University of Ghana, Legon a Historical

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON A HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY PERSPECTIVE OF CROSS-CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS AT DIXCOVE AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOODS, GHANA. DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND HERITAGE STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON, IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ARCHAEOLOGY. BY FRITZ BIVERIDGE (2014) Signature Student Professor James Boachie-Ansah (Thesis Supervisor) Professor James Anquandah (Thesis Advisor) Professor Kodzo Gavua (Thesis Advisor) i Declaration. I, Fritz Biveridge hereby declare that except for references to other peoples’ work which I have acknowledged, this thesis is the work of my own research carried out and submitted to the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, under the supervision of Professor James Boachie-Ansah Principal Supervisor, Professor James Anquandah, Thesis Advisor and Professor Kodjo Gavua, Thesis Advisor. ii Acknowledgements. In preparing this thesis, I owe a debt of gratitude to several colleagues in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Ghana, Legon: Professors James Boachie-Ansah, Thesis Supervisor, James Anquandah Thesis Advisor, and Kodzo Gavua, Thesis Advisor. I thank them for their advice, suggestions, interest and criticisms which proved very useful assets and helped shape this work to its finalization. Aside his advisory role, Professor Kodzo Gavua also facilitated the release of ten thousand Cedis from the Ghana Denmark Archaeological Project Fund to me during his tenure as Head of Department which enabled me start Phase 1 of the archaeological investigation. I am forever indebted to him. I am also deeply indebted to Messrs. Leonard Crossland and Bosman Murrey, the former a retired Senior Lecturer of the Department for helping me analyze the imported ceramics, and the latter for analyzing and classifying the faunal remains recovered from the archaeological excavations. In spite of Mr. Crossland’s tight schedule, he also devoted some of his time to teach me some of the rudimentary techniques involved in analyzing European ceramics which enabled me to independently establish their origins and probable production dates. Funding to undertake the second phase of the study (2010-2011) was provided by the Faculty Development Research Fund of the University of Ghana which enabled me travel to the Public Records Office, Kew, in the United Kingdom, and the Rikjsmuseum (State Archives) in The Hague to examine archival data. I am thankful to all the archivists who assisted me during that phase of the study. I thank the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (G.M.M.B) for granting me an iii excavation permit and the people of Dixcove, especially the chiefs and elders of the two paramountcies for their cooperation throughout the entire period of the research. I also wish to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to students of the Department who graduated in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 academic years as well as some people from Dixcove who assisted in the excavations. Messrs. David Adjartey and Kwesi Buame, staff at the Archaeology Laboratory also deserve recognition for helping me transpose my maps, pottery profiles and pictures. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Joseph Nii Armah-Tagoe, retired Technician of the Department for helping me draw all ten stratigraphy profiles of the units excavated at Dixcove. iv Abstract of the thesis. This research investigates acculturation patterns along the Dixcove coastline, arising out of the Anglo-Ahanta encounter which occurred there from the early seventeenth to the late nineteenth century. The two ancient settlement quarters of Dixcove namely, Ntwarkro (Upper Dixcove) and Daazikessie (Lower Dixcove) were the primary loci of the archaeological investigations which constituted the primary data source. Historical sources, oral traditions and archival data were also used to complement the archaeological data. This was done to derive as much information on the subject as possible. The study spanned three years and the bulk of artifacts recovered dated from the early seventeenth to late nineteenth century. The study revealed that the settlers of the two Dixcove states were originally Akan who migrated from Takyiman and Eguafo respectively to settle at Dixcove. They currently consider themselves as belonging to the Ahanta ethnic group suggesting there has been a change in ethnicity. The two settlements which originally lay apart (on either side of the Nfuma Lagoon) and were independent of each other were small inconsequential fishing/salt producing settlements which later developed to become large cosmopolitan economic epicenters from the mid-eighteenth century onwards. Dixcove became a fountainhead of English mercantile interest, a major point of embarkation and disembarkation of cargo, competing with the Dutch Fort, St. Anthony on the Western half of the Guinea Coast. This was partly the result of the construction of Fort Metal Cross by the Royal Africa Company which boosted the coastal trade and added a wide array of mainly European trade goods to the trade/artifact inventory there. The trade boom also attracted many ethno-linguistic groups to v locate to Dixcove. After the abolition of slavery in 1807, Dixcove’s commercial viability depreciated significantly. In spite of this it was never abandoned like other forts on the Gold Coast because of its strategic location and easy availability of natural resources like lime, wooden beams and planks. Dixcove became an important service station for the English during this period. Archaeological and historical evidence also indicated that interaction between the two groups impacted subsistence and several aspects of traditional cultural lifeways. For example, change was glaringly evident in the areas of indigenous dress codes and cuisine while the English embraced local cuisine. Western formal education and the use of European construction designs/materials such as glass windows superimposed on metal frames, asbestos roofing sheets, red bricks and metal hinges constituted technologies incorporated in traditional architecture. However, traditional medical practices persisted in the study area despite the introduction of Western medicines. Trade in commodities like gold, hardwood and ivory contributed to the development and growth of the English economy during the period covered by the study. vi Dedication - to my late mother, Edith Korkor Odartey. vii Table of contents. Signature Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- i Declaration ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ii Acknowledgements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- iii Abstract of thesis ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- v Dedication page----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- vii Chapter One – Brief outline of thesis. Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Organization of chapters --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 The research problem ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Research objectives --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 Theoretical framework of the research ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 Problems of research ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Chapter Two - Research approach and methodology Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 Library Research ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 Archival Research --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 The Collection of Oral Traditions-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 The Surface Survey and Archaeological Excavations ---------------------------------------------------- 25 Chapter Three - A brief history of Euro- African Interactions, Trade Stations and the Coastal Trade in Ghana. Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27 Brief History of the Euro-African Encounter on the Guinea Coast ------------------------------------- 27 Brief Historical Background of the Coastal Trade -------------------------------------------------------- 33 The Forts and Castles of Ghana ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 37 Chapter Four – Definitions, data Sources and review of some historical archaeological Investigations in Ghana. Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 51 Definition, the scope, substance and practice of historical archaeology ------------------------------- 52 Major sources materials of historical archaeologists. ----------------------------------------------------- 59 viii Brief review of historical archaeological investigations in Southern Ghana -------------------------- 61 Chapter Five – The Historical, Geographical

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