1 Hartwig Breternitz (Hartwig. Breternitz@ googlemail. com) studied Prehistory, Agricultural Economics and Human Resources Development. From 2007 to 2009 he advised the African Union Commission at Addis Ababa on strategic management issues. Since then he took an interest in the history of South Shoa and in close collaboration with Prof. Pankhurst he carried out field surveys in the vicinity of Addis Ababa. Prof. Richard K. P. Pankhurst (pankhurst@ ethionet. et), historian, moved to Ethiopia in 1956, later becoming a professor at the University of Addis Ababa where he has taught for most of his career. In 1963 he founded the Institute of Ethiopian Studies there, and was its first Director. Prof. Pankhurst has written a number of books and articles on Ethiopian history and culture. For many years he was coeditor of the Journal of Ethiopian Studies and of Ethiopia Observer. The authors thank François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar and Claire Bosc-Tiessé from the Centre Français d’Études Éthiopiennes (CFEE) for their support and valuable hints in carrying out this survey.