Salweyn, also known as Salwine, is a

proto-Somali Proto-Somalis were the ancient people and ancestors of Somalis who lived in present-day Somalia. Literature on proto-Somalis largely uses a time-frame pertaining to the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD. History The Puntites were ancient C ...

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

located in the

Sanaag Sanag ( so, Sanaag, ar, سَنَاج) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in north eastern Somaliland.Regions o ...

region of

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still consid ...

Overview

Salweyn is situated to the east of the old coastal town of Heis. A small eponymous creek is located in the area. The site contains a very large field of

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehi ...

s, which stretches for a distance of around 8 km. An excavation of one of these tumuli by Georges Révoil in 1881 uncovered a tomb, beside which were artefacts pointing to an ancient, advanced civilization. The interred objects included pottery

sherd In archaeology, a sherd, or more precisely, potsherd, is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels, as well. Occasionally, a piece of broken ...

s from Samos, some well-crafted enamels, and a mask of Ancient Greek design. Additionally, close to the cairns are a number of rows of standing stones. These menhirs are similar to those at Heis and

Botiala Botiala ( so, Butiyaalo), also known as Bottiala or Bandar Kor, is an archaeological site in the northeastern Bari region of Puntland. History Botiala is located in a valley to the east of the ancient port city of Qandala, between Cape Guardafui ...

. Along with

Macajilayn Macajilayn, also spelled Mecajilayn, is a proto-Somali archaeological site located in the Sanaag region of Somaliland. Overview Macajilayn is situated to the east of the old coastal town of Heis. The site contains a number of cairns, from which ...

, Salweyn is also the only local site where specialized ancient disc-like monuments have been found.

References

{{reflist Archaeological sites in Somaliland Sanaag