Tiya

Tiya

Tiya is a town and an archaeological site in the central part of Ethiopia. It is situated within the Soddo woreda, in the Gurage zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region, to the south of Addis Ababa. The large stone pillars, many with some kind of ornamentation, make this archaeological site famous. The site was declared a World Heritage Site in 1980 because of the unique character of these monolithic monuments. The site is relatively recent, dating to between the 11th and 13th centuries AD, according to Joussaume, who led the archaeological work at Tiya. The construction of megaliths in Ethiopia, though, is a very old tradition, with many of these monuments dating from before the Common Era. This site, with 32 stelae inscribed with mysterious symbols, especially swords, probably marks a large prehistoric tomb. In April 1935, a German ethnographic team visited the site and, one hour south of the caravan camp, found the stone monoliths with the sword symbol that Neuville and Père Azaïs had seen. A selection of Middle Stone Age tools technologically similar to those found at Gademotta and Kulkuletti were recovered from the surface at Tiya. The Tiya tools may also belong to the same time period as these other two sites because of a unique production process using so-called "tranchet blows". In addition, archaeological excavations at Tiya have uncovered graves. The stelae in Tiya and other central Ethiopian areas resemble those on the Djibouti City-Loyada route in Djibouti.