Melka Kunture and Balchit: Archaeological and Palaeontological Sites in the Highland Area of Ethiopia World Heritage Site

Official name

Melka Kunture and Balchit: Archaeological and Palaeontological Sites in the Highland Area of Ethiopia | UNESCO

Country

Ethiopia | Map

Continent

Africa

Location

8.7034° Lat, 38.5990° Lon | Map

Code

13

Time Zone

Africa/Addis_Ababa (EAT, +0300)

Current Time

Category

Cultural

Description

Inscribed 2024. Located in the Upper Awash Valley in Ethiopia, the serial property is a cluster of prehistoric sites that preserve archaeological and palaeontological records – including footprints – that testify to the area’s occupation by the hominin groups from two million years ago. The sites, situated about 2,000 to 2,200 metres above sea level, yielded Homo erectus , Homo heidelbergensis and archaic Homo sapiens fossils, documented in well-dated strata in association with various tools made from volcanic rocks. The cultural sequence includes four consecutive phases of the Oldowan, Acheulean, Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age techno-complexes. Fragments of palaeo-landscapes, preserved buried under volcanic and sedimentary deposits with fossil fauna and flora, allow reconstruction of the high-mountain ecosystem of the Ethiopian Highlands during the Pleistocene. Conclusions can thus be drawn on the adaptation of hominin groups to the challenges and climatic conditions of high altitudes.