The archaeology, ethnography and history of the peoples of North-East Africa, particularly Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Kenya. It focuses on the indigenous institutions and pre-Christian and pre-Islamic belief systems, material culture, (rock) art, rituals, practices and landscapes. It is a multidisciplinary project studying past and present ritual practices through archaeological and anthropological methodologies, historical texts, historical linguistics, ethno-botany and archaeozoology. This project examines the notion of sacred landscapes, associated rituals and material culture, both archaeological and ethnographic manifestations in the Horn of Africa.

The project is a multidisciplinary project looking at archaeology, cultural, social and medical anthropology, history and linguistics. It uses the Sufi Saint Shrine of Aw-Barkhadle in Somaliland as a departure to explore further in Somalia and Ethiopia the notion of fertility and its manifestation in practices, myths, legends and ancestors.