Buur Heybe

Buur Heybe ("the mountain of the clay sand") is a small village in the southern Bay province of Somalia. It is the largest of several granitic inselbergs in the region's Doi belt.

History

The Gogollis Qabe or Gogoshiis Qabe ("the furnished place"), a local rock shelter, is the seat of the first professional excavation in the country. In 1935, Grazioni found a Middle and Later Stone Age archaeological sequence here. The ancient implements belonged to the Somaliland Stillbay culture typified by points and scrapers produced through flat percussion flaking. J.D. Clark a decade later excavated a nearby site, the Gury Waabay ("the poisonous house"), located around half a kilometer to the north. In the 1980s, Brandt also excavated the granitic inselberg, uncovering a top level Holocene layer. Fourteen burials were found therein, which constitute the earliest chronometrically dated burials from the Horn of Africa and contain the earliest definitive grave artefacts in the wider region. A lower layer was likewise associated with the Stone Age Eibian (Doian) industry. Another local rock shelter is referred to as Abka Eeden I Oboy Haawo ("Adam and Eve's court"). In addition, several rock formations in the area feature cave art.