2023/12/29 by Mengstie, Shegalem Fekadu, Marshet Girmay
#FOS: History and archaeology
paper · doi:10.20372/dijbar99699.v5i2.2023
Ruined historic archaeological sites offer snapshots of times and places and are mostly discovered through document analysis, the interpretation of material remains, and oral traditions. The goal of this research article was to conduct historic-archaeological investigations and reconstruct the history of Qorata and Bétä-Mänzo sites in Dära wäräda. The study used a qualitative research approach with a descriptive design. Key informant interviews, field observation, document analysis, and photographic documentation were methods of data gathering, and the collected data was thematically interpreted and qualitatively analyzed. The study, thus, found that the Lake Ťana area is endowed with numerous islands located across its various parts. The sites were among the Royal Islands and historic towns of the area during the medieval period. Since the Gondärine period, Qorata has been one of the Lake Ťana areas' commercial heartlands as well as a long-distance trade center in Northwestern Ethiopia. Human material remains attest to the two sites’ significance during medieval Ethiopia, as they include a wide variety of archaeological ruins bearing evidence of numerous architectural styles, metal items with iron slag, potteries, and grinding stones. The stakeholders’ ignorance causes the sites destruction and transformation into ruins. All in all, the findings enable the researchers to conclude that the Bétä-Mänzo site was a legacy of the 16th century and the town of Qorata was active from the 16th to the 19th centuries.