Publié: 21 juillet 2026, 16:28 CEST
Harvesting grapes from one of the two founder vines of the Rubaksum Tsellim landrace, trained over a household pergola in Aksum, Tigray.
Yemane Hailu Fissuh, Author provided (no reuse)
The northern highlands of Ethiopia are among Africa’s oldest agricultural landscapes. Some of the world’s most important crops originated here, particularly pulses and grains, including teff. Yet another crop has a less well-known history in Ethiopia’s Tigray region: the grapevine.
We are an interdisciplinary team of geographers, agronomists and archaeologists studying long-term interactions between agriculture, landscapes and society in Ethiopia. Archaeological discoveries from the ancient Aksumite kingdom, in what’s now Ethiopia, include grape seeds, wine vessels, rock-cut wine presses, and historical records showing that grapes were cultivated in antiquity. We wanted to find out whether any of today’s grapevines could be descendants of those early introductions.
