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Antiquity

Research shows tools found in the Barka Valley dating from 8,000 BC appear to offer the first concrete evidence of human settlement in the area. Research also shows that many of the ethnic groups of Eritrea were the first to inhabit these areas.

Excavations in and near Agordat in central Eritrea yielded the remains of an ancient pre-Aksumite civilization known as the Gash Group. Ceramics were discovered that were dated back to between 2,500 and 1,500 BC.

Around 2,000 BC, parts of Eritrea were most likely part of the Land of Punt, first mentioned in the twenty-fifth century BC. It was known for producing and exporting gold, aromatic resins, blackwood, ebony, ivory, and wild animals. The region is known from ancient Egyptian records of trade expeditions to it, especially a well-documented expedition to Punt in approximately 1,469 BC during the reestablishment of disrupted trade routes by Hatshepsut shortly after the beginning of her rule as the queen of ancient Egypt.

Excavations at Sembel found evidence of an ancient pre- Aksumite civilization in greater Asmara. This Ona urban culture is believed to have been among the oldest pastoral and agricultural communities in East Africa. Artifacts at the site have been dated to between 800 BC and 400 BC, contemporaneous with other pre-Aksumite settlements in the Eritrean and Ethiopian highlands during the mid-first millennium BC.