NYAME AKUMA No. 53 June 2000

ways, and oral traditions of individual sites. Work by Tara Tetrault in 1997 focused specifically on ceramic production, while Nicole Bourgue exam- Central Region Project, Coastal ined faunal remains. - Perspectives 2000 The 1998 Coastal Survey concentrated on the Christopher DeCorse, Edward Can; area between Brenu Akyinim, west of , and Gerard Chouin, Gregory Cook and , to the east. The purpose of this prelim- Sam Spiers inary survey involved locating and retrieving diag- Department of Anthropology nostic artifacts in order to establish some chrono- Syracuse University logical control for a further understanding of late Syracuse, New York prehistoric and historic occupation in the vicinity of USA, 13244- 1090 Elmina. Isolated finds were located along much of the coast, with several discrete sites dating from circa 1000 A.D. to the sixteenth century, as well as more recent occupations. Between May and August 1998, a Syracuse Preliminary survey of the settlement of University team conducted a~chaeologicalresearch Eguafo and immediate surroundings (approximate- in the Central Region of coastal Ghana (Figure 1). ly 2.5 x 2.0 krn.) undertaken by Spiers and Chouin Participants included Edward Carr, Gerard Chouin, was aimed at establishing its size, and collection of Gregory Cook, Benjamin Kankpeyeng, Samuel diagnostic European trade materials. Eguafo was Spiers, Natalie Swanepoel, and Christopher the center of one of the states that controlled the DeCorse. The research represents a continuation central portion of the from the seven- and expansion of work initiated by DeCorse in teenth to the nineteenth centuries (Chouin 1998, 1985, which has focused on culture contact, trans- 1999). Theresa Singleton and DeCorse had tested formation and continuity in African societies during the site in 1993. Thermoluminescence dates the period of initial European contact, trade and obtained from ceramics excavated at that time sug- colonization (DeCorse 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998, gest initial occupation in the late first, or early sec- 2001). Funding was provided by the Rockefeller ond millennium A.D. The Eguafo site is very rich Foundation, Syracuse University student and facul- in material culture and preservation is remarkable, ty research development funds, and a National which in one sense is unfortunate as archaeological Science Foundation international travel grant. deposits are being destroyed at a rapid pace by gold-digging operations. Many artifacts were col- Research by DeCorse in 1985, 1986, 1987 lected from mining back dirt piles, which, while and 1990 centered on the African settlement of having no archaeological context, indicate Elmina (Figure 2), site of the first and largest of the European trade materials from the sixteenth centu- European trade posts established in sub-Saharan ry to the present, though initial occupatign is much Africa (DeCorse 1987, l992b). During 1993 earlier. A fairly large number of forowu (locally (along with Theresa Singleton), 1995, and 1997 made, sheet brass ritual vessels) and samples of (with Carr) work continued at Elmina but the focus almost complete Rhenish stoneware jugs were col- of the research was broadened. Research was lected from what appears to have been an eigh- undertaken at other African sites with dates ranging teenth and nineteenth century cemetery recently fiom at least 1,000 years B.P. to present, as well as plundered by local gold diggers. European outposts associated with other coastal towns. Research goals were to provide a fbller con- Outlying areas of Eguafo, now mostly farm- text for interpreting data from Elmina. The 1998 land, have dense concentrations of locally produced field project continued to widen the scope of work. ceramics, and many in situ grinding stones were More detailed surveys and preliminary excavations observed, which may indicate a larger settlement were undertaken at several sites. In addition, pre- than that which exists today. Further, it is interest- liminary ethnographic research was initiated on ing to note that material observed in the Dumpow, a Fante fishing and canoe building traditions, food sacred forested hill associated with Eguafo state's N YA ME A KUMA No. 53 June 2000

Figure 1. Map of rc\ca~chaca.

1 AND VICINITY kilometers 10

m).tlis of origin. is difi'crent from that found in the tants of the Cgunfo State In (;hand's Centla1 Keg~on scttlcincnt itself. Oral traditions state that the first The paldniountcy, and ~tspeasant-farmer popula- settiel-s of Eguaib came down from the Drcitzporv, tm. has scen a great deal of change In the past 50 one 01-the Sew remaining stands of primary-like for- years. changes best dlust~atedtlilough a focus on est in the arca. The al-tifact asse~nblagein eroded or the Eguafo v~llapeof Doin~nase Founded In {he tree-Salt arcas consists of lleavily eroded local early nineteenth centuly along a load lmklng the ceramics, whose paste is different from those in the coastal ~nte~nat~onaltrade entlep6t of Fhnina to the main settlement. It also includes quartzite pieces, Asante hinterland. Dornlna\e glew r'ipidly some of which may be artifactual. though this is Documenlaly lecords fiom the time suggeit that the awaiting further analysis. It is tantalizing to suggest ~~llageuas the lapest 111 the Egudfo clucfia~ncyby that this may represent an easlier period of occupa- 1850. Ca~rmapped the vdlages of Domna5e and tion than in the town itself, though such questions Ponk~ulndump the 1997 f~eld$ea\on and conduct- can only bc answered through further archaeologi- ed a h~stoi~calethnographq of the \~ll,tgesto estdb- cal iiwcstipation. hsh temporal patterns of lmdscape de\elopment and dlrappearance In the pel loci between 1030 and Additional research by Carr examined the 1997 (Ftyre 3) rh~sniapping ~cvealed that nearby sites of Dominase and Ponkr-urn. Carr's Domlnn~ernalnta~ned ~tsslze and ~clatne Impor- rcsearch focuses on the articulation (via economic tance untd the 10705 At that time, the \illagc rap~d- development) of postwar capitalis111 with the West ly underuent abmdonment that tcduced tt to ~tscut - African peasant economy particular to the inhabi- NYAME AKUMA No. 53 June 2lW

Figure 2. Site map of Elmina

rent state of nine standing structures and a dozen Between May and August 1998, Carr inhabitants. Carr's research approaches the phe- returned to Dominase to excavate two structures nomenon of Dominase's abandonment not as an abandoned in the 1970's. Analysis of these materi- imposed restructuring from above, but as a complex als is ongoing, but it is hoped that the assemblage interplay between the local systems of economy, will reflect changes in meaningipractice that pro- power and meaning and influences operating at vide clues to thc linkages between the various fac- both the Ghanaian and global scales. This complex- tors and scales that came together to generate this ity defies the methodologies previously applied to particular village abandonment. The excavations the study of global-local articulations as manifest in also served to temporally bind the site by establish- development studies. Previous studies of develop- ing a settlement date around the turn of the nine- ment impacts at the local level have constructed teenth century. Further ethnographic research con- their studies upon documentary and ethnographic ducted between June and August 1999 explored the sources of information (Rrguson 1994; Mitchell uses of materids recovered during excavations, 1995). At no time do these studies delve into the relationships between the local social structure and analysis of the meanings and uses of material cul- the patterns of resettlement by those who aban- ture in the contexts under study. Carr's research doned the village, and current patterns of material uses the material record in conjunction with these use in Dominase and the nearby village of other sources of information to generate analyses Ponkrum. Currently in Ghana, Carr is expanding that otherwise might be unattainable. his excavations and the scope of previous ethno- graphic discussions. NYA ME AKUMA No. 53 June 3000

Figure 3. Map of Dominase.

Dominase Central Region, Ghan

Research by Cook included a logistics survey sured drawings of numerous Fante and Ewe vessels to prepare for archaeological research on maritime (Figure 4). The contacts established during the sum- trade. He also initiated contacts within the Elmina mer, coupled with the first-hand knowledge of off- fishing industry, conducting ethnographic research shore navigation and water depths will contribute to on Fante fishing and dugout canoe construction, the long-term objective of understanding the nauti- decoration, and use. This included participation in cal context of African-European interactions on the several open-ocean fishing voyages, interviews Ghanaian coast. with crews and owners of canoes, recording canoe Ongoing research in the Central Region will construction methods and creating detailed mea- continue with documel~taryresearch and fieldwork NYA ME A KUMA No. 53 June 2000

Figure 4. Fate fishing canoe, Elmina 1%.

during 2000, with the participation of a team of trading networks and craft production associated Earthwatch volunteers. Work will be undertaken at with socio-political changes in the late seventeenth several sites, including Brenu Akyinim, Atwima, and eighteenth centuries. Cook will work towards a Eguafo, Dominase, Ponkrom and Yesunkwa. more indepth understanding of the Elmina fishing Thennoluminescence dates from Brenu Akyinim, community through intensive interviews, partici- first tested by DeCorse and Singleton in 1993, indi- pant observation, and additional recording of the cate occupation dates back at least 1000 years. material culture involved in this industry. His focus Excavations at these sites will document changes in will be on investigating symbolic representations in coastal subsistence and local ceramic industries canoe decoration and the collection of oral accounts immediately before and after European contact. The of fishing techniques and the development of the sites are characterized by scatters of locally pro- modern fishing community. Chouin will investi- duced ceramics, occasional pieces of iron, and gate the possibility of using sacred groves as histor- stone beads. The location of both sites probably ical and archaeological markers to locate ancient speaks to the importance of lagoonal resources and settlements and two seventeenth and eighteenth marine shellfish prior to the advent of large-scale century royal cemeteries. Excavations at these sites marine fishing. Carr will complete his fieldwork at are part of his doctoral project on precolonial land- Dominase, Ponkrum and Yesunkwa. Spiers will scape and social organization in the ancient Eguafo undertake further survey and excavations at Eguafo kingdom, in a context of geopolitical change. He in order to delineate the limits of the settlement and will also undertake archival research in Britain with their change through time. Excavations will specif- regard to a late nineteenth century colonial cerne- ically focus on the culture history of the site, look- tery situated in Cape Coast, and in France to pursue ing at changes in settlement pattern, subsistence, a census he started in 1994 of French archival NYA ME AKUMA No. 53 June 2000

sources for the history of seventeenth and eigh- Archaeological Research at Elmina. teenth century Gold Coast (Chouin 1996). drchaeology in Ghuna 3:23-27.

References The Danes on the Gold Coast: Culture Change and the European Presence. African Archaeological Review 1 1 : 149- Chouin, Gkrard 173. Ecrits d'entre-deux mondes. Un index analytique des Aources manuscrites de l'histoire des ktuts de la Chte de 1'01, Documents, Oral Histories, and the (C6te d'lvoire, Ghanu) duns les fonds de Material Record: Historical Archaeology la Ribliotheque Nationale et des Archives in West Africa. World Archaeological Nat1ona1e.s de France (1634-1710). Bulletin 7: 40-50. African Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Institut Franqais de Recherche en Afrique. Culture Contact and Change in West Africa. In James Cusick, editor, Studies in Cdture Contact. Carbondale: Southern Eguafo, un royaume uficain au 'coeur Illinois University, pp. 358-377. jkn~ois', 1637-1687. Mutations socio-kcononriques et politique europhenne d'un Gtat de la Cote de 1'0r (Ghana) au Under the castle cunnon: An XVIIe sitcle. Paris: Afera aitions. Archaeological View ofAjiicun-European Interaction on the Gold Coast, A.D. 1400- 1900. Washington: Smithsonian Tentation patrilineaire, guerre et conflits Institution Press. lignagers en milieu Akan: une contribution a l'histoire de la transmission du pouvoir royal en Eguafo (XVII-XXe sic2cles). In P. Ferguson, James Valsecchi and F. Viti, editors, Akan Worlds: 1994 The Anti-Politics Machine: Developinerrt, Identitv and Power in West Apicu. Depoliticizution, and Bureaucratic Power Karthala, pp. 169-185. in Lesotho. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

DeCorse, Christopher 1987 Excavations at Elmina, Ghana. Njmme Mitchell. Timothy Akuma 28: 15- 1 8. 1995 The Object of Development: America's Egypt. In Jonathan Crush, editor, Power of' Del,elopment. London: Routledge. 1992a Culture Contact, Continuity and Change on the Gold Coast, A.D. 1400-1900. Aj?ican Archaeological Review 10: 163- 196.