Mochena Borago is a large rockshelter situated 2214 m above sea level on the western flanks of Mt. Damota, a dormant trachytic volcano about 300 km S of Addis Ababa in SW Ethiopia. Mochena Borago was first tested in 1996 and further excavated in 1998 and 2000-2001 by French-directed research teams seeking evidence for the origins and development of food production in the Horn of Africa. From 2006-2008 the University of Florida’s Southwest Ethiopia Archaeological Project (SWEAP) concentrated upon excavating the shelter’s late Pleistocene deposits. From 2010 through the 2014 field seasons SWEAP was joined by researchers from the University of Cologne’s CRC-806 “Our Way to Europe” project.

   Excavations at the rockshelter have yielded the first securely dated archaeological sequence for later periods of the dispersal. Three major lithostratigraphic groups incorporating occupational episodes have yielded charcoal radiocarbon ages ∼53–38 ka calBP. Deeper deposits have been tested but pass the threshold for radiocarbon. 

   One of the long-term goals of the Southwest Ethiopia Archaeological Project (SWEAP) and Mochena Borago Field Program is to test the hypothesis that the SW Ethiopian highlands were a major refugium for plants, animals, and hunter-gatherer groups during the very arid periods of MIS 4 (~72-59 ka) and MIS 2 (~27-12 ka). Excavations since 2015 have focused on the central area, revealing deposits that clearly date to >50 ka, and probably much earlier.