Melka Kunture and Balchit

Melka Kunture and Balchit
Photo by Michael Novins.

Melka Kunture and Balchit: Archaeological and Palaeontological Sites in the Highland Area of Ethiopia represents an ancient volcanic landscape in the Awash Valley used by humans since prehistory.

Tens of thousands of lithic tools, faunal and some human fossilized remains have been discovered. The tools were mainly made of obsidian, of which the primary source is at Balchit.

Community Perspective: Daytrips from Addis to the WHS of Tiya also often include Melka Kunture as it is on the way. Boj recommends the on site museum.

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Randi Thomsen

Norway - 08-Aug-24 -

Melka Kunture and Balchit by Randi Thomsen

It’s likely we are the first visitors from our community to visit this site after inscription at the 2024 session.

On our southern Etiopia  tour this was our first stop. The site is anonymous, with no signs leading to it from the main road. At the site itself, there were no indications of its recent status as a World Heritage site.

We visited the Gombore site, which has five excavation sites, with #2 displayed as an open-air museum. From the entrance, it is a few hundred meters walk along an overgrown path.

This excavation site is approximately 800,000 years old. We saw several tools, fireplaces, and the bones of hippos and gazelles. A Homo erectus skull was also found here, which is now displayed in the National Museum in Addis Ababa.  According to the site mananger there are also some old  footprints, that testify a long existence of life in this area. 

The site manager told us they have identified 65 possible sites in the area, with half of them currently been excavated. The findings range from 2 million years old to 150,000 years old Homo sapiens. There is certainly much more to discover in this area. 

The site we visited appears to be a primary site. There is a small museum in a traditional house, displaying mostly tools from the surrounding excavation sites, along with some replica skulls from other parts of Africa. There are several tools made of obsidian from the Balchit site. According to the site manager, a visit to the Balchit site is possible, but we had no time for an additional visit in our itinerary.

The site is overgrown and seems to receive very few visitors. As with other archaeological sites related to early humans, there is usually not much to see, but we enjoyed our visit.

### Randi & Svein Elias


Boj

Philippines - 14-Jan-23 -

Melka Kunture and Balchit by Boj

Visited Melka Kunture archaeological site in January 2023 - a quick day trip from Addis Ababa.

The site has an interesting museum exhibiting Ethiopia's rich archaeological heritage. Melka Kunture boasts for recording 1.7 million years of continuous prehistoric human occupation, apart from its rich lithic, flora and fauna fossil records (Photo is from the dig site with in-situ artefacts).

Travelers can arrange a visit to Melka Kunture with a trip to Tiya (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and Adadi Mariam Rock Church, the only known rock-hewn church outside of Lalibela. 


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Site Info

Full Name
Melka Kunture and Balchit: Archaeological and Palaeontological Sites in the Highland Area of Ethiopia
Unesco ID
13
Country
Ethiopia
Inscribed
2024
Type
Cultural
Criteria
3 4 5
Categories
Archaeological site - Prehistoric Natural landscape - Volcanic
Link
By ID

Site History

2024 Name change

Upon inscription on the request of ICOMOS from "Melka Kunture and Balchit Archeological and Paleontological Site" to "Melka Kunture and Balchit: Archaeological and Palaeontological Sites in the Highland Area of Ethiopia"

2024 Inscribed

2022 Incomplete - not examined

2020 Revision

Renomination of "Melka Kunture and Balchit Archaeological Site" (2012)

2012 Revision

Bachilt Archaeological Site added to the nomination

1981 Deferred

At Bureau - Need Tentative List

1980 Deferred

1979 Deferred

Bureau meeting - info requested in 78 still not in place

1978 Deferred

Bureau meeting - info requested

Locations

The site has 6 locations

Melka Kunture and Balchit: Gombore Garaba
Melka Kunture and Balchit: Simbiro
Melka Kunture and Balchit: Balchit
Melka Kunture and Balchit: Kella
Melka Kunture and Balchit: Wofi
Melka Kunture and Balchit: Atebella

Connections

The site has

Ecology
History
Human Activity
Timeline
WHS Names
World Heritage Process