1.4.2. Interpretation
The assemblage from Biyo Gure shows remarkable differences with the other sites. Yemeni glazed wares represent only 19% of the assemblage and the trade from East Asia amounts to 58% of the fine wares or 62% if we include the Martaban jars. The ratio would change if the coarse transport jars are actually from South Arabia. If that was the case, the total proportion would be similar to the fairs, but the presence of Yemeni fine wares would still be much lower. The settlement of Biyo Gure was short-lived. There is nothing that can be dated before 1400 or after 1600 and an end date during the first half of the sixteenth century is the most likely. The end of the site is enigmatic but obvious: three of the houses show clear traces of destruction by fire. We conducted shovel tests in two of them and found thick (0.40 m) layers of ashes, charcoal, charred branches from the roof, and the burnt pavement covered with broken pottery, glass and jars. A third structure (no. 1) was washed away but we could document many fragments of charcoal on the surface, which indicates that it met a similar end. It is very likely that other buildings in the central part of the site were also burnt, the traces erased by erosion. The three buildings with evidence of fire are located far apart, so it is reasonable to infer that the site as a whole had a violent end. Who destroyed Biyo Gure? It is difficult to say, as the sixteenth century was one of turmoil, with nomad invasions, civil conflict, war with Ethiopia and Portuguese and Ottoman intervention.
Biyo Gure is enigmatic for other reasons. Two things are unique of this site: on the one hand, this is the only permanent settlement with stone architecture located so far in the Guban, the torrid coastal plain of Somaliland. All other sites were found in the mountains, the escarpment or the inland plateau. On the other hand, the extraordinary amount of imports, which is similar to Farhad of Siyaara, is much superior not only to similar sites inland but also to very large towns. In fact, if we only had the assemblage to decide on the nature of the site, we would have said that it was a market, not a settlement. It cannot be totally ruled out that the people of Biyo Gure were not local, but foreign merchants that settled in this strategic locale. Whoever they were, the inhabitants of the site combined cultivation and trading activities, making the most of the agricultural potential of the surroundings and of the privileged location near Berbera, the coast and an important caravan route. The people of Biyo Gure may have acted as middlemen, but unlike other gateway communities (see discussion below), the settlement is too close to the coast to have strategic value as a stage in a caravan route. The most likely explanation is that the site could have provided caravans with two precious goods that were crucial for the hard and long trek ahead or for a protracted stay on the coast waiting for the sailors to arrive: food and drinking water. These they exchanged for imported wares, bangles, beads, etc. The many storage jars would fit well this interpretation, as they are adequate for holding food and water. Both assets were probably the reason for its perdition at the hand of unknown raiders, too. The site is an eloquent testimony to the tragic end of the participation of Somaliland in the Indian Ocean system.
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