Archaeology and Ethnography Along the Loango Coast in the South West of the Republic of Congo

In 2011 and 2012, Dr Gerry Wait (then Nexus Heritage) and Dr Ibrahima Thiaw (Institute Fundamental d’Afrique Noire: IFAN, Dakar) undertook an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) project in Kouilou Department in the southwest region of the Republic of the Congo. The initiative had been commissioned by SRK Consulting UK for Elemental Minerals Ltd relating to a proposed a potash mine. These landscapes were little known in terms of the sites and monuments from the distant and more recent past. That the area was important in the understanding of migrations along the African coast had been demonstrated in a pioneering set Thiaw Wait and Archaeology and Ethnography of excavations by Denbow (2012 and 2014). This base line study was undertaken to identify and evaluate cultural resources which might need further investigation. The second part of the study reports on ethnographic surveys undertaken in the same defined area, treating intangible cultural heritage as equally as important parts of the Along the Loango Coast Congo’s cultural heritage and identity. The baseline studies were systematic in that they employed standard best-practice survey techniques but structured on a landscape level. By building upon Denbow’s extensive surveys and small-scale investigations fom 30 years earlier the studies have enabled a richer and more nuanced in the South West of understanding of the Atlantic Coast of Congo during the past millennium. Coast Along the Loango Archaeology and Ethnography the Republic of Congo Gerry Wait has over 35 years of experience as an archaeologist and anthropologist specialising in heritage assessments for Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs). He has worked in over 30 countries, in Europe, Asia and Africa. Gerry has been active in the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists and in the Committee on Professional Associations in Archaeology of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA). He is on the editorial board of the Society of American Archaeology’s Advances in Archaeological Practice Journal. He is on the Register of Professional Archaeologists (USA) and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Ibrahima Thiaw is one of the leading practitioners in Africanist archaeology, heritage and in Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs). He leads in the Laboratoire d’Archéologie at the Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire (IFAN) at the-Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar Senegal. He has worked extensively in the upper Senegal River basin where he conducted multiple Environmental and Social Impact Assessments. He is equally well known for his work on the UNESCO World Heritage site of Goree Island (Dakar). Ibrahima is a very strong advocate of students’ training, community engagement and the decolonization of Archaeological practice in Africa. He has pioneered marine archaeology in Senegal. He is also an active member in Africanist Archaeologists organizations including the PanAfrican Archaeology Association but also on the editorial board of a number of Professional Journals. Gerry and Ibrahima have worked together on many projects in Sub-Saharan archaeology and ethnography Congo of of the Republic West South in the since 2009, notably at Sabodala Senegal (published by Archaeopress Publishing in 2016) in Sierra Leone, and in Burkino Faso. Elizabeth Gardner has been an archaeological illustrator since 2005. Her work includes all aspects of archaeological dissemination and publication. She is a full Member of both the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) and the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland (IAI). Alongside commercial archaeological work, Elizabeth has been involved in monograph projects such as Glastonbury Abbey (University of Reading, AHRC, Society of Antiquaries (London)), Bathwick, Bath (Context One Archaeological Services) and Godmanchester (Historic England and Oxford Archaeology) as well as populist publications such as Glendalough (Christiaan Corlett). She is active in CIfA as the graphics specialist assessment officer for membership validation. Tim Copeland is a Visiting Fellow in Landscape Archaeology at the University of Gloucestershire. His main interests in the transition from the late Iron Age to the Roman Occupation in Southern England. A native of Caerwent in Wales, he has excavated widely on sites of both periods and has for many years studied the late Iron Age complex of Grim’s Ditch in west Oxfordshire. His recent books include Roman Gloucestershire and An Archaeological Walking Guide to the Cotswold Way for the History Press. He has been published by English Heritage, CADW, the National Trust, the British Library, Cambridge University Press, and the Council of Europe. A former Chairman of the Council of Europe’s Cultural Heritage Committee, he is Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Gerry Wait and Ibrahima Thiaw with Tim Copeland and Elizabeth Gardner Archaeopress Archaeology www.archaeopress.com Wait and Thiaw cover.indd 1 11/09/2018 12:08:58 Archaeology and Ethnography Along the Loango Coast in the South West of the Republic of Congo Gerry Wait and Ibrahima Thiaw with Tim Copeland and Elizabeth Gardner Archaeopress Archaeology Archaeopress Publishing Ltd Summertown Pavilion 18-24 Middle Way Summertown Oxford OX2 7LG www.archaeopress.com ISBN 978-1-78491-994-8 ISBN 978-1-78491-995-5 (e-Pdf) © Gerry Wait, Ibrahima Thiaw and Archaeopress 2018 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners. Printed in England by Oxuniprint, Oxford This book is available direct from Archaeopress or from our website www.archaeopress.com Contents List of Figures and Tables �� ii Introduction ��1 Acknowledgements ��1 The Archaeological Heritage Regulatory Framework in the RC ��2 International Regulatory Framework ��3 The Sintoukola Potash Project ��5 The methodology ��6 Objectives �� 6 Approach and Methodology: �� 6 Desktop Research and Planning �� 6 Field Survey Methodology �� 10 Archaeological and historical background �� 14 Artefact analysis ��17 Pottery �� 17 Lithic Artefacts �� 19 Imports �� 19 Conclusions: archaeology and the location and dating of ancestral sites ��21 Aspects of the Ethnography And Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Sintoukola Permit Area ��28 Objectives ��28 Approach ��28 The social context ��28 Methodology ��30 Communal Organisation ��32 Terrien families �� 32 Religion and beliefs ��36 Sacred sites: Sanctuaries �� 36 Cemeteries ��

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