Qalcadda lies about 60 km to the south of Berbera, very close to the Jerato Pass, one of the most important passes that communicated the coast with the interior of the Somaliland. It is located at a strategic position for the caravans that came from the coast and which could find water, shelter and pasture after the desert coastal plains.
The site was known by the members of the Department of Archaeology of Somaliland, but it hadn’t been studied until 2016 when the Incipit Archaeological project mapped it and conducted a test pit. Although brief, that visit placed Qalcadda as one key site to understand the organization of trade routes, the material evidences of state control and the interactions of Somaliland with Arabia and the Middle East, all key topics for the StateHorn project.