ABSTRACT
The later prehistory of Ethiopia offers several important contrasts with that of other African regions, both in the emphasis of the research that has so far been conducted and in the results obtained. The first point to note is the physical isolation and environmental variety of Ethiopia. Its territory includes not only one of the continent's largest mountain massifs, reaching a maximum altitude of over 4600 m and with extensive high plateaux between 2000 and 3000 m above sea-level, but also the arid lowlands of the Danakil which dip more than 100 m below the water level of the adjacent Red Sea. The highlands are bisected by the Rift Valley and also by the huge and precipitous gorges of the Blue Nile and Takezze, up to 600 m deep, through which much of the highlands drain and by which great quantities of silt from soil erosion are transported annually to the Sudanese plains.
