cup.

Figure 6. 32 Bread-baking griddle being dried in the sun in Jimma in May 2012.

6. 3. 8 Pre-firing Surface Treatments

The Yem potters also practice burnishing and trimming, but they do so after the vessels

are dry and immediately before firing. The well-burnished and trimmed vessel undergoes further

treatment. A termite mound is dug and the soil from the mound is is powdered and then mixed

with water in a bowl to make a slip that is smeared onto the surface of the pot. This is said to

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close any opening in the surface of the pot, and when fired, to help the vessel to shine (Figure

6.31).

6. 3. 9 Drying Vessels

Among the Yem, shaped vessels are exposed to the sun (Figure 6.32). It takes little time

to recognize when a given vessel is dry enough for further processing. To accelerate the drying

process and to confirm that all the moisture in a vessel is gone, a potter undertakes a pre-firing

heat treatment that takes about 30 minutes. This treatment can be undertaken in a firing pit or in

the home, depending on the size of pots to be treated (Figure 6.33).

Figure 6. 33 Griddles undergoing pre-firing heat treatments in Jimma in May 2012.

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Figure 6. 34 A potter covering firing pit with leaves of enset and teff straw and ashes. Picture
taken in Jimma in June 2013.

6. 3. 10 Firing

Yem potters consider the firing process to be a more dangerous stage for the vessels than

do the Oromo. For this reason, they do the firing in the evening in a small pit in their compound

or in the house. To fire vessels, potters first place green enset leaves at the bottom of the firing

pit. Teff straw is placed on top of the enset leaves.

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Figure 6. 35 Pots being fired in firing pit covered with leaves of enset and teff straw and ashes.
Picture taken in Jimma in June 2013.

Potters report that the leaves protect the pots from any ground moisture and help to

release enough smoke from the teff straw, which they believe generates high heat. An ash layer is

formed on top of the straw. On the ash, they put bunches of both green and dry firewood and teff

straw. Then the potters place the vessels in a row: smaller pots are placed at the bottom of the pit

with bigger ones at the top. More firewood and teff straw are placed on top of the vessels.

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Eventually, fire is ignited on three or more of the fuel piles in the pit to achieve a uniform firing

(Figures 6.33 to 6.36).

Figure 6. 36 Yem pottery firing shallow depression profile.

6. 3. 11 Post-firing Treatment

The Yem potters in Jimma expose their vessels to two forms of post-firing treatments.

The first one is smearing vessels with fresh cow dung immediately after firing. This is applied to

all forms of vessels that are not used for cooking. This category includes water, brewing and

storage jars. Among the Yem of Jimma, stew pots and other cooking pots undergo additional

post-firing treatments. First the potter or her children collect hiddii (Solanum plant) fruits (Figure

6. 37). These fruits are boiled for 30 minutes. When the fruits cool down, they are opened and

the liquid is extracted by pressing the flesh in a bowl. The liquid collected is painted on the

interior and exterior walls of the vessels using enset petioles or midribs. The potters state that

this treatment helps the pot to shine and seal any possible holes in the vessel.
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Figure 6. 37 Post-firing treatment: a woman smearing stew pot with cooked Solanum plant
extract. Picture taken in Jimma in June 2013.

6. 3. 12 Seasonal variation in pottery-making

In Yem society, pottery- making is more common in the dry season; only a few Yem

potters continue to make pots during the wet season. Potters respond to the environmental

challenge by shifting their occupation from pottery-making to collecting and transporting

firewood to sell in the surrounding cities. Among Yem potters, mining clay is one problem in the

summer season because most clay-mining sites are waterlogged and inaccessible. The potters

overcome this environmental challenge by altering their mining from low-lying mining sites to

hillsides not flooded by summer rains (Figure 6.38).

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Figure 6. 38 Yem potter mining clay under forest trees in the wet season in Jimma in May 2013.

Firing is also a problem in the rainy season due to the scarcity and expense of wood and a

shortage of straw. Prices for pottery are also very low in the rainy season because the income in

rural communities is meager at this time. In these regions, there is a slight increase in the number

of boiling pots made in the rainy season, as it is the peak harvesting time for tuber crops. The

Yem potters in Jimma make bread griddles because the demand for vessels declines abruptly in

rural areas, and the demand for bread griddles is higher in towns in the region.

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Table 6. 2 Yem ceramic chaîne opératoire in Jimma.

n= 51 Total %
Learning network:
Learned from kin 51 100
Learned from non-kin
Paste Recipe:
a. Clay type
Dark blue - -
Red 51 100
White 51 100
Brown - -
b. Type of temper
Teff straw 51 100
Teff chaff 51 100
Potsherds 7 13.7
Sand - -
Fired clay - -
Paste preparation
Hand sorting of impurities 51 100
Pounding with stick 51 100
Sieving to remove impurities 51 100
Kneading paste with hands 51 100
Kneading with legs 51 100
Firing
Outdoor bonfire 51 100
Indoor bonfire 51 100
Fuel
Maize stalks 51 100
Sorghum stalks 51 100
Teff straw 51 100
Green leaves 51 100
Green grasses
Post-firing treatments - -
Cow dung 51 100
Boiled Solanum fruits 51 100
Boiled flour soup - -

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6. 3. 13 Marketing and distribution

Yem potters distribute their own vessels in both rural and urban areas. Some potters sell

their vessels on market days, displaying them in the pottery quarter in the marketplace. There are

also potters, particularly the Yem potters in Jimma, who distribute their vessels by visiting

customers by going door-to-door or by selling along roadsides in the hope of attracting a larger

clientele. Potters interviewed reported that their pots sell quickly when they use this approach.

Usually unsold pots are taken home, or potters arrange with someone who owns a store in town,

who will keep the pots until the next market day. The fees to keep one vessel in a store until the

next market day is 0.5 Birr ($0.30 CAN). Selling all the pots on market day saves energy and

money.

6. 4 Dawro pottery Chaîne Opératoire

Dawro mana in Jimma have their own specific pottery technological style. As with the

Oromo and Yem, Dawro pottery-making is influenced by social and environmental factors. The

social factor that influences the craft is the learning network, where knowledge is transmitted

through kinship. Potters learn skills at an early age from their kin within a social group and do

not take on alternative ways of making pots with which they are less accustomed. The potters

consider only a limited number of potential ways for making pots. Moreover, potter castes are

endogamous, so marriage reproduces and maintains the technological style within the group. It

was reported that the Dawro mana do not marry outside of the Dawro ethno-linguistic group.

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6. 4. 1 Selection of clay

Dawro potters in Jimma use three major types of clay (bita) to manufacture vessels. They

obtain their clay from the same geological area with other two groups. These are: red clay (zo'a),

brown clay (semo) and white clay (botsa). The Dawro potters remove the topsoil with axes to

access the clay. The red clay layer occurs on top of the brown, which in turn overlies the white

clay layer. Like the fuga of Yem, the Dawro mana believe that these forms of clay develop in

low-lying areas that are submerged for several months each year. The mana identifies good-

quality clay by beating the clay, with a stick, on leveled ground. They report that once the clay is

rendered into powder, good-quality clay will have a fine texture and become elastic as it absorbs

water.

Figure 6. 39 Variety of clay used by the Dawro potters in Jimma in June 2013.
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6 .4. 2 Mining

To mine the desirable clay, potters remove the upper soil layer with axes (Figure 6.39a).

The average thickness of this layer is 0.25 m deep. The Dawro potters mine dry clay in the dry

season; in the summer season, they mine wet clay. Similar to the Oromo and Yem potters,

Dawro potters use agricultural implements to mine clay.

Figure 6. 40 a) A Dawro potter mining clay, b) Dawro potter removing inclusions from teff straw
and chaff temper. Pictures taken in Jimma in June 2013.

6. 4. 3 Temper

Like Yem potters, the Dawro potters use organic tempers: teff straw (utura), teff (ufula)

chaff and some local grasses (Figure 6. 39b). Potters interviewed report that Dawro mana

originally used only grasses for tempering clay. Because of population growth and widespread

cattle herding practices, it was difficult to get fully-grown grasses as tempers, so they turned to

teff. Some potters cultivate teff to use the straw and chaff for pottery-making, as well as for

plastering walls and floors of their houses, even where the environment is not conducive to good

harvests because of rust (Uromyces eragrostidis) and head smudge (Helminthosporium miyakei).

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Thus, supply shortages of the desired variety of grasses forced some potters to make a

transformation.

Figure 6. 41 A potter mixing clay and teff straw by hand. Picture taken in Jimma in June 2013.

6. 4. 4 Paste Preparation

Dawro potters mine wet clay that then undergoes specific processing stages. First, the

mined clay is beaten continuously with a wooden stick on level ground until the clay becomes

uniformly plastic. Its plasticity is examined by pressing a ball of clay between fingers and the

uniformity of grain texture is taken as evidence of its workability. They also add water to

improve plasticity. Prepared clay, teff straw (utura) and chaff of teff (ufula) are added
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simultaneously and mixed with the clay by beating the paste constantly with the wooden handle

of an axe. Finally, the potters trample on the clay with their feet and wedge the clay further with

their hands (Figure 6. 41).

Figure 6. 42 a) A potter shaping a griddle by drawing of a lump, b) A potter shaping the bottom
and lower body of a pot using the drawing of a lump technique. Pictures taken in Jimma in May
2013.

6. 4. 5 Fabrication Practices

Dawro potters use two fashioning techniques: 1) drawing of a lump and 2) coiling.

Drawing of a lump is used to fabricate pottery vessels, such as the ceramic griddle, jars and

boiling pot. The Dawro potter prepares a ball of clay and places it on level ground covered with

teff straw (Figures 6. 42a). The ball is then pressed down to the ground with thumb and fingers.

Although the Dawro potters use the drawing of a lump technique, their method differs from the

Yem in that they do not use their legs in the fabrication process.

Both drawing of a lump and coiling techniques are used to form other vessels, including

boiling pots, water jars, and stew pots. In this case, potters first make a shallow bowl by opening

the lump using their fingers and thumbs (Figures 6.42b). The small bowl is enlarged by

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stretching the clay, without adding additional clay. This also results in thinning the walls of the

vessels. The potters then add some clay to the rim to form the upper body and the narrow neck.

Finally, potters add more clay to the surface of the upper body part to form the handles. To add

handles, potters score the body of the vessels with a knife, claiming that a scored surface gives

the handles strength.

It is important to note that although non-governmental organizations (NGOs) give

training to the potters to mold the griddle using an elevated mold, the potters continue to shape

the vessel on leveled ground covered with teff straw without using the mold. This is despite the

fact that the introduced mold has the advantage that the potter is not required to bow down or sit

uncomfortably to shape the vessel, and it is easy to protect the drying pot from rainfall. The

NGO also provide training to build a structure to make pots in the wet season. Similarly,

although the Dawro potters regularly meet to share some common practices with the Yem

potters, the two groups do not share their fashioning techniques. Potters reported that even if

there are alternative fabrication methods that they observe being used by their friends or shaping

skills learned from NGOs, their bodies and minds prefer to use the traditionally learned practices,

including embodied gestures and learned motor skills, rather than the more comfortable

alternative.

6. 4. 6 Drying

The Dawro potters dry vessels in the sun. If rain comes before the vessels become firm

enough to move, the potters simply cover the vessels with enset leaves. In the rainy season, when

there is minimal solar radiation to dry their vessels, the potters fire pots at a leather-hard stage.

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Figure 6. 43 Griddles being dried in the sun in Jimma in June 2013.

6. 4. 7 Pre-firing surface treatments

Among the Dawro potters, primary burnishing is performed with maize cobs. Final

burnishing involves polishing vessel walls with a broken glass sherd and trimming with a knife.

This is followed by painting the inner vessel walls with a white clay slip. The other materials

used for the treatment are mixed petroleum oil, white clay and water. The mixture is painted on

interior walls of pots with a piece of leather, which the potters believe strengthens and gives

shine to the surface. It is reported that, in the past, instead of petroleum oil, ground castor seeds
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were used to smooth and shine pot surfaces (Figure 6. 44). Scraping vessel surfaces with a knife

and extracting the enset corm for food have conceptual similarity to the Dawro. The same

analogy was reported by the Yem potters of Jimma.

Figure 6. 44 A potter painting a griddle with a mixture of white clay and petroleum oil in Jimma
in July 2013.

6. 4. 8 Firing

The Dawro also fire their vessels in a small pit dug in the potters’ backyards, situated

some 10 m away from their houses to avoid burning their homes. First, the potter places teff

straw and cow dung into the pit, ignites the fire and then adds more firewood and cow dung.

Vessels are piled on top of the fire and covered with more firewood and cow dung. The pots,

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piled in the pit with their mouths down, are covered and eventually buried in ashes and sherds.

The Dawro firing process is slow in comparison with the Oromo and the Yem, taking more than

two hours to complete the firing stage (Figures 6.45 & 6.46).

Figure 6. 45 A potter igniting fire after arranging firewood at the firing site in Jimma in May
2013.

Figure 6. 46 Dawro firing pit profile.

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 The potters test the firing intensity by observing the surface of the vessels. When the pots

glow red in the firing pit, the potters consider this to be a mark of good firing. The Yem potters

also use the tapping technique to test the sound of fired vessels. Like Yem fuga, the Dawro mana

use the tip of their tongue, on the vessel’s surface, to test the quality of vessel firing (Figure

6.47). Potters stated that if the vessel is well fired, then it holds no moisture; if it is porous, then

the tongue sticks to the vessel.

Figure 6. 47 A client in Jimma checking level of dryness of a bread baking plate with her tongue.
Picture taken in Jimma in May 2012.

6. 4. 9 Post-firing Treatment

Unlike the Oromo and the Yem potters, in Dawro society post-firing treatment is rarely

undertaken by the potters. These potters usually spread cow dung on the surface of the pot

(Figure 6.49), but mainstream women stated that because the potters are highly despised, clients
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do not request them to perform post-firing treatments believing that such vessels would be made

unclean. Women in the mainstream group make the pots ‘clean’ by performing the post-firing

treatments on the pots that they purchase. In sum, in Dawro society pots and people share the

same identities: pots are the only ones that can be made pure.

Figure 6. 48 a) Dawro potter practicing post-firing treatment by smearing griddles with cow
dung. b) Ceramic griddles ready for transportation. Pictures taken Jimma in May 2013.

6. 4. 10 Seasonal variation in pottery-making

The Dawro potters make pottery year-round. The scale of production decreases from June

to August, the wettest months of the year. In the wet season, the potters mine clay in the

relatively sunny hours of the day and often they manufacture vessels in their houses. Because of

low production, there is an obvious decline in pottery income in this season. The potters’ and

their families’ economy depends on harvesting enset from their garden and selling firewood to

the nearest urban dwellers. Some potters work for the local farmers on a daily basis to subsidize

their meager income.

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Table 6. 3 Dawro chaîne opératoire in Jimma.

n= 39 Total %
Learning network:
Learned from kin 39 100
Learned from non-kin - -
Paste Receipe:
a. Clay type
Dark blue clay - -
Red clay 39 100
White clay 39 100
Brown 39 100
b. Type of temper
Teff straw and chaff 39 100
Potsherds 39 100
Sand - -
Fired clay - -
Paste preparation
Hand sorting of impurities 39 100
Pounding with stick 39 100
Sieving to remove impurities 39 100
Kneading paste with hands 39 100
Kneading with legs 39 100
Firing
Outdoor bonfire 39 100
Indoor bonfire 39 100
Fuel
Maize stalks 39 100
Sorghum stalks 39 100
Teff straw 39 100
Green leaves - -
Green grasses 39 100
Post-firing treatments
Cow dung 39 100
Boiled Solanum fruits - -
Boiled flour soup - -

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6. 4. 11 Marketing and distribution

There are at least three methods that Dawro potters use to distribute their vessels. The

most common method is selling their products in market centers on market days. Potters also

take vessel to their client's home to be sold on commission or the client comes to their home to

buy them. The Dawro potters in the Jimma area focus on producing the local bread (enjera)

baking plate, which is transported to distant towns (Figure 6.48b).

6. 5 Summary

Potters in the southwestern Ethiopian highlands use clay and other ingredients to make

ceramic objects. The Oromo potters subsidize their meager income from pottery-making with

agriculture. Although they are not full time specialists, the Yem and the Dawro potters of Jimma

are involved rarely in agriculture but they have enset planted in their gardens. They subsidize

their inadequate income from pottery by collecting and selling firewood to the surrounding local

towns.

In the southwestern Ethiopian highlands, potters from different ethnic groups share the

same materials used in pottery-making. For instance, the Yem, the Dawro and the Oromo potters

use pieces of calabash to finish the fabrication process by smoothing and they use a knife for

trimming. Similarly, Yem and Dawro potters use teff straw to temper clay. Yem potters also use

teff chaff to temper clay, while the Oromo potters use sand grog made from ground sherds or

fired clay grog as tempers. The socio-cultural factors influence potters’ selection of tempering

materials from the available resources to fabricate similar pots for similar purposes.

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 The patterns of the decorative treatments and meanings attached to them are different

across ethnic groups. This study shows that although potters from different ethnic backgrounds

live in a similar physical environment in the southwestern Ethiopian highlands, they each use a

distinct chaîne opératoire to make pots intended for identical purposes.

Different factors influence the way potters select and use raw materials to make pots. The

most significant of these factors is their learning network, which develops and maintains

connections between potters and their daughters. Because daughters learn pottery-making from

their mothers and other female relatives (apprenticeships outside the sphere of the family are

rare), the technological choices are learned and passed down through generations, although

modifications can occur because of changes in the availability of resources or for social factors

that arise and interfere with former practices. The importance of social factors in guiding the

potter's choice is well supported by ethnoarchaeologists and archaeologists working in Africa

(e.g., Dietler and Herbich 1989; Fowler 2011; Fowler et al. 2011; Gosselain 1992, 1998a, 1999;

Gosselain and Livingstone Smith 2005; Haour 2013; Herbich 1987; Livingstone Smith 2000;

MacDonald 2011; Livingstone Smith and Van der Veken 2009; Livingstone Smith and Viseyrias

2010; Lyons 2007, 2009; Manning 2011; Mayor 2010; Stahl et al. 2008; Sterner and David

2003). This study demonstrates that in the study area, each ethnolinguistic group has a distinct

technological style (e.g., separate material identities in terms of aspects of or suites of

technological choices) (see Tables 6.1-6.3).

In Chapter Nine, the chaîne opératoire of pottery consumption (specifically use-wear on

pots) is linked with the technological pottery style of the three ethnolinguistic groups

investigated. This provides a potential proxy for identifying the history of the use of specific

foods with different social communities in this region.

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 Chapter Seven: An overview of Oromo culinary practices

7. 1 Introduction

Ethiopia has been a crossroad between Africa and Asia for 4000 years (Ehert 2002;

Finneran 2007; Fuller and Hildebrand 2013). The timing of the introduction of Near Eastern

crops (wheat, barley, and lentils), East Asian crops (bananas, taro) and the domestication of

African crops (e.g., teff, finger millet, sorghum, niger seed, certain tubers, coffee) are the subject

of current research (Fuller and Hildebrand 2013; Hildebrand 2007). Over the past few centuries

American domesticates have also been adopted (e.g., tomatoes, maize, potatoes). Individual

farmers choose from the available food plants and then to process them into culture-specific

cuisines using specific cooking utensils to meet their daily cultural and nutritional tastes. The

choices individual farmers make to meet these tastes will essentially structure decisions about

crop production (Fuller 2005; Haaland 2007). As a result, some crops are particular to certain

cultural groups. Presented in this chapter are the major culinary practices of the Oromo.

7. 2 Oromo Cuisine

Oromo cuisine is highly varied. People of different socio-economic status have access to

different types of foods that are prepared to help construct their status. Cultural practices also

require special dishes for religious ceremonies, marriage ceremonies, cooperative work, and

gatherings of traditional credit unions. Oromo dishes can be broadly categorized into four

groups: 1) porridge (marqaa), 2) leavened (buddeena, cumboo) and unleavened bread (maxinoo),

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3) beverages and stimulants, and 4) steamed tuber crops. Each of these groups is discussed

below.

7. 2.1 Porridge

Porridge (marqaa) is a mainstay of daily meals and for special occasions amongst the

Wallaga Oromo. Porridge is mainly prepared with the flours or grains of wheat, sorghum, teff

and/or maize. The style and form of porridge pots varies depending on the context of its use.

Some of the occasions that require a special porridge are shanaan dubartii (fifth day following

childbirth), salgaan dubartii (ninth day following childbirth) and Ateetee (women’s ritual

ceremony).

It is reported that in Oromo tradition, a woman who has delivered a baby receives special

treatment for nine consecutive days following childbirth. During this time, she eats what is called

delivery porridge (askutii) because the Oromo believe that porridge helps the mother to

recuperate from post-natal fatigue, to recover strength and to produce enough milk for the

newborn. As the delivery day approaches, a mother prepares (buys) xuwwee askutii (pots for the

‘delivery porridge’). Delivery pots have appliqué decorations believed to have the power to

protect the new baby from bad fates, and the decorations symbolize the continuity of lineages. A

women's delivery day is special for other members of the community because they enjoy

porridge with the new mother. In relation to this, there is a saying, "dubartiin deessu lubbu

egaatti, biyyimmo marqaa egaata", which means literally, “the woman who is pregnant thinks

about her life whereas the well-wishers think about the porridge they eat after a child is born."

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 On the fifth day after a birth, the women’s ritual ceremony is held. Society in the study

area is divided into hobo, the elder families, and cora, the younger families. Women from both

hobo (senior) and cora (junior) come together and sing songs in honor of Ayyoole (Maaraam)

(female spirit) for enabling women to conceive and to bear children safely. Note that in today's

Oromo practice, Ayyoole and St. Mary are synonymous. In its initial stage, the hobo is the new

child's father’s peer group, while cora designates the baby and his/her peer group. One of the

songs (with its Oromo and English versions) is as follows:

Ilmaan simbiraa yaa mucaako, My child the offspring of bird,

Barii Waaqayyoo siitu beeka, It is you who know the dawn of God,

Marii Waaqayyoo siitu beeka, It is you who know God’s plan,

Nati odeessi bultookoo. Tell me about my life.

The women sing these songs to commemorate Ayyoole/St. Mary on both shanan and

salgaan dubartii. On the shanaan dubartii, five days after a child is delivered, porridge is

prepared in a special pot with five ears (handles are referred to as ‘ears’ in the local language)

representing the five days passed after delivery. On the ninth day, the prepared porridge is

identical with that of shanaan dubartii, except that this porridge is prepared in a pot with nine

ears that represent the nine days passed following the child’s birth, and the Nine Borana (Salgan

Borana). In Oromo traditional myth, the Nine Borana refers to the nine children of the

primordial father of the Oromo people. In both ceremonies, women from the two backgrounds,

hobo and cora, participate. It is important to note that in contemporary practice, porridge for both

occasions can be prepared in a regular porridge pot. Participants reported that the potters who

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specialize in making ritual pots are now either dead or too old to make pots and the new

generation of potters rarely makes these pots because demand for them has declined. The decline

in production is also related to the Oromo traditional religious meanings associated with the

appliqué designs. Followers of Christianity and Islam tend to use regular and plain ceramic

porridge pots for this reason. In short, changes in religious ideology have impacted the potter’s

assemblage of wares. The use of metal pots could be interpreted simply as globalization of local

markets, but local consumer choice is shaped by religious beliefs and a rejection of traditional

and local religious symbols that are associated with clay vessels.

Figure 7. 1 Profile drawing of waciitii.

Besides thanksgiving and prayer for the mother and newborn baby, the hobo and cora

sing rival songs. In the songs, the hobo representatives appreciate the hobo group and the cora

defend themselves, and vice versa. Each group expresses in song that their group is superior to

the other. The ceremony is colorful because of the spirit of competition between the two groups.

One of the songs they sing is:

Mana cora lixee biliillee luqiiise, In cora’s home I found a beer serving bottle,

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 Mana hobo lixee bixxillee luqiise. In hobo’s home I only found unleavened bread.

When cora complete their turn, the hobo repeat the same song, replacing the name cora

with their own. In this context, the beer-serving bottle (biliillee) is perceived as a sign of

prestige. The unleavened bread is associated with the poor who have insufficient dough to keep

their bread fermented.

Boys and girls from the surrounding area often come to enjoy the ceremony associated

with the birth of a child. The porridge used to be served from a small pot known as waciitii. The

waciitii is being replaced by a glass ceramic bowl, which is bought in the market (Figure 7.1).

The porridge is prepared from unleavened dough, which is symbolically believed to be pure (see

next section). The delivery porridge (askutii) is eaten only by female members of society and

young boys; if an adult male is found eating this form of porridge then he is perceived as female.

Although porridge is one popular meal of the Oromo society, its preparation and

consumption are affected by the socio-economic status of the family. In Oromo society, first-

class porridge is eaten with stew prepared from spiced butter and sour yogurt. Poor families,

including artisans, rarely have a milking cow since they do not have the economic ability to buy

one. Their access to this variety of porridge depends on their relations with rich farmers, who on

certain occasions will give them butter and sour yogurt. Poor families (including potters) make

regular porridge, which is eaten with a spiced thin soup prepared from boiled cereal flour. Thus,

social status affects people’s access to certain foods, which also affects their culinary practices as

members of the same society.

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4. 2. 2 Leavened and unleavened bread

There are two main types of leavened bread. One is buddena, thin baked bread on plain

ceramic griddles called eelee cabetaa. The dough for buddeena is prepared from flour of teff,

sorghum and, more recently, maize (Figures 7.2 & 7.3). The dough is fermented, which may take

up to three days, in xuwwee bukoo (dough pot). To activate the fermentation process, a woman

keeps some residue of the previous fermented dough (raacitii) and adds it to the new one under

process. In addition to its functional value, the remaining portion of the previous fermented

dough (raacitii) symbolizes the continuity of the woman'slineage. The raacitii is associated also

with elder clan members and, hence, the Borana (see Chapter Five). As presented in Chapter Six,

raacitii is also associated with temper.

Figure 7. 2 A girl baking buddeena in Wallaga in June 2013.

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 The second type of bread is comboo, thick leavened dough baked on thick oval shaped

ceramic griddles called eelee comboo. It is prepared by adding pounded garlic, ginger, chilies,

powdered salt, butter, and other spices. Women prepare cumboo by putting the dough on an eelee

cumboo covered with enset leaves and an overturned smaller griddle (beddee buna) is put on top.

The fire is lit underneath the big eelee combo and on top of the small one.

Figure 7. 3 Buddena is served with anchote stew in Wallaga in June 2013.

The third local bread is prepared from unleavened dough (caariggii) and is called

maxinoo. This bread is baked on a small ceramic griddle (beddee buna). Maxinoo is prepared

when there is no leavened dough to meet immediate needs. Moreover, it is baked for special
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occasions such as religious offerings and fertility prayers. As stated above, unleavened dough is

believed to be pure and it is preferred for ritual ceremonies. Unleavened bread is also prepared as

another daily meal of the Oromo called caccabsaa. The bread is broken, mixed with purified and

spiced butter and served with a spoon (Figure 7.4).

Figure 7. 4 Caccabsaa ready to eat in Wallaga in July 2012.

4. 2. 3 Beverages and Stimulants

Liquid substances, such as farso (a thin local beer), bordee (a thick local beer) and

daadhi (mead) are also served. Local beer (farsoo) is a popular alcoholic beverage in

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southwestern Ethiopia. It takes three to four days to make local beer. Beer making ingredients

are flour of germinated seeds (biqiila), ground gesho leaves (Rhamnus prinoides), leavened

bread (bideen farso) and roasted flour (hunkuroo). Bread and roasted flour are prepared from

finger millet and sorghum, but now maize flour is also used. It is believed that gesho leaves

increase alcohol levels, enhance fermentation and give the beverages a desirable taste (Figures

7.5 & 7.6).

Figure 7. 5 Finger millet malt in Wallaga in July 2012. The malt dries in the sun and then is
ground into flour with a mortar and pestle before adding it to the beer. Although the major
ingredients of local beer are sorghum, finger millet and gesho, more recently maize and barley
are used widely.

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 Although most families have a strong desire to use pottery jars for brewing local beer,

today plastic jars are becoming popular because of their ease of use and wide availability,

especially in urban areas. The transition to plastics in the market has resulted in skeuomorphism

as a marketing strategy. Plastic jars were industrially produced but copied the local pottery

forms. This practice consciously draws upon local perceptions of culturally appropriate vessel

forms to seduce customers into participation in the globalization of local markets.

Figure 7. 6 Gesho plants in Wallaga in June 2013.

Other changes in beer brewing technology were introduced recently by conservative

Christian and Muslim Oromo families. These families claim that gesho increases the alcohol
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level of beer that causes intoxication, so now they avoid the use of this plant as a major

ingredient of local beer. In addition, the availability of modern beers has reduced demands for

traditional beer in towns and cities.

In Wallaga, every farmer has a coffee plantation. Traditionally, planting coffee trees

means dressing up earthly spirit (daachee) and appeasing God (Waaqa). Coffee is incorporated

into the cosmology of the Oromo people. Oromo elders claim that Waaqa ordered a behaviorally

deviant person to repent and act in accordance with his laws. The man refused to fulfill the will

of Waaqa. Eventually Waaqa became disappointed and annoyed with the man, which resulted in

his death. When Waaqa visited the area the next day, he found the corpse of the man lying in his

grave and tears streamed from Waaqa’s eyes. At that very moment, according to the myth, a

coffee plant sprouted from the spot where his tears fell. This prompted the community to believe

that while other trees grew from rain, coffee trees grew from the tears of Waaqa (Bartels 1983;

Wayessa 2011).

Hot beverages, especially coffee, are popular among the Oromo. Coffee is an integral part

of daily meals (Bartles 1983; Baxter 1991; Weinber and Bealer 2001; Wild 2005). Coffee beans

are roasted on a clay coffee griddle (beddee buna), then ground with mortar and pestle, and

subsequently boiled with salt in a special coffee pot known as jabanaa. Coffee is served in

locally made ceramic cups that are gradually being replaced by industrially made glass coffee

cups (Figures 7.7 & 7.8).

Children are exposed to the coffee ceremony from an early age. In Oromo society, it is up

to mothers to teach their daughters; every girl, by six to nine years of age, is able to make coffee

and is expected to run the ceremony independently. If a girl cannot do so, her mother is blamed

for failing to serve as a proper custodian of local tradition and this may affect her reputation in

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Oromo society. This is part of the interwoven customs that place women at the heart of the

coffee ceremony (either religious or secular) and its intended purpose. Furthermore, the children

are part of the ceremony because it is a forum where the elders tell proverbs, narrate legends and

tell riddles about society. It is in this manner that parents use the coffee ritual to ensure the

reproduction of traditions and to maintain continuity of social practices, including gender roles

and relationships mediated materially in daily meals.

Figure 7. 7 The coffee ceremony is usually a ritualized practice associated with green grasses
(sign of blessing from God), incense (its aromatic smoke is believed to appease God) and rue
(Ruta graveolens), which is used to flavor coffee. Picture taken in Jimma in June 2012.

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 Although coffee is a popular stimulant across the globe, some coffee-related practices are

unique to the Oromo (Wallaga Oromo in this case). The first practice is that salt is added to the

coffee pot as a sweetener, and boiled with the coffee. In addition, Oromo also eat coffee beans

that are roasted but not brewed. This practice is known as buna qala (literally, slaughtering

coffee). Buna qala is prepared from green or dried coffee berries, which are washed and opened

with the teeth. Opened coffee cherries are toasted in a clay pot (distii) placed on hearthstones set

over a fire. Pure fresh butter, and powdered salt and spices like korarima (Ethiopian cardamom),

are added to the toasted coffee berries while still on the fire. The toasted coffee cherries are

served in a bowl (waciitii) with a spoon made from horn (Figures 7.10 & 7. 11).

Figure 7. 8 Ceremonial coffee table and coffee cups at Jimma Museum, Jimma, where
traditionally coffee is believed to have first been domesticated. Picture taken in Jimma in June
2012

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 The eating of coffee among the Oromo is reported to be an old practice (Kraft 1856;

Weinber and Bealer 2001). People collected the ripe coffee cherries from wild coffee trees,

ground them with stone mortars, and mixed the mashed seeds and pulp with butter. The mash

was formed into balls that were carried for subsistence during long journeys. The balls are rich

with caffeine, sugar, fat and protein and were eaten by warriors, farmers and merchants to

overcome the problems of hunger and exhaustion when faced with hard work or long treks

(Bruce 1790; Weinber and Bealer 2001; Wild 2005).

Figure 7. 9 A woman preparing buna qalaa in Wallaga in July 2013.

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 Because coffee is an integral part of Oromo traditional practice, there were several

historical incidents when coffee drinking was banned by both Orthodox and protestant priests

who used their respective approach to ban coffee. The Orthodox Church associated the coffee

ceremony with heathen practices that challenged Christianity. Protestants viewed coffee drinking

as an addiction that makes people dependent on it rather than God. Initially, many people

followed the new religious practice. Eventually, the majority of people returned to the coffee

ceremony because they found no appropriate alternative compatible with social interactions in

gatherings and rituals.

Figure 7. 10 Buna qalaa to be served in bowl (waciitii) with a spoon made of horn. Picture taken
in Wallaga in July 2013.

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 Some Oromo and many other Ethiopians also use a narcotic plant called chat (Catha

edulis). Chat is an evergreen shrub cultivated as a bush or small tree. The leaves have an

aromatic odor and a taste that is astringent and slightly sweet. The plant is seedless and hardy,

growing in a variety of climates and soils. Chat is harvested throughout the year (Figure 7.11).

The leaf and stem are used as a recreational drug, as medicine and as an appetite suppressant.

The leaves of this plant are plucked together and chewed.

Figure 7. 11 Chat being sold in the market place, Jimma. Picture taken in Jimma in June 2013.

Traditionally, only Muslims chewed chat. In rural areas, farmers chew chat to keep

themselves stronger during hard workdays (see Figure 7.12). Today, non-Muslims are also
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chewing the plant. Students, especially university students, use chat to keep themselves

stimulated and energized. In towns and cities, chat is predominately used for recreational

purposes, as well as for the maintenance and creation of social integrity in the sense that only

people who know each other well come together to chew chat. People only incorporate new

members into their group through invitation. Chat is cultivated both for home consumption and

export to the Middle East, to other African countries and Europe. However, in North America

chat is considered to be an illegal drug (WHO 2006), often attained through smuggling.

Figure 7. 12 A Yem man feeding his wife chat with his hand while she is making pottery .
Picture taken in Jimma in July 2013.

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7. 2. 4 Steamed tuber crops

Steamed tubers are dietary staples for rural people in Wallaga. The major tuber crops

consumed in the region are anchote, yams, Oromo potatoes and taro. The tubers are boiled in

steaming pots and served in different ways. For instance, anchote can be served in the form of

stew, soup or simply as slices of boiled tuber (see Chapter Eight and Nine). The tubers are

usually served with a hot sauce, known as qocqocaa, which is prepared from ground chilies,

garlic and ginger. With the exception of anchote, the tuber recipes are not available in restaurants

and hotels in Ethiopia. Anchote cuisine is available in the hotels and restaurants owned by the

Oromo. Anchote dishes are widely distributed, especially in some restaurants owned by Oromo

diaspora communities outside of Ethiopia. Some Oromo diaspora also cultivate anchote and a

significant number of Oromo immigrant families in Nova Scotia, Canada, and in Minnesota and

Tennessee in the United States, report cultivating the tuber.

7. 2. 5 Summary

The Oromo of Wallaga cultivate a variety of crops that are processed and flavored to meet

both dietary and cultural tastes of the society. Some of the foods are specific to the Oromo and

have deep-rooted social values in the society. The foods are processed in ceramic utensils and a

strong symbolic relationship between vessel form and the contexts of consumption prevails. This

relationship between people and objects is produced, reproduced and transformed in daily meals

and routine ritual practice. The next chapter investigates tuber crop cultivation and processing

technology in Wallaga.

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Chapter Eight: Tuber crop cultivation and processing technology in the Wallaga region

8. 1 Introduction

As stated in Chapter Three, the second field of discourse investigated in this dissertation

is Oromo tuber crop processing technology. More specifically, the study examines growing,

harvesting, processing and serving tubers that are specific to the Oromo culinary practice. Tuber

crop refers to “any underground swollen vegetative storage organ including roots, tubers, corms

and rhizomes consisting of largely starch-bearing parenchyma” (Fuller and Hildebrand

2013:507; see also Hather 1994).

Ethiopia is considered one of the centers for early plant domestication in northeastern

Africa. Ethiopian farmers from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, living in diverse agro-

ecological zones, have developed farming practices that persist to the present day (Harlan 1969,

1971; Hildebrand 2003, 2007; McCann 1995). Nevertheless, research on the domestication and

cultural uses of crops in Ethiopia is limited and in the early stages of investigation (but see

Brandt 1984; Brandt and Carder1987; D’Andrea 2008; D’Andrea et al. 1997, 1999; Ehert 1969;

Finneran 2007; Harlan 1969, 1971; Harrower et al. 2010, 2014; Hildebrand 2003, 2007;

Hildebrand and Brandt 2010; Hildebrand et al. 2010; Lyons and D’Andrea 2003; McCann 1995).

Based on his comparative and historical linguistic research, Ehert (1979) proposed that

agriculture in Ethiopia was developed, probably independently, in two different and major agro-

ecological zones. The first development was the cultivation of cereal (e.g., teff) that appeared to

emerge in the grassier, drier northern and eastern parts of highland Ethiopia. The second

development was the domestication of tuber crops, which is believed to have emerged in the

rainy and densely forested highlands of southwest and south central Ethiopia. Although
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archaeological research to substantiate this hypothesis is pending, presently farmers in the

southwestern highlands cultivate predominately tuber crops.

Southwestern Ethiopia’s exceptional environments still support small scale farming

practices. These practices can be used to develop a model to examine early agricultural practices

across the globe. To this end, archaeological and ethnoarchaeological research in the region is

now underway (see Hildebrand 2003, 2007; Hildebrand and Brandt 2010; Hildebrand et al.

2010). For example, recent archaeological evidence shows that ceramic technology and animal

food production appeared in the region about 2,000 years ago (Hildebrand and Brandt 2010).

Moreover, in this region exceptional macro-botanical remains, which shed light on early

cultivation and the domestication of enset and coffee, were recovered from the Kumali

archaeological site in levels dated to 2000 BP (Hildebrand and Brandt 2010; Hildebrand et al.

2010).

Despite the absence of archaeological investigations on the antiquity of tubers in southern

Ethiopia, indigenous tubers have long been part of cropping systems in this region and have been

extensively cultivated. Yams (Dioscorea cayenensis), Oromo potatoes (Plectranthus edulis),

anchote (Coccinia abyssinica) and enset (Ensete Ventricosum) in particular, support a

considerable portion of the region's population as food sources.

Studies of the origin and domestication of tuber crops in southwestern Ethiopia are

comparatively scant because tubers do not produce preservable macro-botanical remains for

archaeological recovery (e.g., Langejans 2010; Sandweiss 2007). Archaeologists have focused

on the importance of looking for direct evidence of plant use even though they have observed the

inadequacy of primary archaeobotanical evidence in East Africa (Ashley 2010; Hildebrand and

Brandt 2010; Hildebrand et al.2010; Reid and Young 2000; Young and Thompson 1999). While

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an excavation of preserved plant macro-remains is one means of archaeobotanical investigation

(see Crowther 2005, 2012; Langejans 2010; Sandweiss 2007), indirect evidence in the form of

ceramic use-alteration and micro-residue analysis can contribute to the study of plant

domestication and associated cultural practices. For example, ethnoarchaeologists have

developed methods to identify the production of certain types of foods through pottery use-

alteration studies (see Arthur 2003). These case studies have revealed that culinary practices

cause diagnostic pitting and attrition on the interiors of ceramic vessels in the course of their

preparation. The studies, however, do not show the specific food plants processed in a given pot.

Determining specific plants associated with these physical use-alterations (e.g., Wayessa et al.

2015) can enhance these types of studies. Combined with starch residue analysis, these

diagnostic features potentially provide a means to investigate the antiquity of contemporary

culinary practices and specific crop use in the archaeological record.

Culinary practices, including ceramic vessel types and heat treatments for processing

culturally specific food products (Haaland 2007, 2012; Lyons and D’Andrea 2003) are explored

in this dissertation. In the southwestern Ethiopian highlands, tubers are steamed in specific types

of pots and the process produces specific use-alteration that may provide a material signature for

tracking the history of the tuberous plant used in this region’s past.

8. 2 Tuber crop cultivation

Ethiopia hosts a variety of indigenous tuber crops. There is some research addressing

tuber cultivation and domestication (but see Hildebrand 2003, 2007, 2009) and tubers are

sometimes labeled as 'lost crops' (see Hora 1995). In the following section, the major indigenous

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tuber crops cultivated in southwestern Ethiopia are presented, specifically anchote (Coccinia

abyssinica), Oromo potatoes (Plectranthus edulis), yams (Dioscorea cayenensis) and enset

(Ensete ventricosum).

8. 3 Root crops in Oromo Society

In Oromo tradition, tubers and their cultivation carry meanings, one of which is the

association between tubers and women. In this case, the plant with an edible underground organ

is associated with a pregnant woman. This symbolism is important because it controls the time of

harvesting. A woman gives birth when the fetus is matured and can endure the stress of the

external physical environment. Analogous to this, a farmer is required to wait for the tubers to

mature to harvest them. Prematurely harvested tubers are reported not to survive steaming

temperatures that cause them to lose their natural flavor.

Similarly, cultivating the desirable tubers is equated with raising children in acceptable

ways through enculturation. This symbolism becomes clear in the Oromo saying “muuka

hunddeen minyaa’u iijisaa minyaa’a”, which translates as “the tree with a sweet root produces a

sweet fruit.” Parents raise children and cultivate in their children what they believe to be

acceptable behavior. Root crops are associated with human parents and ‘parents’ of all other

crops because they form the foundation for seeds, leaves and other edible parts of domestic and

wild plants. This perception is also expressed in the Oromo proverb, “muuktii fixxeen nama hin

baatu, hundeetu nama baata malee,” which means “it is not a tree tip that bears a person but its

root.” This implies that although young children are important members of every Oromo family,

the mother and father make up the family’s foundation.

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Figure 8. 1 Anchote farm from Warra Gigsa village of Wallaga. The climbing foliage of anchote
is annual but it can regenerate mainly from its crown if it remains unharvested in the summer
rains. Picture taken in Wallaga in July 2013.

It is also important to reiterate that Oromo potters associate mining clay with harvesting

tubers. The clay used to make pots is perceived as sentient, similar to the tuber plant that is

equated with a pregnant woman. Moreover, in Wallaga, trimming the surface of a wet pot is

associated with cutting rootlets from a newly harvested tuber. The wet pot, in turn, is associated

with a newborn baby. A newborn baby’s umbilical cord is cut with a metal knife; the surface of

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the newly shaped pot is trimmed with the same metal knife. In addition, identical vocabulary is

used to describe these practices.

Figure 8. 2 Anchote tuber attached to its crown in Wallaga in June 2013.

8. 4 Anchote (Coccinia abyssinica)

One of the common tuber crops cultivated in the southwestern Ethiopia highlands is

anchote (Coccinia abyssinica) that belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. It is reported that the

genus Coccinia comprises 27 species. All of these species are limited to sub-Saharan Africa

(Bekele et al. 2014; Holstein and Renner 2011). In Ethiopia, there are eight species of Coccinia

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(Jeffrey 1995). Of these species, only anchote is domesticated (Bekele et al. 2014; Fekadu 2011;

Fekadu et al. 2013).

Unlike other members of the cucurbitaceae family, which includes pumpkins and gourds

(see Mehner and Maynard 2003), anchote is grown principally for its tuberous root (Figures 8.1

& 8.2). Although the tubers are of economic concern, anchote leaves are also commonly used as

a vegetable. When the plant grows, it produces young leaves from the new bud. These tender

leaves and top growing buds are plucked together, cooked and served with other foods, including

kale (Gamta 1989; Hora 1995).

Figure 8. 3 A girl tending anchote in Wallaga in May 2013.

Anchote is also known for its medicinal and ritual use, predominately among Oromo

ethnic groups (Hora 1995). Non-Oromo people of Ethiopia, however, are also reported to use its
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uncooked wild tubers and fruits for medicinal purposes (see Abebe and Hagos 1991). More

recently, anchote meals are available in hotels owned by the Oromo in cities and towns and are

eaten by non-Oromo people.

Figure 8. 4 Anchote fruits in Wallaga in July 2013.

Studies show that anchote is cultivated sporadically in different Ethiopian regions (Abebe

and Hagos 1991; Bekele et al. 2014). However, the major center of cultivation and consumption

of the tuber is Wallaga (Fekadu 2011, Fekadu et al. 2013; Hora 1995, Wayessa 2011). It is

reported that the Wallaga Oromo carry seeds of the anchote tuber with them when they move to

a new location. As a result, anchote may have been domesticated in Wallaga and the knowledge

of its cultivation has diffused to other regions of the country through Oromo population

movement.

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 Researchers (e.g., Bekele et al. 2014; Fekadu 2011, Fekadu et al. 2013; Fufa and Urga

1997; Hora 1995) currently theorize that because of the existence of strong genetic resemblance

among the anchote populations cultivated in different parts of Ethiopia, the presence of diverse

Wallaga oral traditions of the origin of anchote, and the prevalence of diversified anchote tuber

processing technology in this region, anchote most likely was domesticated in Wallaga. It is seen

as likely that it was then diffused to other regions of Ethiopia (see Bekele et al. 2014; Fekadu

2011, Fekadu et al. 2013; Fufa and Urga 1997; Hora 1995).

According to local Oromo farmers, anchote responds strongly to fertile soil, particularly

to wood ash, and produces large-sized roots. Slash and burn is the common practice for anchote

farming, but it can also be grown close to homesteads where a cattle pen with cow dung is

available as organic manure. To make the cow dung available over a wider area, farmers rotate

the pens every five to seven days. The farmers clear the ground, then burn and plough or dig the

land usually before the onset of the rainy season. The forest is cleared in the dry season and

burned as summer rain approaches. During the week in which the summer rains begin, anchote

seeds are sown using a digging hoe. Generally, anchote cultivation involves hand tilling the field

more than once to make the soil suitable for sowing.

Anchote farms are dominated by women, who are in charge of seeding, weeding,

harvesting, transporting, processing, and distributing the tubers (see Hora 1995). It is Oromo

women who know and select a desirable quality of anchote for propagation. Women are also

believed to be growers of anchote plants because they dominate sowing and weeding plants. In

addition, women determine whether anchote tubers and fruits are mature enough for harvesting.

They also market and distribute the tubers.

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8. 4. 1 Oral accounts on domestication of anchote

According to local oral tradition, the Oromo used ancient wild tubers in the forests for

food and medication. Wild anchote resembles a poisonous wild tuber plant called kakii that

usually causes serious illness or death when consumed in large quantity. Kakii is the local name

for anchote’s wild progenitor. In Wallaga traditional medicine, a small amount of processed

kakii is used to treat intestinal parasites, including tapeworms, roundworms and amoeba. To limit

the potential for mixing up the tubers, it is said that people began to transplant wild anchote to

their gardens, which eventually led to its domestication.

Figure 8. 5 Anchote seeds.

Another local theory of the domestication of anchote suggests that wild anchote was

transplanted to home gardens to make it available for the women who suffered exhaustion and

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fatigue when in labor. Because the society associates anchote with fertility, they represent the

food plant and call it fiira deessuu, which means ‘a relative of fertile women.’ Anchote is

anthropomorphized and given this name because it is reported that this tuber is the best postnatal

meal for women to help them recover from postnatal ailments. This presents a very different

practice among the Oromo to that reported by Hildebrand (2003, 2007). According to Hildebrand

(2003), unmarried or divorced Sheko men are responsible for transplanting wild yams from

fields to gardens in their homeland in the southwestern Ethiopian highlands. Hildebrand

determined that Sheko men, especially unmarried men, did so because of the ease of roasting

them for meals.

Studies show that cultivated plants that are grown for their vegetative parts, including

roots and corms, are generally propagated clonally (Fuller et al. 2010, 2012; McKey et al. 2010;

Zahary 2004). The domestication of these plants “depends on a shift from reproduction by seed

(in the wild) to vegetative propagation (under cultivation)” (Zohary 2004: 6). In most crops,

including cereals and tubers, the reproductive parts constitute the part for which the crop is

mainly grown (Barakat 2002; Fuller 2011; Price and Bar-Yosef 2011; Vrydaghs and Denham

2007; Zohary 1984, 2004; Zohary and Hopf 2000). This project shows that although anchote is

primarily cultivated for its tuber, the local women reported that they prefer propagation by seeds

because they are easy to store.This is the case even though the women also state that seed tubers

are always vulnerable to wild animals.

Local farmers reported that they select quality fruits for future seeds depending on the

size of the fruits and the underground organ the fruits produce. According to them there is an

inverse relationship between the size of seeds yielding fruits and the size of its tuber. The

anchote plants that produce larger fruits yield smaller tubers. Therefore, farmers select an

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anchote plant that produces smaller fruits for future cultivation. The seeds are extracted from

fully mature, yellowish fruit harvested before they begin to rot (Figure 8.3 & 8.4). Such fruits are

macerated or sliced to separate the seeds from the flesh. The seeds are then dried in the sun until

the moisture content reaches the desired level for storage for the next growing season. A mother

plant, locally known as guboo, serves as the source of seeds for further planting. One or two

plants are planted in the doorways of homes for guboo. When they grow up and their tending

vines need support, supportive sticks are planted in the ground. The vines climb up the sticks and

yield fruits. Unlike the other anchote tubers, which are harvested every year, guboo tubers may

remain unharvested for up to five years. Anchote plants in the field cannot be the seed source

because harvesting often occurs before the fruits mature, or the ripening anchote fruits are

damaged by birds, monkeys and other pests. Guboo is planted in an area protected from these

pests.

8. 5 Oromo potatoes (Plectranthus edulis)

Oromo potato (Plectranthus edulis) is an ancient Ethiopian tuber crop (Ababora et al

2012; Greenway 1944; Taye et al. 2007; Siegenthaler 1963) (Figures 8.6 & 8.7), cultivated

primarily for consumption after cooking (Asfaw and Woldu 1997; Westphal 1975). The raw

tuber is rich in carbohydrate, slightly higher content than potatoes, but both have comparable low

protein and fat concentrations (Ababora 2008; Asfaw and Woldu 1997; Siegenthaler 1963;

Westphal 1975). The leaf is cooked and eaten as a vegetable in some western parts of Ethiopia,

particularly in the Kaffa area (Ababora 2008; Asfaw and Woldu 1997). Its leaves are also used as

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a traditional medicine to cure different diseases. Oromo potatoes are propagated mainly by seed

tubers (Westphal 1975).

Figure 8. 6 Oromo potato farm in Wallaga in July 2013.

Before propagating the seed tubers, a farmer ploughs land intended for tuber cultivation

at least three times with a minimum 14-day interval between each ploughing. Eventually,

horizontal rows are formed, in which holes are made with fingers or axes, and the pieces of “seed

tuber" are placed in the holes and covered with soil. Since more than one emergent leaves will

grow out of a single seed tuber, at least a 2 cm space is left between successive seed tubers. The

tuber is cultivated in May and June. During its growth, farmers carry out several cultural

practices including weeding, ploughing and manuring. Farmers start harvesting the tubers

between September and November.

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Figure 8. 7 Oromo potato tubers in Wallaga in June 2013.

As compared with other tubers, the yield of Oromo potatoes per unit area is low.

Regardless, the Oromo potato is a major traditional food crop in several regions of Ethiopia. This

tuber is also primarily eaten by Oromo of southwestern Ethiopia. In recent years, its acreage and

production have declined considerably due to problems associated with the shortage of seed

tubers and land scarcity (Ababora 2008). It seems that farmers are focusing on other tuber crops,

particularly taro, which has the advantage of a higher yield per unit of land than the Oromo

potato. Taro is propagated by its inedible corm (Ababora 2008; Atlabachew 2007).

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Figure 8. 8 Yams ready for harvesting in Wallaga in July 2013.

8. 6 Yam (Dioscorea cayenensis)

Yam (Dioscorea spp.) belongs to the genus Dioscorea, representing more than 600

species worldwide (Coursey 1967). Yam is a crop of major economic and cultural importance in

sub-Saharan Africa and this region accounts for about 95% of the world production (FAO 2004).

The ‘yam belt’ of West and Central Africa is the principal area of production (Coursey 1967;

Hahn et al 1987). Most of the studies on yams concentrate on the yam belt, and less is known

about the status of yams in other parts of Africa. This has led to the perception that yam is an

important food crop only in West and Central Africa, a view that triggered concerns decades ago

but remains largely uncontested (Ayensu and Coursey 1972; Quin 1998).
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Figure 8. 9 Yam-tuber attached to its crown in Wallaga in July 2013.

Ethiopia’s yams are hardly known to the scientific community because the country is

considered to be an isolated center of yam cultivation (Norman et al. 1995). However, there is a

number of Dioscorea species that are grown in southern Ethiopia in complex cropping systems

together with cereals and other tuber crops (Ababora 2008; Westphal 1975).
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 Yams are cultivated around homesteads and the farm requires fencing to protect the crop

from wild pests, including antelopes, porcupines and pigs. Farmers prepare yam farmland

between August and December. From August to October, they add animal manure to the plot of

land intended for cultivating the tuber. Between October and December, they till the land several

times, using an ox and plough. When the plot becomes suitable for cultivation, the farmers make

holes, using axes, on the prepared plot at about a 0.5 m interval. In each hole, a seed tuber is

placed and covered with soft soil.

Figure 8. 10 Yam tuber (takka). Picture taken in Wallaga in July 2013.

It takes about two months for the planted seed tuber to germinate young shoots. When the

emergent stems need to twine, then 3 m tall dry sticks are planted beside every plant. The foliage

grows up, forming canopies at the top of the supporting sticks (Figure 8.7). One of the major

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differences between wild and domestic yams in Wallaga is that the wild yam can produce tubers

without climbing a tree. In contrast, domestic yams do not yield tubers unless they climb sticks.

Wild yam, reported to taste bitter, is more resistant to pests.

Figure 8. 11 Yam seed tuber (sanyii) in Wallaga in September 2015.

Yam harvesting usually begins in the month of June. A farmer harvests a portion of the

yam farm, keeping the rest for a future harvest. The first round of yam tuber (takka) harvesting is

from June to August; the second round of tuberous root harvesting, known as seed tubers

(sanyii), follows. When harvesting the first round (takka), women use a pointed stick to dig down

to expose the underground tuber. While digging, they take care around the fine roots of the stem
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to avoid damaging them. The well-exposed tuber is carefully broken away from the crown of the

parent plant (Figure 8.8). Single medium-to-large tuberous roots without any side tubers (takka)

are not used for propagation (Figures 8.9 & 8.10).

After removing the tuber from the crown, women turn the soils to ensure the fine roots

are intact. The fine roots of the stem will produce a seed tuber (sanyii) if they are not damaged

during primary harvesting (Figure 8. 9). According to the participants, the yam stem produces

several smaller side tubers harvested in early December and buried in a ditch covered with teff

straw. After keeping them in this fashion for a month or more, the farmer unearths the seed

tubers and propagates them in the field. The harvesting of the remaining portion of the non-seed

tuber (takka) continues to the end of May, when intensive summer rain resumes.

8. 7 Enset (Ensete ventricosum)

Enset belongs to the family Musaceae (Brandt 1984, 1996; Brandt and Fattovich 1990).

In Ethiopia, enset, known as ‘three against hunger’ (Brandt et al. 2001), is primarily cultivated

for food. Although enset is a popular food among peoples in southwestern Ethiopia, this corm

plant is not cultivated and consumed by the Oromo of Wallaga, which is a manifestation of an

ethnic-specific food choice. Different types of foods are obtained from the enset pseudo-stem

(kocho) (see Figures 8.12 & 8.13). One of the foods is bulla, obtained from fully matured enset

plants, processed by chopping and burying the kocho in a pit covered with enset leaves for some

three weeks or more. When the chopped kocho is fermented, a starchy product known as bulla is

obtained by squeezing and decanting the liquid. Bulla can be prepared as pancake bread or

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porridge. The other food is amicho, which is obtained from young enset corms that are steamed

and then served.

Figure 8. 12 Enset plants in Wallaga in June 2013.

The most important characteristics of enset are its food productivity per unit of land and

its ability to be stored for a long period of time without spoilage (Seifu 1996). The majority of

the people who depend on enset for food are Omotic and eastern Cushitic agriculturalists of the

highlands of southwestern Ethiopia, including the Ari, Gamo, Goffa, Gedeo, Hadyia, Kembata,

Sidama and Wolayta. In addition, the Semitic-speaking Gurage people of south central Ethiopia

are also heavily dependent upon enset for food.

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Figure 8. 13 A Dawro potter harvesting enset in Jimma in May 2013.

In addition to its food value, enset is used for different purposes by Ethiopian societies.

The fiber obtained from enset is used to make bags, ropes and mats. The dried midribs and

petiole are used for making mats, rope, and for fuel and house construction material. The plant

also has medicinal purposes for different illnesses, including diarrhea and bone fractures (Brandt

et al. 1997).

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Figure 8. 14 Wild enset in Wallaga in April 2013.

Enset leaves are also used to feed cattle, especially during the dry seasons when grasses

are scarce. In Wallaga, farmers chop the pseudo-stem, mix it with salt and feed it to the cattle

(Figures 8.15). Local farmers report that feeding cows the sweetened corm helps them to produce

more milk. The farmers also use the midribs and petiole of enset for making beehives and ropes

and its green leaves are used for baking bread.

In Ethiopia, where the erratic nature of rain causes hunger, enset cultivation can be a

suitable option because it is relatively tolerant to drought, as compared to other food crops in the

country. The other advantage of enset is that the kocho (corm) can be stored for a longer time
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without spoiling. Because of its diverse uses, enset production is intermingled with the economic

and social life of the people who grow it.

Figure 8. 15 A girl harvesting wild enset corm to feed cattle in Wallaga in April 2013.

8. 8 Tuber crop processing technology

In Ethiopia, tubers, like other crops, are rarely eaten raw. They normally undergo some

form of processing and cooking before consumption, ranging from simple boiling to elaborate

fermentation, depending on the varieties of the tuber processed. The basic purposes of these

methods are to make the tubers more palatable and to remove toxins. Women play a dominant

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role in all the stages of production and processing of tuber crops, including the production of

steaming pots (see Chapter Six).

8. 8. 1 Tuber crop steaming technology

The preparation of anchote, yams, taro and Oromo potatoes begins immediately after

harvesting and involves cleaning, washing, cooking and further processing of cooked tubers.

Cleaning, usually by hand, is done just after digging and lifting the tuber from the earth in order

to remove rootlets and soil particles. If the stems or roots are too strong, they can be removed

with a knife. The tubers are further washed to remove adhering soil and any other foreign

materials in a big wooden mortar containing clean water.

The steaming pot is placed on the hearthstones over the fire. The pot is one-third filled

with water and a small amount of salt. When the water in the pot boils properly, washed tubers

are placed in the pot and its mouth is covered with large leaves and a clay lid, tightly sealed with

a layer of fresh cow dung to minimize heat loss. Extremely large tubers are sliced to ensure that

they fit inside the pot and to facilitate uniform cooking. Salt is reported to add flavor and

sweetness to the cooked tubers (Figures 8.17 & 8.18).

In Wallaga, the steaming process varies depending on the nature of the tuber: anchote

and taro steaming requires more firewood and between 1 and 1.5 hours cooking time, whereas

yams and Oromo potatoes require up to 40 minutes for proper cooking. It is reported that

properly steamed tubers are flavorful. The Oromo prefer the deep-fry cooking method and

therefore often encrustations are formed in the interior of their cooking pot. Unlike the Oromo,

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Dawro and Yem women reported that they do not prefer deep-frying and their cooking practices

rarely involve the production of encrustations in the interior of their pots from burned food.

Figure 8. 16 Anchote tuber ready for steaming in Wallaga in June 2013.

8. 8. 2 Processing cooked tubers

Cooked anchote and taro are processed further by peeling the outer non-edible layer with a

knife. Peeled anchote and taro are sliced and served. Sliced anchote can further be processed by

grinding it to make soup or stew. Women do the grinding using a hand mill called dhaga

dafaqoo, which consists of a haadhoo (grinding stone or quem) and majii (hand grinders).

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Grinding is also done by placing peeled tubers into a washed wooden mortar and pounding with

a pestle until the tuber turns into mush.

Figure 8. 17 Tubers being cooked in Wallaga in June 2013.

8. 8. 3 Serving tuber meals

In Oromo socety, cooked tubers are served in different ways. The whole cooked and

peeled anchote tubers may be served during coffee gatherings and on the occasion of collective

drinking. In this case, cooked and peeled anchote tubers are split vertically for elongated tubers,

or they are cut across for more round or oval-shaped tubers. Anchote slices are served whole,

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with buttered-spiced chilies, either separately or with bread (Horan 1995). Anchote is also served

as stew (Figure 8.18) in varying forms. Pure anchote stew is made of thoroughly peeled and

washed tubers that are chopped into the desirable size, and added with spices to the stew pot on

the hearthstone.

Figure 8. 18 Ground anchote tuber in Wallaga in July 2013.

The other common anchote stew is called lanqaxaa, in which cooked anchote is finely

chopped and converted to flour. Lanqaxaa is served principally to postnatal women, since it is

believed that they are not strong enough to chew, and is recommended for elders and those

suffering from health problems. It is also the stew commonly served at important ritual and
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marriage ceremonies, weddings, betrothals, circumcision, birthdays, religious celebrations and

commemorations for good harvest. It also appears on the menu as Oromo cuisine in restaurants.

A soup (mooqa) of anchote is also served to women in their postnatal period. Cooked yam is

served sliced with finely ground chilies (qocqocaa).

Figure 8. 19 Horizontally sliced yam ready to serve in Wallaga in June 2013.

John (1989) reports that some traditional beliefs relate to the chemistry of certain tuber

crops, suggesting interplay between biomedicine and ethnomedicine. For instance, in Oromo

society, anchote is believed to have medicinal or a repairing effect. For this reason, anchote is

delivered to a person suffering with fractured bones and to mothers on the birth of a baby. These
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traditional beliefs about anchote’s medicinal value are supported by scientific investigation in

which anchote is said to have a high content of calcium important for strengthening and

repairing bones (see Hora 1995).

Anchote holds a very special place in the traditions and customs of the Oromo people.

The inclusion of anchote in the list of dishes to be served at ritual ceremonies is considered to

give prestige to the event. On the eve of such special occasions, if neighbors have not grown

anchote for the season, those who have will present an anchote tuber to them so that everyone

will have the chance to partake in an anchote dish. This kind of decision to share anchote is

made by mothers and the daughters of a household and these individuals are usually the ones

who dig up the anchote and take the present to their counterparts in the recipient family. Young

girls learn the tradition from kin and reproduce the practice. Unsurprisingly, in addition to

hunger satisfaction and medicinal value, anchote plays a critical role in structuring social

relationships.

The anchote cultivators who supply the tubers for the needy families are, in turn,

endowed with respect and social prestige in the society. The recipients, typically those who do

not have enough fertile land suitable for tuber cultivation or the cattle to provide manure to

improve the productivity of their poor land, develop a sense of dependency on the benefactors.

The everyday preparation and consumption of anchote are good examples of this routine

practice. Anchote cuisine has become part of the ‘durable dispositions’ of Oromo society that

govern their moral thought. Anchote cuisine is regarded as an important medium of contact

among individuals, and can be understood as a socially constructed practice that became part of

the self-identity of a person at an early age, transmitted from one generation to another. Daily

activities related to the tuber are informed in accordance with socially perceived daily norms.

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8. 9 Summary

In the southwestern Ethiopian highlands, a variety of tuber crops are cultivated, most of

which are reported to be native to the region. Some of the tubers are specific to certain ethnic

groups, whereas others are used by many different ethnolinguistic groups. The social practices

narrated in oral traditions still structure cultivation and consumption practices of the crops. For

instance, according to the local farmers, anchote was transplanted from the forest to the garden

to make it available to a woman who is in labor or experiencing post-labor fatigue because it is

believed to help her to recover. Currently, in Wallaga, a woman in this situation is fed primarily

anchote. This is different from the male-driven tuber transplantation and consumption practices

reported by Hildebrand (2003) in the Sheko area of southwestern Ethiopia indicating variability

in the social context of tuber cultivation in the region.

Regardless of the social and dietary significance of the tubers in this region, little

archaeological and ethnoarchaeological research has been conducted on the process of their

cultivation and domestication, partly because the tubers leave behind little preservable tissues.

Importantly, deep-frying by the Oromo results in specific use-alterations including residue

encrustations in their pots, different from use-alterations in pots used in Dawro and Yem cuisine.

This analysis is the subject of Chapter Nine.

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 Chapter Nine: Wallaga tuber steaming pot use-alteration analysis

9. 1 Introduction

Suggested here is that the Oromo of Wallaga produce pottery of a distinct technological

style, and that the cuisine produced in tuber-steaming pots leaves evidence of Oromo culinary

practices, specifically of the types of tubers they use and consume. Oromo women usually use

pots made by Oromo potters. In addition, anchote consumption (until very recently) is specific to

Oromo people; non-Oromo people rarely use anchote as food. For these reasons, the

investigation of pottery use-alteration from tuber-steaming in pots produced by Oromo potters in

their specific technological style, potentially can inform archaeologists of Oromo history and

culinary practices. Specifically, the linkage of a specific technological style with certain tuber

residues can associate specific tuber-use with specific social groups. To better understand

Wallaga pottery use-alteration, it is important to examine the major approaches to pottery use-

alteration studies. Pottery use-alteration refers to any forms of changes that occur to the “surface

or subsurface of pots as a result of use” (Skibo 1990:81; see also Arthur 2002; Schiffer 1987).

Use-alteration includes both deposition and erosion from the pot’s surface. Deposition refers to a

process that involves accretion of residues on a ceramic’s surface and erosion refers to abrasion

from the pottery surface (Duddleson 2008; Skibo 2013).

Pottery use-alteration studies can be used to identify the contents of an ancient vessel

and to establish a link between the vessel’s form and function (e.g., see Braun 1983; Arthur

2002, 2003; 2013, 2014, Bray 1982; Evershed et al.1990, 2002; Griffiths 1978; Hally 1983;

Notarsteffano et al. 2011; Reber and Hart 2008a, 2008b; Vaz Pinto et al. 1987). Similarly, use-

alteration studies can be used to examine the social practices of consumers (Ashley 2010; Gupta
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and Ferguson 1992; Heine 1982; Lucy 2005). Documented data indicate that past consumption

practices can serve also as social markers (Appadurai 1986; Fuller 2005, 2011; Jones 1999) that

can help to examine the relationship among food habits, status, power and identity in the context

of ancient societies (e.g., Arthur 2006, 2009; Bray 2003; Dietler 1996; Dietler and Hayden 2001;

Goody 1982).

Pottery residue analysis also contributes to our understanding of people's ancient uses of

animals and their domestication. For example, analysis of fatty acids extracted from pottery

excavated from southern Libya at a Takorkori rockshelter shows that dairy fats were processed in

vessels nearly 7000 years ago; this indicates the presence of domestic cattle in that region of

Africa and the processing of milk for food (Dunne et al. 2012). This interpretation is further

supported by widespread rock art that depicts cattle with large udders and of milking scenes

found in Algeria and other parts of the Sahara (see Dunne et al. 2012) and the genetic evidence

for the mutation for lactase persistence that evolves in African populations at about this time

(Tishkoff et al. 2007).

Arthur’s (2006, 2009) ethnoarchaeological case study of beer pots from the southwestern

Ethiopian highlands also shows a strong correlation between pottery use-alteration and social

status. Arthur found that the interior walls of beer jars were corroded by beer processing. Arthur

suggests that wealthy people produce more grain than do poor people, and they use some of their

grain to produce beer for feasting. Consequently, residences of wealthy people will produce a

greater concentration of corroded sherds from beer jars (along with more grain storage and

special rooms for beer making), thus providing a proxy to establish the socio-economic status of

past people occupying a particular residence. Ashley (2010) has demonstrated also that in the

Great Lakes region of East Africa, a strong correlation exists between a person's social status and

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the size of their cooking and serving vessels (see MacLean and Insoll 2003).

Ethnoarchaeological study in Indonesia also shows the correlation between social identity and

massive pottery assemblages, whereby feasting is associated with uncommonly massive pottery

assemblages (Adams 2004). Furthermore, based on the ethnoarchaeological correlates between

beer consumption and gourd bowls, archaeobotanists have identified feasts through starch

analysis of gourd and squash vessel fragments found in ancient Peru (Duncan et al. 2009).

Although its archaeological implication is not yet demonstrated, historical and

ethnographic data indicate that in Ethiopia the manja and the degala social groups of the Dawro

avoided eating sheep and chicken, which are the most favored foods for the farming majority

(e.g., the mala social category) (Freeman and Pankhurst 2003; Petros 2003a, 2003b).

In Ethiopia, ceramic analyses targeting social identity and plant domestication are sparse

(but see Lyons 2009; Lyons and D’Andrea 2003). In this section the use-alteration of tuber

processing in steaming pots is presented as a model of how ceramic use-alteration studies can

potentially contribute to linking a social group and their pottery vessels with the history of a

particular crop over time.

Because the use-alteration studies provide rewarding information for reconstructing how

pots were used in the past (Duddleson 2008; Schiffer and Skibo 1989, 2008; Skibo 1990, 1992,

2013; Vieugué 2014) and the social group that used them (Fuller 2005; Jones 1999; Thomas

2007), multiple techniques are currently in place for analyzing ceramic use-alterations (see

Evershed et al. 2002; Kimpe et al. 2002; Rice 1987; Skibo 2013). Additionally,

ethnoarchaeological studies of ceramic use have been proven to be vital for illuminating specific

use-alteration patterns, including food encrustation and surface abrasions on ceramic vessels that

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result from specific food processing techniques (e.g., Arthur 2002, 2003, 2006; Haaland 2007;

Kobayashi 1994; Skibo 1990, 1992; Young and Thompson 1999).

Pottery chaîne opératoire methodology has also played a significant role in identifying

social groups in Africa's past (e.g., Dietler and Herbich 1998; Gosselain 2000; Livingstone Smith

2000; Livingstone Smith and Viseyrias 2010; Lyons 2007, 2014; Lyons and Freeman 2009;

MacDonald 2011; Mayor 2010). As stated, most African ceramic chaîne opératoire studies have

focused on ceramic production rather than on consumption (but see Arthur 2014; Dietler and

Herbich 1989; Lyons 2009, 2014; Lyons and D'Andrea 2003). This area needs special attention

because African societies often practice culturally specific food processing technologies that

include specific types of pottery as part of these technologies. Pots used to process a specific

food may develop a diagnostic use-wear. As a result, historically situated studies of the post-

manufacturing use-life of pots can be informative about past food-processing practices and the

cultural group that engaged in the tradition (see Ashley 2010; Bakels and Jacomet 2003; Bray

1982; Dietler and Hayden 2001; Emery 2003; Goody 1982; MacLean and Insoll 2003;

Notarsteffano et al. 2011; Simoons 1994; Waines 2003).

It is important to integrate post-manufacturing use-alteration studies with the chaîne

opératoire approach to address issues related to use and discard. This dissertation combines an

approach to identifying the ceramic technological style of a particular community and linking it

with use-alteration produced by processing ethnically and/or locally specific cuisine in these

pots. This may be a potential tool for archaeologists to distinguish specific communities and their

consumption of specific foods cooked in these pots over time. In short, archaeologists using this

combined technique can potentially identify a ceramic producing and using community in a

region, as well as changes in that community’s food consumption practices over time, including

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the domestication/use of specific foods such as tubers. Ethnoarchaeological evidence can be

compared with different periods of a region’s archaeological record to determine changes and

continuities in specific food consumption practices within and between groups over time.

9. 2 Forms of ceramic use-alteration

My field observations show that the daily use of pottery results in certain forms of use-

alteration on both interior and exterior vessel surfaces. One form of ceramic use-alteration is

surface attrition. To systematically examine the processes of attrition on fired clay, several

experimental (e.g., Beck et al. 2002; Schiffer and Skibo 1997; Skibo et al. 1997) and

ethnographic (e.g., Arthur 2002, 2003, 2006; Skibo1990,1992) studies were conducted in the

1990s and 2000s.These studies support the long-held view that vessel wall attrition informs

researchers about the general use of vessels (see Hally 1983a). Soot and oxidation patterns, for

example, reflect how vessels were positioned in relation to the fire. Abrasions, in the form of

pitting, are partly attributed to some form of activity such as stirring and scraping (see Duddleson

2008; Hally 1983a; Skibo 1990,1992, 2013; Vieugué 2014). Although it provides basic

inferences about how vessels were used in the past, the attrition study is not explicitly

informative about the specific service that pots rendered during their use-life.

Residue analysis proved to be important in tackling issues that remained unaddressed by

attrition analysis. To acquire a comprehensive understanding about the past function of vessels, a

ceramic surface attrition study should be accompanied by residue analysis. Residue analysis can

provide robust evidence about past culinary traditions because it can identify species of the

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plants and animals processed in a specific pot (see e.g., Crowther 2005, 2012; Dunne et al. 2012;

Evershed et al. 2008; Henry et al. 2009; Saul et al. 2012).

To enhance ceramic use-alteration studies, archaeologists and ethnoarchaeologists

examine the past use of pots through the analysis of either visible or observed residues left

behind of the pots’ contents (Evershed et al. 1987, 1990, 1995; Heron et al. 1989; Reber and

Hart 2004, 2008a, 2008b, Skibo 1990, 2013). Visible residues are “blackened encrustations” on

the interior walls of pots (Reber and Hart 2008b:131; see also Arthur 2002, 2003; Skibo 2013),

which often result from moist-heat cooking known as steaming (see Henry et al. 2012).

Figure 9. 1 Cooking pot with oxidized base in Wallaga in June 2013.

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 Absorbed residues are compounds that are taken into the openings of pottery surfaces. It

is generally believed that absorbed residues include compounds from the entire use-life of a pot.

These residues are extracted from the ceramic through destructive testing (Reber and Hart 2008a,

b; see also Gill 1906). Absorbed residues yield more information on the contents of ancient

pottery, whereas visible residues provide a great deal of information about specific activities

carried out in a pot during a certain cooking episode (Reber and Hart 2008a, b). Visible residue

analysis does not involve destruction of the sherd from which samples are extracted.

Figure 9. 2 Cooking pot exhibiting carbonized lower and upper bodies in Wallaga in May 2013.

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9. 3 Wallaga cooking pot use-alteration

In Wallaga, there are three types of cooking pots: stew, porridge and steaming pots.

Stewing involves the addition of about three-fourths of the vessel’s volume with water, mixed

with ingredients, such as grain or flour made of beans, peas, or beans and/or vegetables. Porridge

is prepared from flour made of the grains of finger millet, teff, sorghum and barley. Because

stewing and porridge-making involve continuous stirring and proper cleaning after each use,

there is a lesser chance for visible residues to adhere to the interior walls of these pots. They can

still retain absorbed residues.

Table 9. 1 General comparisons of use-alterations that develop on different pots used for cooking
in Wallaga.

Type n= Residue Interior wall Exterior wall Total %

erosion carbonization
Steaming pot 50  x  100
Stew pot 31 x   100
Porridge pot 27 x   100

As indicated in Chapter Eight, tubers are commonly cooked by steaming, which involves

the addition of about one-fifth of the vessel’s volume with water. When the water boils, cleaned

raw tubers are added into the pot. Its mouth is tightly covered with a lid and smeared with fresh

cow dung to reduce potential heat loss through evaporation in the cooking process (Figure 8.18).

The steaming process continues until the water thoroughly drains out of the tubers being cooked.

In time, the cooking pots develop a variety of use-alterations, with the most common ones being

oxidation, carbonization and encrustation of residues.

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Figure 9. 3 Cooking pot with carbonized food in its interior lower body. This picture was taken
immediately after the pot was used for steaming yam in Wallaga in June 2013.

9. 3. 1 Oxidation and carbonization

In Wallaga, oxidation and carbonization are the most common use-alterations

documented on the exterior walls of tuber cooking pots. Pots are placed directly over the fire

during cooking. Because it is on an open fire an ecnlosed fire would cause carbon to form

(Figure 9.1). On the exterior wall of the lower body of the cooking pots, carbon, ranging from

thick dull to dense glossy, is deposited (Figure 9.2). The carbon accretion covers the pot from the

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base to the upper body over time. It is important to note that in this region, carbonization and

oxidation are also observed on the exterior surface of coffee, stew and porridge pots.

Figure 9. 4 Steaming pot with visible carbon accretion caused by food burning during cooking.
Although not yet discarded in the garden, this pot was no longer used for cooking tubers because
it was reported that the vessel leaked water. Importantly, potters reported that they do not use
sherds from these types of vessels as temper because the accreted organic remains mix with the
temper and burn out during firing. This results in the formation of openings in the walls of the
newly formed pot, causing it to leak. Picture taken in Wallaga in June 2013.

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9. 3. 2 Encrusted residues

Tubers are steamed in a specific pot that is rarely used for any other purpose. Cooking

tubers develops specific use-alteration in the interior walls of a pot over time, with encrustations

evident often after a few weeks of continuous use. The society in the study area prefers steaming

tubers to the point that all water in the pot is thoroughly evaporated. This is primarily because the

presence of water is believed to cause the steamed tuber to be greasy and less palatable. Fry-

cooked tubers are reported to be full of good flavor and tend to be more palatable.

Figure 9. 5 Encrustations on the interior surface of a cooking pot with multiple layers that can
possibly be an indicator for several use-episodes. Picture taken in Wallaga in June 2013.

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 Steaming tubers to the extent that moisture in the tubers is totally cooked out results in

burning and encrusting of the content in the interior walls of steaming pots. The burned food

creates thick, dull and black accretions, beginning at the bottom of the interior vessel wall and

gradually spreading to the upper interior vessel body (Figures 9.3-9.5). As this process continues,

the pot's cooking capacity declines due to problems in heat transfer (Figure 9.3).

Figure 9. 6 Discarded cooking pot with encrusted food at the base and lower body of its interior
wall. Picture taken in Wallaga in June 2013.

Only cooking tubers results in the formation of the thick accretion of carbonized food.

Other cooking activities, including stewing and porridge-making, do not result in any significant
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visible residue accretion, primarily because the pots are washed thoroughly after each use and

continuous stirring during preparation prevents residues from adhering. Instead, stirring leaves

scratches on the interior walls that are caused by the mechanical contact between the ceramic

vessel and stirring sticks.

Figure 9. 7 Sherd of steaming pot with thick encrustations in Wallaga in June 2013. It was
collected from a farmer's garden. The encrusted residues appear to be intact at the time of
collection.

According to Vieugué (2014), in archaeological contexts traces like scratches are not

necessarily related to the use of pottery because they can also be caused by taphonomic

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processes (see also Arthur 2002, Beck et al. 2002; Dietler and Hayden 2001; Heron and

Evershed 1993; Skibo 2013). The encrustation of carbonized food, however, most likely occurs

during a vessel's actual use. In Wallaga, this type of carbon deposition is usually retained on the

pot because in tuber cooking, pots are only gently rinsed. The people do not meticulously wash

the encrusted residue from the interior ceramic wall, leaving the burned remnants intact. As a

result, the intentional cooking to dryness and the gentle washing are key processing traits that

allow resarchers to specify Oromo cooking technology and vessel use.

Reber and Hart (2008) state that visible encrustations result from unintentional small

numbers of cooking episodes that lead to a badly burned meal. In contrast, this case study shows

that the encrustations in steaming pots are partly intentional because people want cooked tubers

void of any moisture. Every family in Wallaga knows that this kind of cooking would cost them

some portion of the tubers being cooked, but the benefit of this cooking method is worth more

than its costs. Furthermore, the encrustations are formed over long processes and cannot be

assumed to represent a “few” cooking episodes. Everyday cooking activity, throughout the use-

life of the pot, involves certain forms of encrustation. This becomes apparent from the fact that

the encrustations observed on the cooking pots exhibit several layers that mark multiple cooking

episodes (Figure 9.5).

9. 4 Steaming pot reuse

Tuber steaming pots that leak water are often reused to store grains, depending on the

severity of the encrustations. It is important to note also that cooking pots retain the accreted

residues even after the vessels' function changes from cooking to storage. Moreover, sherds of

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tuber steaming pots are not used for tempering purposes. Where post-depositional preservation is

good, archaeologists should be able to recognize sherds of steaming pots in archaeological

assemblages by the presence of encrustations.

Table 9. 2 Forms of residue and typical locations where they deposit on pots, based on
observations of Wallaga cooking pots. It is important to note that most encrustations occur on the
base of the cooking pots, although they also occur on the lower and upper bodies of some
vessels.

Vessel zone Residue deposited

Exterior base Oxidized
Exterior base Thick black encrustations
Interior base Dull black soot
Upper exterior body Glossy black soot
Lower interior body Back carbonized material
Lower interior body Black carbonized material
Upper interior body None to light encrustation

9. 5 Discarding steaming pots

In Wallaga, damaged tuber steaming pots are used to store cereal grains or for temper.

The damaged steaming pots are temporarily stored outdoors and under roofs with their intact

encrustations (Figure 9.5). Pots are discarded into a temporary location and then are moved to

the garden, where it was observed that they still retained significant visible food crusts (Figure

9.6). This indicates that some of the encrusted foods can endure cultural and non-cultural

transformation processes. Once organic material has been largely reduced to carbon it is largely

inert and also unattractive to microorganisms. Although most pottery that archaeologists find are

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broken sherds and not whole vessels, this sort of use-alteration analysis can provide

archaeologists with valuable information concerning ceramic use. It is important to note,

however, that encrustations that extend onto vessel exteriors were the result of over-steaming and

are “prone to removal" in the depositional setting. Although both internal and absorbed residues

are important to infer vessel function, carbonized content that was absorbed into the ceramic

surface endures the depositional process and tends to be less contaminated because they are

absorbed into the vessel's wall (Marreiros et al. 2015, 2011; see also Malainey 2011; Skibo

2013).

Figure 9. 8 Displays oxidized exterior surfaces with no visible residue encrustation in Wallaga in
May 2013.

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Figure 9. 9 Illustration of Wallaga steaming pot, indicating both interior and exterior views of the
vessel. Recognition of morphology of the pot helps to identity parts of the pot where specific
use-alterations may develop.

9. 6 Steaming pot micro-residue analysis

Although other use-alteration studies are instructive, especially regarding the functions of

pots, pottery residue analysis can enlighten researchers on the kind of food processed in the pots.

In combination with the determination of ceramic technological styles, these vessels can tell us

about the social group that used the pots. One of the common approaches employed to identify

absorbed or adhering residues in a vessel is based on the phosphorous content of the vessel’s

permeable surface wall. The general assumption of this approach is that pottery surfaces that

have had contact with organic matter will yield higher phosphorus levels than surfaces that have

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no contact with organic materials. This analytical approach, however, does not involve the

identification of the individual plant or animal species involved (Cackette et al. 1987; Dunnell

and Hunt 1990; Rice 1987; Skibo 1992).

Figure 9. 10 This illustration shows the distribution of food crusts on the interior surface of a
cooking pot in Wallaga. It reflects the fact that encrustations tend to be thick at the bottom and
thin around the upper body. The lower part of the pot experiences high heat during cooking
which leads to burning and encrustation of some of the contents.

The other approach is isotope analysis, which involves identifying a vessel’s content by

carbon and nitrogen ratios. This has the potential to identify what was cooked in a vessel (see

e.g., Correa-Ascencio et al. 2014; Deal 1990; DeNiro 1987; Gregg and Slater 2010; Morton and

Schwarcz 1988; Spangenberg et al. 2006). This technique offers a more efficient analysis of pots

with carbonized food encrustations and, therefore, is more applicable to cooking pots (Skibo

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1992). The other approach to ceramic residue is fatty acids analysis, which is suitable as a means

for determining the original contents of pottery vessels. Fatty acids are present as absorbed and

encrusted residue. It is also reported that fatty acids can be linked to specific plants and animals

for the reason that “fatty acids occur in different combinations and different proportions in every

plant and animal species" (Skibo 1992:83). The study of fatty acids has the potential to analyze

archaeological ceramics for both visible and invisible residues (see Evershed 2008; Skibo 2013;

Vieugué 2014).

The other technique that can be used to study pottery content, which is the focus of this

chapter, is starch residue analysis. Starch grains are microscopic plant granules produced by

higher plants. Plants synthesize two main forms of starch that are important for archaeological

analyses. One form, transitory starch, is found mainly in leaves and is an ongoing plant energy

source (Torrence and Barton 2006). The other form is storage starch, which is formed within

specialized plastids, known as amyloplasts, which are found in seeds, roots, corms, fruits and

rhizomes (Piperno 2009; Piperno and Pearsall 1998; Piperno et al. 2006; Torrence and Barton

2006).

Starch grains are microscopic plant microfossils with distinctive features, including size

and shape. Starch grains also exhibit diagnostic physical features such as hila, lamellae, and

fissures (Piperno et al. 2000). The features are genetically controlled and their systematic

examination can help to identify plant taxa (Boyd et al. 2006; Fullagar et al. 2006; Haslam 2004;

Loy 1994; Piperno et al. 2000; Torrence and Barton 2006; Zarrillo et al. 2008).

Studies of starch granules have contributed significantly to the multiproxy reconstruction

of human use of plants and the pathways of plant domestication (Barton 2007; Chandler-Ezell et

al. 2006; Crowther 2005, 2012; Henry et al. 2009, 2010; Piperno et al. 2006; Saul et al. 2012).

207
This methodological approach has proved its importance in humid regions where conditions do

not favor the preservation of macrobotanical remains and in areas where tubers are important

sources of plant foods (Langejans 2010; Sandweiss 2007).

Initially, it was reported that cooking destroys starch granules or alters their diagnostic

features, which archaeologists rely on to identify ancient starches in archaeological contexts (see

Barton 2007; Haslam 2004; Henry et al. 2009; Messner and Schindler 2010; Piperno 1998,

Piperno et al. 2000). Starch grains from cooked foods, however, reported to survive in an

identifiable form on ancient human teeth and as carbonized food residues in ceramic cooking

vessels (Crowther 2005, 2012; Haslam 2004; Messner and Schindler 2010).

More specifically, damage to starch grains caused by cooking methods, including baking

and boiling, is particularly distinctive and identifiable in archaeological records (e.g., Barton

2007; Crowther 2005, 2012; Henry et al. 2009, 2010; Saul et al. 2012). Although starch granule

analysis in the study of food plant preparation has been investigated in different parts of the

world, few studies of starches on ceramic and stone tools have been conducted in Ethiopia,

particularly of tubers (Henry and Piperno 2007; Perry 2002; Zarrillo et al. 2008). This study

provides a significant step forward in this regard.

9. 6. 1 Materials and methods

In order to analyze how steaming tubers affects ceramic assemblages in Wallaga, samples

were collected of tuber cooking pots and indigenous tubers in the summer of 2013. Samples

collected were transported to the University of Calgary, the Paleoethnobotany Laboratory of Dr.

Brian Kooyman, for use-alteration and starch residue analysis. The use-alteration analysis was

208
conducted with the naked eye and starch samples were examined using a Zeiss light microscope

with an attached Tuscan camera.

9. 6 .1 .2 Reference collection

Tubers cultivated in the study area included anchote (Coccinia abyssinica), Oromo

potatoes (Plectranthus edulis) and yam (Dioscorea cayenensis). Samples were collected and

prepared in a plant press for starch analysis. Glass slides, with samples of raw tuber plants, were

prepared as a baseline to compare any changes that occurred in the starches during the cooking

process. These descriptions were compared against previously published reference collections

(e.g., Piperno 2000; Torrence and Barton 2006). Samples of anchote, Oromo potatoes and yams

were steamed separately in new steaming pots on traditional hearths under the supervision of

farm-women in order to examine the effect of cooking on tuber starch grains.

9. 6. 1. 2 Collection of samples of steaming pots

Fifty tuber-cooking pots were selected in Wallaga for the purpose of starch micro residue

analysis. These samples were collected from two villages, Warra Gigsa and Seqa, located in the

Wallaga zone. A total of 50 samples of ethnographic steaming pots were collected. Seventy-eight

households, out of a total of 197 households in Warra Gigsa and Seqa villages, were visited to

collect samples. Samples were obtained from 50 households. Fifty percent (n=25) of the pots

were collected from farmers' gardens, with the remaining 32 percent (n=16) and 18 percent (n=9)

obtained from outdoors (under roofs) and from temporary discard areas in the homes,

respectively.

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 The collected samples, selected for their significant visible residues, were examined

visually for the presence of encrusted foods on their interior walls. Most of the samples collected

exhibited residues on their interior bases. One sample sherd was extracted from every pot

selected. The sample was composed of 82 percent (n=41) vessel bases, 10 percent (n=5) lower

body sherds, and 8 percent (n=4) upper body sherds.

Before breaking the selected pots to take the sample, I examined and documented where

the food crusts accumulated on each vessel. Each pot was then broken to extract a desired size of

sherd to be transported to the Paleoethnobotany Laboratory at the University of Calgary,

Department of Archaeology. A sample of residue from each sherd was taken for starch analysis

and prepared as a microscopic slide.

9. 6. 1. 3 Residue extraction, micro-slide preparation and analysis

To prepare the slides, the target residue from vessel walls was separated, using a scalpel.

The residues were then disaggregated by pounding in an agate mortar and pestle. The

disaggregated residues from each sherd were soaked in distilled water in a small bowl for 10 to

20 minutes to allow dissolving. A quantity of wet specimen was added to the glass microscope

slide, covered with a slide cover and left to dry at room temperature (see Henry et al. 2009; Saul

et al. 2012). The starch grains from the samples of a) raw tubers (anchote, Oromo potatoes and

yam); b) the samples of steamed tubers; and c) residues extracted from ceramic processing

vessels were compared and analyzed to determine if differences existed. The form of damage to

the starch grains that resulted from cooking (e.g., swelling, loss of features, and change in the

extinction cross) was detected using a light microscope. The identified starches were then

photographed and identified.

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9. 6. 2 Results

In the analysis of the presence of carbonized and oxidized attributes on the exterior wall

of the 50 steaming pots, 64 percent (n=32) have an oxidized exterior wall, 26 percent (n=13)

present a carbonized exterior wall, and 10 percent (n=5) appear to exhibit both attributes. As

indicated elsewhere, oxidation develops on the exterior base of the cooking pots. This implies

that thick encrustations and oxidation coincide because they develop on the interior and the

exterior bases, respectively.

To undertake residue analysis, samples of tubers cooked in Wallaga - anchote, Oromo

potatoes and yams - were collected for reference. To understand how the appearance of starches

can be altered, I cooked samples of selected native tubers under the supervision of local women

who usually perform tuber cooking, and documented how cooking may cause changes to starch

grains.

Figure 9. 11 Morphology of uncooked anchote starches 500x. Anchote produces a round starch
with centric helium. While lamella are not clearly visible, anchote’s starches exhibit a clear
extinction cross. Scale bar equals 20μm.

211
Figure 9. 12 Morphology of starch of uncooked yam at 500x. Yam produces an oval type of
starch. The starch also exhibits clear lamellae, an eccentric hilum and a clear extinction cross.
Scale bar equals 20μm.

Figure 9. 13 Morphology of starch of uncooked Oromo potato at 500x. Oromo potato produces
an elongated oval type of starch, an eccentric hilum, clear lamellae and extinction cross (The
right side pictures on Figures 9.11-9.13 are under cross-polarized light). Scale bar equals 20μm.

a b c

Figure 9. 14 a) Morphology of cooked anchote starch at 500x. b) Morphology of starch of

cooked yam. c) Morphology of starch of steamed Oromo potato at 500x. Clearly, steaming
destroys the morphologies of starch to the level that species is not identifiable, but they support
the interpretation of vessel use. Scale bar equals 20μm.

212
Figure 9. 15 Starches extracted from cooking vessels show completely gelatinized starch grains.
Magnification at 500x. Scale bar equals 20μm.

The study shows that in the Wallaga Oromo practices a locally specific technique of

steaming tubers in pots that results in the formation of layers of food encrustations in the interior

walls of pots. The study also determined that steaming alters the morphological features of native

starch grains. As a result, modified starch granules do not display all the characteristics typical to

native grains. This implies that damaged starch granules can be more difficult to recognize.

Although the starch grains are often transformed, making it challenging to identify species, they

213
are recognizable as steamed starch grains (see also e.g., Chandler-Ezell et al. 2006; Crowther

2005, 2012; Henry and Piperno 2009; Horrocks et al.2008).

9. 7 Conclusion

The Wallaga Oromo use pots made by the Oromo potters. In the region, the pots used for

steaming tubers develop diagnostic use-alterations. The Oromo in the region prefer to steam

tubers and this cooking technique results in the formation of layers of food encrustations in the

interior walls of their steaming pots. It is reported that specific food-processing techniques leave

specific use-alterations on pots (García-Heras et al. 2001; Henry et al. 2009; Saul et al. 2012;

Stahl et al. 2008). As a result, ceramic use-alteration studies can contribute to identifying

vessels’ use and the people that used them.

Visible residue (food encrustations), analysis can also be substantiated by micro-residue

analysis. One of the ceramic residues that can be investigated is starch. However, identification

of the starch in charred residues by pounding and soaking in distilled water shows no diagnostic

features of native starches. As result, further charred starch residue analysis should be carried out

to enhance the archaeologist's ability to determine the specific tubers steamed in these pots (see

Crowther 2012; Saul et al. 2012; Zarrillo et al. 2008). Specifically, in order to identify starch

grains in the charred residues the "heavy-density liquid separation" technique should be used in

the future (Zarrillo et al. 2008).

In future studies, these residues should be examined with other approaches that might be

more successful. For example, ceramic chemical analysis (e.g., analysis of carbon and nitrogen

ratios, fatty acids analysis) and compositional analyses (e.g., instrumental neutron activation

214
analysis, ceramic thin section) could diagnose the precise foods cooked in these vessels in ways

that will assist archaeologists in tracking the history of the people who made and used the

vessels, and may discern the antiquity of tuber crop cultivation/domestication in the region (see

Arnold 1985; Arnold et al. 1978; García-Heras et al. 2001; Notarstefano et al. 2011; Stahl et al.

2008). More importantly, because fatty acids of different species of plants occur in different

arrangements and proportions (Skibo 2013; Malainey 2011), this is a very important technique to

investigate in situations where only one community grows and consumes a specific crop

similarly to the Oromo who are the primary cultivators and consumers of anchote.

Finally, the combination of pottery technological style (e.g., a material identity of a social

group) with specific foods remains an important approach to investigate the history of specific

social groups in the past, including the history of their culinary practices. Until now ceramic

analyses like isotopes and phytoliths have informed us as to what people ate in general, but not

how the pot used for food processing was made or how the foods were prepared.

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 Chapter Ten: Discussion and Conclusion

10. 1 Discussion

The primary objective of this dissertation is to develop a material means to investigate the

history of the Oromo people in Wallaga and their contribution to tuber domestication in the

region. To meet this objective, the chaîne opératoire of Oromo pottery production and that of

two of their neighbours was successfully determined. It was demonstrated that the Oromo potters

practice a distinctive technological style from the Yem and Dawro ethnolinguistic groups. The

results of this study support the growing ethnoarchaeological literature of ceramic chaîne

opératoire in sub-Saharan Africa that the technological choices made by potters are primarily

guided by social choices (e.g., Dietler and Herbich 1989; Fowler 2011; Fowler et al. 2011;

Gosselain 1992, 1998a, 1999, 2011; Gosselain and Livingstone Smith 2005; Haour 2013;

Herbich 1987; MacDonald 2011; Livingstone Smith 2000; Livingstone Smith and Van der

Veken 2007; Livingstone Smith and Viseyrias 2010; Lyons 2007, 2009, 2014; Manning 2011;

Mayor 2010; Sterner and David 2003), contrary to the functional argument presented in

behavioral archaeology's chains of operation where the potter’s choice is based fundamentally in

technological considerations that are intended to optimize artefact performance characteristics

(e.g., Schiffer 1972; Schiffer and Skibo 1997, 2008; Skibo 2013; Skibo and Schiffer 1987). For

instance, Oromo, Yem and Dawro potters produce the same types of pots to cook the same types

of crops in the same local environment, but they make pots using separate and distinct

chaînes opératoires. This does not mean that potters are unconcerned with vessel function, but

that social values and functional values are inseparable. For instance, pottery vessels are

produced within a social learning network to function in culinary, social and ritual practice,

which includes a guarantee of workmanship to the customer. Moreover, the project shows that
216
Wallaga pottery technological practices integrate or are part of broader technological practices in

Oromo society that include winnowing and processing of cereals for bread-making. This

supports observations that the technological practices of a society are used to solve other

technological problems in other contexts of material culture production within that society (see

Lechtman 1977; Lyons 2009; Sillar 1996, 2009). This concept demonstrates that functional

objects are produced within a cultural technological tradition. As a result, it is unhelpful to

separate the social from the functional in ceramic analysis.

Importantly for the objectives of this study, the distinct Oromo chaîne opératoire

provides a material identity of the Oromo that can be used as a starting point to investigate their

history in the Wallaga archaeological record. This supports the ever-growing literature that

discards long-held narratives, that people without a written language are without history, and that

strives to recover the histories of Africa’s subaltern peoples through their material culture

analysis (see e.g., Lane 2004, 2006; Schmidt 2006; Schmidt and Walz 2007).

In addition to the chaîne opératoire, the project provides detailed information on the role

of pottery in human-human interactions, as well as human-pottery interactions, in everyday and

ritual practice. The project indicates that potters engage with pots in certain stages of production

in similar ways that people interact with people. Moreover, pottery structures the relationships

among individuals in the course of its production and ritual practices. In this context, pots have

active social relationships with their makers and users. Indeed, clay itself is perceived to have

agency, and potters must perform certain rituals before collecting it and other raw materials.

More importantly, in Wallaga, pots embody spirits that require engagement of humans with these

clay objects including splashing local beer prepared free of finger millet to appease its spirit.

Finger-millet beer was reported to make the spirit unhappy and should not be included in a beer

217
that is intended for this purpose. Moreover, through their perceived agency, the vessels inform

and constrain the ways that they are used. For example, traditionally in Wallaga, water jars are

not used for any purpose other than storing water, not because of its functional requirement but

because of the symbolic meaning attached to these vessels. According to local participants, even

damaged water jars were rarely given other uses. To do so would violate the social system that

regulates the male worldview, exposing them to impure or socially unacceptable sexual acts,

before meeting the expected social requirements.

Pots are perceived as sentient, and they experience vital events including birth, growth

and death analogously with human beings. An example was provided in Chapter Five where

breaking pots was perceived as similar to murder and the act was handled similarly to a human

murder.

These observations support elements of research investigated in symmetrical, and provide

a well-situated case study of object agency and the deeply embedded role of pottery in human-

human and human-pottery interactions and relationships in the societies investigated here.

Symmetrical archaeology maintains that objects influence the ways human beings act with them

in the social world (Gosden 2005, 2012; Jones 2004; Knappett 2012, 2014; Robb 2005; Sillar

2009) and hence it proposes that “human and non-humans should not be regarded as

ontologically distinct, as detached and separated space entities” (Witmore 2007:547). In short,

humans and things are engaged in complex networks and co-exist through negotiations

(Knappett 2014; Olsen 2003; Witmore 2007). Further studies of ceramic ethnoarchaeology in

Wallaga and other regions of Ethiopia will surely contribute to the development of symmetrical

(and other) archaeological theory.

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 This dissertation provides information on culinary practices of the groups investigated,

especially that of the Oromo of Wallaga. The Oromo of Wallaga cultivate and consume anchote.

In addition to its dietary value, serving anchote dishes is the sign of respect and harmony among

the people that share the food. The cultivation and processing of anchote, which is associated

with fertility, are primarily carried out by women. The Yem and Dawro ethno-linguistic group do

not cultivate and consume anchote. The stable tuber for these groups is enset, which is not

cultivated and consumed by the Oromo of Wallaga. This supports the idea that crops in the same

environment are preferentially consumed by specific ethnic groups, and further practice

foodways that reproduce social identity (see Fuller 2005; Jones 2007; Simoon 1994).

In Wallaga, it is reported that anchote was transplanted to make anchote meals available

to women to help them recover from postnatal ailments. This view is different from the practices

of the Sheko reported by Hildebrand (2003, 2007). Hildebrand observed that in Sheko, the

transplantation of wild yams into gardens is primarily carried out by unmarried or divorced men,

to make the food available to them as desired. The Sheko men, like men in many Ethiopian

societies, do not cook, because if they do so they will be perceived as feminine.

Wild tubers can be roasted (not boiled) and provide Sheko men with an acceptable meal

in the absence of women who will cook for them. Yam tubers are also preferred by men because

they are easily prepared. Hildebrand used this obseration to demonstrate that there is no universal

factor that led to the origins of agriculture (see e.g., Denham et al. 2007; Fuller 2005, 2011;

Fuller et al. 2014, Harris 2007; Price and Bar-Yosef 2011; Martins and Pliner 2005; Zeder and

Smith 2009; Zohary 1984, 2004; Zohary and Hopf 2000).

The project also presented use-alterations of Oromo pottery that result from the Oromo's

unique culinary practices, particularly heat-treatments of food. More specifically, it is identified

219
that the way pots are used in processing and preparing different food items vary in the

southwestern Ethiopian highlands. For example, in Wallaga tuber cooking pots develop

diagnostic use-alterations that can be recognizable in an archaeological context. Specifically,

Oromo in Wallaga prefer to steam tubers, a method that results in the formation of layers of food

encrustations in the interior walls of the tuber steaming pots. This may help to distinguish tuber-

steaming pots from any other cooking vessel in archaeological contexts.

Unfortunately, the visible use-alteration study could not be substantiated by micro-

residue analysis in regard to identifying specific tubers steamed in pottery vessels. In the study

area, steaming pot micro-residue analysis indicated that the cooking process gelatinized the

starches that impaired the identification of starch grains in charred residues using common

techniques that involve soaking the sample in distilled water (see also Crowther 2005, 2012;

Henry et al. 2009; Saul et al. 2012). Thus other charred starch residue identification techniques -

heavy-density liquid separation- should be used in the future to identify specific starches cooked

in the pots (Zarrillo et al. 2008:2006; see also Crowther 2012).

As a result, other techniques including ceramic chemical analyses (e.g., carbon and

nitrogen ratios, fatty acids analysis) and compositional analyses (e.g., instrumental neutron

activation analysis, ceramic thin section) might be useful approaches for future research to

identify specific tuber cooking practices and the people who engaged in the activity (see García-

Heras et al. 2001; Stahl et al. 2008). Although the starch analysis did not produce a satisfactory

result in terms of identifying specific tubers cooked in given pots, this experiment was important

because it determined the starch morphology of uncooked tubers. The starch morphologies were

previously undetermined for these species. On a positive note, the potential of being able to link

the technological style of pottery with specific food processing practices holds promise for

220
tracking the history of social groups, as well as the history of their culinary practices and food

choices, in the past. This is an important avenue of research that deserves more study.

This ethnoarchaeological project is the first case study in the region that integrated the

chaîne opératoire methodology and pottery use-alteration. This integrated approach is at an early

stage in ceramic studies in the Horn of Africa. Combining these approaches enables us to provide

a stronger social context for pottery production and consumption. In short, archaeologists and

ethnoarchaeologists using this combined technique potentially can identify specific social groups

in a region and in a region’s archaeological record and track changes to that community’s food

consumption practices over time. Ultimately this approach could be used to identify specific

group tuber domestication practices or at least the consumption of specific tubers over time.

This project also contributes to our understanding of the social context of pottery

production in Wallaga; potters are marginalized women who do not have free access to clay

resources. Studies show that traditional pottery-making is declining because of the reduced

demand for their products due to influx of plastics and metal alternatives (e.g., Ali 2010; Bowser

2000; Gukas 2012; May and Tuckson 2000). Although Ethiopia is working towards gender

equality through different programs to enhance the social and economic status of women, its land

policy limits potters’ free access to clay in Wallaga, as it does in other parts of the country (e.g.,

Lyons and Freeman 2008; Lyons 2014; Freeman and Pankhurst 2003; Berhane-Selassie 1991,

1994, 1999; Wayessa et al. 2015). This policy is contradictory to attaining gender equality.

The project presents detailed information on the Oromo knowledge and use of tuber

crops, an important contribution to the current but limited understanding of tuber crops in

Ethiopia. This information includes how farmers select quality tubers and their motives for

choosing how to propagate the tuber. The project also determined that when Oromo farmers

221
move to new places, they take anchote seeds to cultivate in their new homes. This is supported

by the presence of a strong genetic resemblance among anchote presently cultivated in different

Ethiopian regions by Oromo people (see Bekele et al. 2014; Fekadu 2011; Fekadu et al. 2013).

10. 2 Conclusion

The major objective of providing a material means to track the history of the Wallaga

Oromo in the past was met by determining their pottery technological style and those of

neighbouring ethno-lingustic groups. These technological styles can be compared to the

archaeological record to determine the history of the Wallaga Oromo in this region as well as

possible interactions of potters in the region in the past.

The project further determined that in Wallaga, pots and humans actively interact and co-

exist through negotiation. The negotiation frames the way pots are made, used and discarded. In

short, pottery production is fully rooted in the Oromo of Wallaga’s culture and worldview. The

project also determined that anchote (Coccinia abyssinica) is cultivated and primarly used by the

Oromo in Ethiopia. It is also reported that the tuber is grown by the Oromo diaspora. Anchote

cultivation is dominated by Oromo women. As a consequence of this relationship, there is a

culturally perceived relationship between Oromo women and anchote.

The project successfully describes Oromo contemporary cuisine. In the region, different

ethnic groups follow their own specific culinary traditions and these traditions produce specific

use-alterations on specific vessels. However, the project was not able to identify different types

of tubers cooked in specific pots based on starch-residue analysis. Future work should include

222
chemical analyses of residues to try to establish the linkage of a pottery technological style with

specific foods and culinary practices.

Finally, the current government land policy inhibits potters in practicing their craft within

the context of declining market demand and the presence of industrial vessel alternatives in the

marketplace. The decline in pottery markets has adversely affected the social and economic

livelihood of the potters. In addition to losing income that gave these women economic freedom,

the potters are losing the opportunity to travel to market centers and to meet other people. This

social and political context reproduces structures of social inequality between men and women

contrary to government policies.

223
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 Appendix A

The following interview questions were prepared before going to to the field. In the field, I found

that a less structured interview process was more useful. This allowed the potters and farmers to

lead the interview by explaining what and why they were doing something at each stage.

i. Sample Questionnaire for potters

1. What is your name? Please tell me about your ethnic background. When and where were you

born? I would like to observe your pottery manufacturing processes and as an outsider, what are

the ritual requirements that I should fulfill before proceeding?

2. When did you start pottery making? From whom did you learn pottery-making? Do you like

pottery-making or you are making pots only for income? How many children do you have? Do

you advise your daughter/s to take up pottery making? If no, why? Does your husband or sons

help you make pots? If yes, mention some of their activities in the technology. If no, why do they

not help you? What do you feel about that?

3. What is the social background of your husband? Is he from an artisan background? Is he

involved in iron smelting or any other craftwork? How did you choose your partner? Does the

mainstream society marry from the artisan class? If no, what do you think are the reason/s for

this? Do artisans and non-artisans marry to/ from the surrounding people who are not ethnically

affiliated with them?

4. What are the major raw materials you use to make pots? How do you get the resources? How

do you choose quality clay? Do you have free access to the clay mining sites? How is the current

land certification policy affecting you? Is there any ritual practice to be held at the mining site?

How do you transport the clay to the manufacturing site? How do you process clay? Why do

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you prefer the way that you shape pots? Do you allow someone to adopt your shaping technique?

Have you ever tried to use other shaping techniques? Are you willing to take up another shaping

method? What are the norms and values you should follow as a potter? What do you think are

the impacts of Christianity or Islam on the traditional values in general and pottery-making in

particular? What do you think happens if you violate the norms? Can you mention the major

forms of pots that you make? How do you dry your pots? Is there any social regulation to be

followed? How do you make sure whether the pots are dry enough to be fired? Do you fire pots

in a pit or open firing? If in pit, who digs the pit and why do you prefer pit firing to open firing?

Do you have any post-firing treatments for the pots? Do you do the post-firing treatments

yourself? Can you comment on any observable change and continuity in pottery technology in

your lifetime?

4. What are your sources of income other than pottery making? What are the major tuber crops?

Do the tubers have ritual or medicinal value? If you believe that they have medicinal value how

do you know? Do other ethnic groups use the same tubers that you use in the same manner? Are

there tuber crops you do not use? If so, why? How do you steam tuber crops? Do you use metal

pots to steam tuber crops? If no, why you do not use them? Can you distinguish your steaming

pots from the steaming pots shaped by other ethnic groups? If yes, mention some of the specific

features you use to distinguish them from other people. Why do you do this? Can you estimate

the longevity of steaming pots? Is there any specific wear that develops on the interior walls of

the pots in time? Where do you dispose of damaged pot?

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ii. Sample Questionnaire for non-artisan farmers

1. Thank you very much for your willingness to participate in this project. Please tell me your

name and ethnic background.

2. What are the major crops you cultivate? How do you select appropriate sites for each crop?

Who taught you how to grow the type of crops your area supports? Do you cultivate tuber crops?

If yes, can you tell me some about them? Do these crops have wild forms in this region? How do

you distinguish the domestic ones from the wild ones? Do you use the wild plants? If yes,

elaborate when do you use them and the reasons why?

3. Do the tuber crops have medicinal value? If yes, how did you learn their medical significance?

Tell me if the tubers have any ritual role to play in the society. Who plays major roles in land

selection, cultivation and harvesting of tuber crops? If one of the sexes, what do you think the

reason is for this division of labour? I have heard that you call anchote as a ‘friend of fertile

women’? What does this mean? What is the link between anchote and fertile women? When do

women use anchote?

4. How are the tubers propagated? If there any tuber that propagates by seed, who selects the

desired quality seeds? How do you know when the crops are mature enough and ready for

harvesting? How do you steam the tubers? How are the tubers propagated? If there any tuber that

propagates by seed, who selects the desired quality seeds? How do you know when the crops are

mature enough and ready for harvesting? How do you steam the tubers? Do you use a clay pot or

metal? If you do not use metal pots, why is this? From where do you get clay pots? How do you

get the pots? Do the potters themselves bring them to your home or you buy from market places?

Do you buy in cash, in exchange with other goods, or both? Do you use a clay pot or metal parts?

If you do not use metal pots, why is this? From where do you get clay pots? How do you get the

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pots? Do the potters themselves bring them to your home or you buy from market places? Do

you buy in cash, in exchange with other goods, or both? Do you buy specific parts for specific

purposes? What specific use-wear patterns do you observe in the steaming pot? Can you

distinguish potsherds of steaming pots from other discarded potsherds? If yes, what are the

criteria you use to distinguish them? Do you buy parts from any potters or from specific clients?

5. Who are the potters? What is your social relationship with the potters? Do you marry artisans?

If no, what do you think is the reason? What would you feel if your daughter takes up pottery-

making as a livelihood option? What change and continuity do you observe regarding the

relationship you have with the potter? What do you think the impact is of the new religions

(Christianity or Islam) on the traditional social structures and on the relationship between the

artisans and the mainstream society?

6. What are other craftworks processed in this region? What do you think the roles of artisans in

your traditional institutions, conflict resolution as well as socioeconomic development of your

community? Comment on their social status as compared to their contributions to the society.

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