Nyame Akuma Issue 012

8/10/2019 Nyame Akuma Issue 012

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NYAME AKUMA

No.12 May

1978

N ew sle t t er o f th e Soc ie ty of A f r i ca n i s t A rchaeo log i s t s i n Am er ica.

Edi t ed by

P L

Shin nie and is su ed from th e Department of Archaeology,

The Univ ers i ty of Calgary , Calgary , Albe r ta ,

T N 1 N 4

Canada. Typing

and ed i t o r i a l as si st an ce by Ama Owusua Sh inn ie.

T h i s i s t h e f i r s t number of Nyane Akuma t o be pu b l ished on a

s u b s c r i p t i o n b a s i s and

i t

i s d i sa p po i nt in g t o f i n d t h a t of t h e

o r i g i n a l m a il i ng

l i s t

of 299 on ly

9

have subsc r ibed and on ly f i v e o f

t h o s e i n c o u n t r i e s where d o l l a r s a r e n o t o b t a in a b l e h av e f e l t

i n c l i n e d t o a sk f o r s p e c i a l e xe mp tio n, and o f t h o s e o n ly t h r e e a r e i n

A f r i c a .

A f u r t h e r l e t t e r h a s gone

o u t t o t h o se on t h e l i s t who have

not subscr ibe d, s in ce some may not have rece iv ed th e o r i g i na l

in fo rm at ion .

I no te with some su r p r i s e t h a t some people who have not

s u b s cr i b ed ha ve s e n t i n c o n t r i b u t i o n s .

Th i s conf irms my susp ic ion

t h a t n o t i c e of s u b s c r i p t i o n h a s s t i l l n o t r ea ch ed many on my

l i s t

o r

t h a t

i t

has been received but overlooked.

If by the t ime no.13 i s due f o r p u b l i ca t i on t h e s u b s c r i p t i o n

l i s t does not reach 150 I s h a l l d is c u ss wit h th e committee of SAAM

whether o r not

i t

i s

w or th con t inu ing t o pub l i sh .

I

very much hope

t o b e a b l e t o c on ti nu e.

I

have been r ece iv in g an inc r eas ing number o f a r t i c l e s

o f f e r e d

f o r pub l i c a t ion and have done my be s t t o in c lude some.

This marks

a change of s ty l e from th e o r ig in a l i d ea o f t h i s new s- l e tt e r which

was t h a t it w a s f o r t h e r a p i d d i s s e m i na t i on o f s h o r t i t e m s , news o f

a c t i v i t i e s and s o f o r t h .

I t h i n k i t i s a h e a l t h y s i g n i f some items

i n a r t i c l e form a r e o f f er e d a nd where t h e y a xe s u i t a b l e I w i l l t r y

t o p u bl i sh .

I m us t, t ho ug h, a s k c o n t r ib u t o r s t o ke ep t h e i r a r t i c l e s s h o r t

and

i

t h e y want i l l u s t r a t i o n s t o b e in c l u de d t h e y must be o r i g i n a l s

I

canno t sa t i s f a c t o r i l y r eproduce photo cop ies - i n b l a ck i n k on

whit e paper and should be so design ed as t o f i t t h e page s i ze o f

Nyame Akuma,

P l e a s e n o t e t h e s i z e w hich i s l l i n . x 8 .5 in (27.8 cm. x

21.5 c m . ) Nor th America has not ye t adopted th e new in te rn at io na l

p a p e r s i z e s , n o r

i s

f o ol s ca p ( ~ m e r i c a n e g a l s i z e , s t i l l commonly

used i n many A f r ican co un t r i e s , eas i ly adap ted .

F or t h e t e x t i t does

n o t m a t t e r s i n c e

i t

can be r e -t y pe d ,b u t f o r i l l u s t r a t i o n s

i t

i s

im portan t t h a t t hey should be des igned t o f i t t h e page.

I can

reproduce a few photographs i t hey a r e of good qu a l i t y bu t the y w i l l


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l o s e a l i t t l e i n t h e p rocess.

P lease do not expect me t o do the job

of p a st i n g up i l l u s t r a t i o n s .

Even fo r the t ex t

I

would always appreciate

i t

i f

n p l a ce s

where our page s i z e of paper i s ava i la ble and good qu al i t y typing

with carbon f i l m ribbon can e done, th e t e x t could be given t o me

i n a form which does not need re-typing.

This saves much time.

P lease a l so no te tha t b ib l iograph ies,

if

used a t all t o

refer ence a r t i c l e s , should be kept t o th e minimum.

r e c e n t a r t i c l e

of fer ed l i s t e d s ix ty i tems i n th e bibl iography which would t ake up

f i ve pages th a t i s about a s i x t h of t h e t o t a l pages i n an average

is su e. Ce rt ai nl y some re fe re nc es may be needed and should be

pub lish ed, but a r t i c l e s i n Nyame Akuma need not be as f u l l y

referenced

as

tho se i n more formal journals.

I t i s proposed t o ho ld t h e next meeting of S.A.A.A.M.

a t

Calgary i n April of next year .

The st ee ri ng committee sugg est s

Satur day Ap ri l 28th and Sunday Ap ri l 29th t h i s would follo w a few

days a f t e r the S oci ety f o r America Archaeology meeting a t Vancouver

~ ~ r i l3rd 25th) and might be convenient . Comments would be

welcomed and I m open even

a t

t h i s e a r l y da t e t o r e c e ive t he names

of th os e who wish t o giv e paper s.

P lease no te tha t

as

a t present membership of S.A.A.M. i s

ide n t i ca l wi th th e mail ing l i s t of Nyame Akuma and no separa te

subscr ipt ion

i s

levied there has been

a

sharp drop i n th e membership

of SAAM. There ar e only fi ft y- tw o members r e s ide n t i n North America.

Non-subscribers t o Nyame Akuma ar e c e r t a i n l y welcome t o come t o t h e

conference but

i t

i s unl ike ly th a t in formation w i l l be c i r cu la ted

oth er than through t he news-letter .

F ina l l y I am asked by Oper ation Crossroa ds Afr ic a Inc. of

150 F i f t h Avenue, New York, Y 10011 t o draw a t te n t io n t o t h e i r

po ten t ia l i n p rovid ing suppor t fo r a r chaeo log ica l p ro je c t s . Not,

I

th in k, f i na nc ia l support , but they might supply people.

P.L. Shinnie.


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I very much re gr et t o announce th e death on 18 th Ap ri l 1978

of Prof esso r Henry T Irwi n

of t h e Department of Anthropology

Washington S ta te U nive rs i ty

Pullman, Washington. U A

West African Archaeological Association

The second conference of t h i s asso cia t io n w i l l be he ld i n

Bamako 11th 18th December

1978

The o r ig ina l no t i ce was s e n t

t o members on 25 th November

1977

but Nyame Akuma w a s informed by

a

l e t t e r f rom

D r

Obayemi of 13 th Ap ri l 1978 rec eiv ed i n Calgary

on 24th May.

The c los ing da t e f o r r ece ip t o f a bs t r ac t s o f p roposed pape rs

i s

given as 31st May 1978 i t i s hoped by e d i t o r of Nyame ~k um a)

th a t t h e conference o rgan i se rs

w i l l

e xt en d t h e d a t e t o h e l p t h o s e

of us who were informed r a t h e r l a t e .

Those wishing t o go t o th e Conference and/or t o j oi n t h e

as soc i a t i on should wr i t e t o

D r

A Obayemi a t Department of .History,

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Niger ia .

Unfortunately

a t

t h e

same

time w i l l b e h e l d t h e

In te rna t iona l Congress of Afr ican Studies

Kinshasa

12 th 16 th December 1978

t h o se i n t e r e s t e d s ho ul d w r i t e t o :

~ e c r g t a r i a t 6n;ral du ClAF

B.P. 194.4.

Lubumbashi Zalre


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NEWS ITEMS.

BOTSWANA

RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL ND ETHNOARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH I N BOTSWANA

Robert K, Hitchcock

Department of Anthropology

Univers i ty of New Mexico

While a decade ago i t could have been said that Botswana

w a s

re la t i ve ly unknown a .rchaeologica lly, research i n th e pas t sev era l

ye ar s has done much t o change th a t .

S i t e s rang ing from Acheulean

t o h i s to r ic have been found, and a number of them have been

excavated,

The purpose of t h i s note i s t o b r i e f l y summarize some

of the re sea rch th a t has been conducted i n the i n te r i o r o f Southern

Afr ica , p r imar i ly i n the Ka laha r i and ad jacen t a reas .

One of t he f i r s t people t o do azchaeological research i n Botswana

was

E J Wayland, who w a s di re c t or of th e Geologica l Survey of t he then

Bechuanaland Protectorate.

Nearly a l l of the s i t e s he loca ted were

Stone Age s i t e s , and the a rt ef ac ts which he recovered have re ce nt ly

been the subjec t of

an

exhaustive analysis by

C . K .

Cooke of the

National Museums of Rhodesia, who

i s

i n the p roces s of pub l i sh ing

A Survey of Sto ne Age Archaeology i n Botswana. The work of Wayland

and, more re ce nt ly , John Yellen of t h e Smithsonian In st i tu t i o n has

done much t o d i sp e l t he not ion t h a t th e Kalahar i was a marginal

environment in t o which groups were pushed by o th er , more hi gh ly

organized populations.

Yellen and Alison Brooks of George Washington

Univ ers i t y have been carryi ng out archaeo logical excavations

a t

f ~ i ,

a pan i n th e northwestern pa rt of Botswana near t h e Namibian bo rder.

A t

~ i

her e a r e well-preserved archa eolog ical remains going back t o

th e Middle Stone Age; th es e remains i nclud e e xt in ct spe cie s of

har teb ees t , b uff alo , and zebra. I n add it i on, some ou tl in es of what

appear t o be p i t s have been loc ated i n th e Late Stone Age depo sit s .

t i s poss ib le th a t these p i t s may have been hunt ing b l ind s s i m i l a r

i n function t o tho se used near th e pan by contemporary San (~u shman)

populat ions .

While

~ i

s

th e only well-excavated Stone Age s i t e i n Botswana,

a

su bs ta nt ia l number of ot her s i t e s of E arly, Middle and Late Stone

Age have been lo ca te d i n sur veys of a number of d i f fe re nt pa r t s of t he

country.

Yellen and Brooks and th e i r s tu de nt s have worked i n th e

:Angwa Valle y i n nor thw est ern Botswana, whi le t h e Un iv er si ty of New

Mexico

K a l a a r i

Pr oj ec t (~ a m es bert Robert Hitchcock) have

concentra ted on th e eas te rn margins of th e Kalahar i, pa r t ic u l a r ly

around the Makgadikgadi Pans and the east-central Kalahari near Serowe.

James Ebert h as used Landsat space imagery t o def in e t h e margins of

what

w a s

a gi ga nt ic an cie nt l ak e, Lake Makgadikgadi, and he has surveyed


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a s e r i e s of t ra ns ec ts on th e margins of th e la ke , John Cooke of

t h e Uni ve rs it y of Botswana and Swaziland and David Grey, for mer ly

of t h e Anglo-American Cor por ati on, have done geomorphological work

i n th e same ar ea . The

UNM

Kalaha r i P ro j ec t l oca t ed ove r 150 s i t e s

from which s ur fa ce c ol le ct io ns were made and d et ai le d s tu di es done

of t h e s i t e s e t t i ng s ; t hese s i t e s r anged from Ear ly S tone Age t o

re c en tl y abandoned Basma (~ushman)camps.

Morgan Tamplin of Trent

Univers i ty h as a l s o done s ur fac e survey i n ea s te rn Botswana, mos tly

of Iro n Age s i t e s . An ongoing surve y i s being done by James Denbow

of th e Unive rs i ty of Indiana. Using a e r i a l photographs and ground

survey techniques , he has loc a te d wel l over 100 I r on Age s i t e s i n

t h e Serowe-Palapye ar ea of eas t- ce nt ra l Botswana; two of t he se

s i t e s

have been t e s t e d by Denbow and well- prese rved ceram ics, fa un al

remains, and a bu r i a l have been recovered . These t e s t excava tions

indica ted t h a t t he I r on Age s i t e s over l i e both Middle and Late Stone

Age materials.

Denbow has been a s s i s t e d by an a bl e amateur

arc hae olo gis t , David Schermers , who has found sev er al I r on Age s i t e s

i n th e nor thern p a r t of Botswana, most ly i n the Mosetse and Sebina

a r e a s .

The I r o n Age i s th e per iod t h a t ha s perhaps rece ived t he most

at te nt io n of l a t e i n Botswana. Besides Denbow s work th er e

i s

t h a t

of Tamplin, who sampled a s i t e on Ta lana Farms i n t he T u l i B lock i n

1977 Edwin Hanisch of Pr et or ia , south Afr ica, has excavated a

Leopard s Kopje s i t e

a t

Commando s Kop, a l s o i n t h e T ul i Block.

Work

i n sou the ast ern Botswana ha s been c ar ri ed out by Ron Pahl, who has

reported on ceramics and stone-walled vil lages; Alec Campbell ,

Di re ct or of t h e National Museum of Botswana, h as a l s o loc at ed Ir o n

Age s i t e s i n southeas te rn Botswana. Perhaps the mos t de ta i l e d da ta

on a Botswana I r o n Age s i t e ar e tho se on Tautswemogala, excav ated

i n 1970 by Lar ry Lepionka.

Tautswe

i s

t h e on ly s i t e i n Botswana

which ha s been da te d us in g Carbon-14; th e da te s ran ge from

A

D

l O O _ 1 05 t o A D 1500 . _ 95 (GX-3772 GX-3775)

The ske le ta l

remains from t h i s s i t e were ana lyzed by Her tha de Vi l l i e r s of t he

Uni ver sity of Witwatersrand, and the f aunal remains were stu di ed by

t h e l a t e Robbie Melbourne, a l s o from its Univers i ty .

shor t survey

of I r o n Age remains i n t h e Bobonong area of ea st er n Botswana

w a s

made

by Er n st Westphal of t h e Un iv er si ty o f Cape Town and John Flete meyer

of th e Un ive rsi ty of Wisconsin a t Milwaukee.

Rock art i s ano the r sub j ec t t ha t i s r ece iv ing i nc reas ing

a t te n t io n i n Botswana.

C K

Cooke published an overview of Botswana

rock a r t i n 1969 which i ndica ted th a t th er e were

f a r

fewer rock

ar t

s i t e s i n the count ry than i n neighbor ing Namibia, South Afr ica , and

Zimbabwe. One a r e a where t h e r e i s an abundance of rock p ai nt in gs i s

t h e Tsod i lo H i l l s regio n of northwest Botswana. This ar ea , v i s i te d

by

Jalmar

and Ione Rudner and rep ort ed on by them i n s ev er al pa per s,

has been the scene of

a

recen t qua nt i t a t i ve survey of pa in t ings by

Alec Campbell and Mike Bryan of t h e Na ti on al Museum alo ng w it h

Robert Hitchcock. 1,65 0 pa in tin gs were recorded a t a t o t a l of 194

lo ca t i on s, and a number of archa eolog ical and rec en t l y occupied


6/55

Bushman s i t e s were found i n th e v ic in it y of th e pai nti ngs.

Ethnoaxchaeology has been the subject that has generated the

most in te re st i n Botswana i n th e pa st decade. The study of the

behavior of contemporary hunt ing and ga the ring groups and t h e

ma te ria l by-products of t h e i r behavior

was

i n i t i a t e d i n t h e

1960 s

by th e Haxvard Ka lahari Research Group which i nc luded John Yellen.

Yellen accompanied

a

group of Bushman over

a

s i x month pe riod

observing what t he y brought i n t o camp and what the y di d th er e then

he went back and excavated a s e r i e s of t he abandoned camps. H i s

re ce nt work i n conju nction with Alison Brooks and a number of

st ud en ts has extended h i s sample t o camps going back t o 19443

Edwin Wilmsen of t h e Uni ve rsi ty of Vi rg in ia has a l s o done some

ethnoarchaeological research i n the

/ai /ai

re gio n sout h of Dobe

i n ad diti on t o observing hunting and othe r contemporary behavior

p a t t e rn s . The Un iv er si ty of New Mexico Kalahari P ro jec t has worked

i n two regions i n east ern Botswana th e Nata River a re a and the

eas t-ce ntra l Kalahari . These two regions contra st both eco logi cal ly

and ethnographically; the Nata a r ea

i s a

r i v e r in e g a l l e r y f o r e s t w ith

s e t t l e d Bushman groups l iv in g i n vil la ge s and herding l ivest ock and

growing crops;

while Bushman groups i n t h e Kala hari sandveld regio n

a re

s t i l l

mobile and ar e hunting and gat heri ng.

though some of them

ar e beginning t o se t t l e on the per ipher ies of ca t t l e i n o rder t o

have acc ess t o water. Hitchcock has done

a

comparative study of

populati ons i n th es e two a re as and has mapped both occupied and

recently-abandoned s i t e s accompanied groups on hunt ing ex pe dit io ns

and

observed manufacturing and othe r ty pes of behavior i n both

se tt le d and mobile groups i n an attempt t o understand changes i n

archaeological pat tern ing i n s i t e s t ha t may be corre la ted with

sedentism.

Recent ac t i v i t i e s i n Botswana include t he s e t t i n g up of a

system of nat io na l monuments t h e cat al og in g of a l l collec;t ions i n

t h e na t io na l museum

and

the es tab l i sh ing o f

a

n at ion al s i t e f i l e

and the organization of archaeological research i n the country.

The

pace of ar cha eolo gic al resea rch i n Botswana i s cl ea r ly p ick ing up .

Already a number of s i t e s have been dug and surveys under taken.

t

i s

hoped that future work can be coordinated through

a

National

Monuments Officer based

a t

t h e Natio nal Museum and t h a t l o c a l

arc hae olog ist s can be tra in ed t o continue th e work of t he pa st few

years.


7/55

E ST

AFRICA

B r i t i s h I n s t i t u t e i n E as te rn A f r i ca

The major expe di t ion undertaken du rin g t h e pa st s i x months was

t o th e Equator ia and Bahr e l Ghazal Provinces of th e Sudan, l e d by

th e Ass i s t an t D i r ec to r , Dav id Ph i l l i p so n . The lo g i s t i c a l p roblems

of working i n such

a

remote a rea were cons iderab ly eased by the

co -ope rat ion and a s s i s t a nce o f t he Sudan An t iq u i t i e s Se rv i ce a

representat ive of which accompanied our expedi t ion throughout i t s

s t a y i n t h e ~ u d a n ) nd of t h e south ern Sudanese Regional Government

i n J ub a. A lth ou gh , p r i o r t o t h i s r e s e a r c h , a lm os t t h e whole o f t h i s

ex t ens ive r eg ion rema ined v i r t u a l ly unesp lored by a r c haeo log i s t s ,

ev idence f rom ne ighbour ing count r ies sugges ted tha t the southern

Sudan had played an important r o l e i n th e development and t ran smi ssi on

of ea r l y food-product ion and meta l lu rgy . The expe di t ion

se t

o ut t o

lo ca t e s i t e s su i t a b l e fo r excava t ion which might be expect ed t o

i l l u s t r a t e t h e l a t e r p r eh i s to r y of t h e re gi o n.

s a

r e s u l t o f s ev en weeks f i e l d w o rk , t h e p o t e n t i a l f o r

a r chaeo log ica l r e sea rch i n t h e sou the rn Sudan has been c l ea r l y

demonstrated. Rock shel t ers and caves were disco vered i n th e Kapoeta ,

i and Tembura a r ea s which o f f e r ex ce l l en t o ppor t un i t i e s f o r t he

es t ab l ishmen t o f l oc a l cu l t u r a l succes sions w i th good p re se rva t io n o f

o r g a n i c m a t e r i a l s . Open s i t e s were more d i f f i c u l t t o l oc a t e and, w i th

excep t ions , r e l a t i ve ly un in fo rma t ive because t h e s e t t l em en t pa t t e r n

i n most o f t h e r eg ion has f o r l ong been one

of s c a t t e r e d i n d i v i d u a l

homesteads which a r e moved ev ery fo u r o r f i v e yea rs .

Ethnographic and

e thno-archaeologica l resea rches were a l s o shown t o have g re a t

p o t e n t i a l i n t h e r eg io n an d, i nd ee d, t o be e s s e n t i a l f o r a proper

u n de r st an d in g o f t h e p r e h i s t o r i c m a t e r i a l .

Two p re hi s t o r i c i ron-s melt i ng fu rna ces which, a l though probably

o f r e l a t i v e l y r e c e n t d a t e , a r e re ma rk ab ly s i m i l a r i n f orm t o M e r o i t i c

examples, were excavated a t Maridi fund s were made a va il ab le by

t h e I n s t i t u t e t o e ns u re t h e i r permanent p r e s e r v a t i o n

as

a F i e l d Museum.

U n t i l e x c a v at i on s a r e c a r r i e d o u t , i t would be premature t o

of f e r any de ta i l ed hypotheses on t h e preh is tor y of th e southern Sudan .

I t appears , however , that set t lement of most of Western Equator ia

w a s

e xt re me ly s p a r s e , e x ce pt i n n a t u r a l f o r e s t c l e a r i n g s , u n t i l me t al

t o o l s were av a i l ab l e which pe rmi t t ed c l ea r ing o f t he dense vege t a t i on .

T he re a r e i n d i c a t i o n s t h a t t h e I r o n Age i n t h i s a r e a began a t a

r e l a t i v e l y e a r l y d a te , t h a t t h e

f i r s t

I r o n Age peoples made po tt er y

ak in t o t ha t a l r ead y known from e a r ly co n tex t s i n t h e C en t r a l Af r i can

Empire, and th a t t h e l a t e r I r on Age has s een a general southward

expans ion of popula t ion in t o th e fo re s t border lands .

l l

t h e s e

conclusions are t e n t a t i v e and p r o v i s i o n a l .


8/55

t

i s

planned t ha t David Phi l l ipso n s ha l l cont inue h i s

rese arch i n th e southern Sudan, with

a

team of thr ee o r four

p r o f es s i o na l a s s i s t a n t s , f o r t h r e e months e a r l y i n

1979.

I n Kenya, t he Direc tor , Nevi l le Chi t t ic k , car r ie d out

a

brief excavation

a t

an e a r l y s et tl e me n t s i t e a t Delo rain e Farm,

Ronga i, west of Nakuru. He

was

a s s i s t e d by Stan ley Ambrose, from

th e Univers i ty of Massachusetts. A t e s t t re nc h was dug here by

Mark Cohen,

then

a

r e se ar c h st u de n t of t h e I n s t i t u t e , i n 1969

with ra th er inconclus ive re s u l ts (noted i n Azania

V I I

, 1972).

The

set tle me nt, which appears t o extend over some ac re s,

w a s

occupied

by people who had a pr imari ly pas tor a l way of l i f e , but unl ike most

cat t l e-ke eper s a t e larg e amounts of meat , as

i s

a t t e s t e d by t h e

prodigious qua nti ty of c a t t l e bones (with only

a

few of goat/sheep).

Grinds tones , however ( inc luding one of la rg e s i ze ) a t t e s t th a t th e

inh abi tan ts made f lo u r from food-grains .

Among t h e s ee ds r eco ver ed

b y f l o t a t i o n

i s

o n e t e n t a t i v e l y i d e n t i f i e d

as

f i n g e r - m i l l e t

l leu sine

corocana); i t i s thus probably th a t some of t he gr ai n

ea ten was cu l t iva ted .

The people had houses (o r poss ibl y only gr ai n

stores) of mud-and-wattle.

They worked iron,

as i s

attested by many

fragments of tuyer es and an i r on kni f e ; th e absence of i r on s la g

ind i ca te s t ha t they d id not smel t the me ta l

a t

th e se ttl em en t. An

ir on smel t ing s i t e examined i n the region of Esoger i , 12 km nor th

of Deloraine, may possibly be contemporary;

t h i s

i s

t h e f i r s t i ro n-

sme l ting s i t e t o be id en t i f i ed i n th e Kenyan R i f t Va ll ey.

The

pot t e ry from the Deloraine s i t e

i s

of unique type , and the cul tura l

a f f i n i t i e s a r e u n c er t a in , though

a

r e ce n t f i n d i n d i c a t e s t h a t

i t

may poss ib ly r e l a t e t o o the r s e t t l emen ts fu r the r no r th ,

i n t he

Baringo area.

Radiocarbon d at es f o r charcoal samples co lle cte d

e a r l i e r from t h e lower pa r t of analogous de po si ts have given MASCA

cor rec ted re su l t s o f A.D. 10 80 and

A D

920 110.

The gap

ketween these two dates i s unexplained; f ur th er samples have been

submi t t ed fo r t e s t ing .

Among s tuden ts working i n ea st ern Afri ca under t he I n s t i t u t e s

auspices , Robert Foley has comple ted th e f i r s t s ta ge of h is

arch aeol ogic al work

a t

Amboseli, and Vicki Morse

i s

wri t ing up her

th es is on th e taphonomy of pa s t or a l i s t se t t lements .

Michael DiBlasi

and Thomas Mahlstedt are conducting a f i e ld survey of I ro n Age s i t e s

i n th e east ern Kenya highlands.

Volume

X I 1

of Azania (a sp ec i a l i s s ue devoted t o th e L .S ,A.

i n eas te rn Afri ca) has now been publish ed.

Memoir 7 Laurel

P h i l l i p s o n s The Stone Age Archaeology of t h e Upper Zambezi V all ey

w i l l be ready soon.


9/55

TRAVAUX d ARCH~OLOGIE ans le SODDO

Francis Anfray

Les monuments du Soddo sont connus depuis le d6but du si&le.

On les croyait peu nombreux.

En

926

Kamnerer 1-es gcrit ainsi

Ces monuments se composent principalement de petites pierres

dressges, de petits menhirs dggrossis, de forme assez rggulisre

mais non g6om&.rique, portant une dgcoration faite de dessins ou

traits sculpt&. L' aire d' xtension de ces petits monolithes

toujours frustes et non gquarris, n'est pas trGs grande. Leur

nombre, une trentaine.. Les points o; le P.Azais les a signal&

s appellent silt;, Maskan, Thya, tous en pays Soddo

Petits monolithes

?

Une stgle de Tiya atteint cinq mstres

de hauteur.

Aire d'extension ? Tout le pays Soddo en effet; on

peut lui assigner sept cantons administratifs. Une trentaine de

monuments ? Plusieurs centaines.

En 1974, Institut 6thiopien d archzologie a entrepris une

enqu&e syst6matique qu'il poursuit annuellement en vue d16tablir

l'inventaire de cet ensemble culturel. ce jour, c'est cent

soixante-dix sites dont le nom a 6tg enregistr;.

La liste n'est

pas close. Leur 6tude occupe aujourd'hui une place centrale dans

1' rchgologie de llEthiopie.

Tous ces sites ont un caractgre fun6raire. Parfois - c'est

le cas le plus rare - on ne voit qu'un simple monolithe dont il

&?rive qu'il ne soit pas en place. Le plus souvent c'est un

groupement de stgles ou de grosses pierres rondes.

Des tombes en

quantit6 variable avoisinent les stGles concentr6es ou dispersges,

elles foment en maints endroits des cimetigres diversement gtendus,

ainsi

2

Seden, Gatire-Demma, Ambeut, Wado, Moulitcha-Gababa, Gayet-

Gareno, d'autres encore.

Cette annge, du leT fgvrier au

8

avril, des travaux ont 6t6

faits sur le site de Gatira-Demma.

I

se trouve 2 trente-cinq

kilomgtres au sud de 1'Aouache sur une colline embroussaill6e.

Une st&e 6p6es se dresse au pied d'un vieil olivier, 6t;tGe elle

mesure un mgtre vingt-cinq sur le sol; trois autres gisent 2

proximit6; elles aussi marqu6es des signes habituels. Les tombes y

sont nombreuses.

En 1976, une fouille 6tait ~r a t i ~ u g eour savoir (la question

se posait car des tentatives antgrieures,

sur un autre site, avaient

6t6 vaines) si ces tombes conservaient des 616ments de nature

favoriser des Studes, cornme par exemple l'examen anatomique et

biologique de restes humains, la dgtermination chronologique au moyen


10/55

du radiocarbone, des observations sur le mode d'inhamation,

6ventuellement sur la poterie et d autres objects 1 tablissement

de diapammes polliniques capables de signaler des dgfrichements ou

des cultures.

Non loin des stGles, une tombe ovale, encadr6e de pierres plates

pos6es de chant dans le sol, 6tait choisie pour la fouille. Trois

m es de longueur un m re soixante-quinze de largeur une

profondeur d'un mstre soixante-quinze sous une dalle 6quarrie un

squelette recroquevill6 6tait mis au jour, couch6 sur le c 6 droit

t e vers le nord-est.

Aucun objet n'accompagnait ce squelette, mais dgtail digne de

remarque, des tessons de poterie 6taient trouvgs dans la terre de la

f

sse

.;

1' ngle sud-est entre

0

m

90

et

1

m

10

de prof ondeur

c'est-a-dire un niveau inf6rieur celui des pierres p i

recouvraient la tombe.

On

peut donc affirmer que leur age est celui

de la s6pulture.

(partie du squelette a 6t6 remise au Professeur

Cheikh Anta Diop pour analyse du radiocarbone).

En f6vrier et mars

1978,

1'6tude particuli e du site de Gatira-

Demma

a

6t6 effectu6e lev6 topographique du champ fun6raire et

fouille arch6ologique d'un secteur au nord des stzles, proche de la

tombe 6tudi6e en

1976.

Ce secteur d6limite un rectangle de six mgtres

sur cinq.

Dans ces trente m5tres carr6s dix tombes ont 6t6

dgcouvertes.

L'examen de surface ne permettait pas d16tablir avec

certitude leur nombre; des pierres marquant l'emplacement de ces tombes

ont 6t6 6es du site au cours des temps pour l'usage domestique des

hameaux voisins et quelques-unes des pierres 6taient enf uies dans

le sol accumul6 en certains endroits du cimeti e par formation

progressive d 'humus v6g6tal.

Ces tombes prgsentaient les caract es observ6s lors des

recherches de

1976

sur la s6pulture proche. Pierres d'encadrement en

surface, cinq ou six; ces pierres - c'est une particularit6 du Soddo

ancien 6tant mitoyennes, comme il en va si 1' n veut pour la

structure d'une ruche, f rment un cimetisre 6troitement compartiment6.

des profondeurs diverses, une dalle, et sous cette dalle, un

seguelette. (~r6cision cinq seulement de ces pierres tombales ont

6te lev6es; il n'a pas paru utile, au point actuel des travaux, de

multiplier cette investigation de squelettes).

Aucun objet de

fabrication,

part des perles rouges et bleues ainsi que des boucles

d'oreille au crane d'une enfant.

Les corps 6taient repli6s;,11un

d'eux dont la tgte se trouvait entre les jambes avait etre du re

plac6 dans un trou exigu, en position proupie; au terme du

dgcharnement,

tout naturellement le crane 6tait tomb6

12

o; il se

trouvait. Pas d'orientation; les squelettes reposaient selon des

directions vari6es.

Le fait de placer le corps en chien de fusil n'est mGme pas

constant; une tombe examin6e a l'est du site r6v6lait un squelette


11/55

6tendu de son long.

L1am6nagement e .la tombe ensurface offrait

aussi une dissemblance un cercle de pierres brutes. Marque

d'une diffgrence de statut ?

De nombreux tessons de poterie ont 6t6 recueillis pr des

pierres d'encadrement

Leur pr6sence trahit-elle une pratique

sacrificielle ? Ces dgbris de poterie qui ne permettent pas la

reconstitution de vases complets n'auraient 6td que des t6ts pour

des offrandes de nature plus symbolique que substantielle.

Estimer llige e ces s6~ultures st chose malaisse. I1

convient d'attendre les donnges du laboratoire.

Des faits d'observation relev6s sur les stGles notamment, et

quelques inf6rences en leur compagnie, suggkent de leur assigner

dix

siscles, plus ou moins, ant bien entendu qu'il s'agit

1;

d'une conjecture qualifier de hasardeuse.

Le nombre des sites dont beaucoup sont de vastes cimeti es;

une certaine densit6 de peuplement qu'on peut en dgduire, suscitent

11id6e de communaut6s villageoises antgrieures (de combien ? )

116tablissement e la pr6sente population en place depuis des

si les, qui ne se connaft pas de lien ancestral avec ces vieux

habitants du Soddo.

Le volume dixiGme des Annales dlEthiopie, aru en 1976

contient un article de Fr. Anfray et E. Godet sur les monuments

du Soddo (p. 123-144).

Adresse de la publication

Ministry of Culture Sports

Center for Research and Conservation

of the Cultural Heritage

P.O. Box 1907

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.


12/55

KENYA

Report on the re-appraisal of the application of the term

Neolithic to certain past East African cultures.

from Dr.J.C. Onyango-Abuje, Division of Archaeology,

The International Louis Leakey Memorial Institute for African

Prehistory.

For the last four years have been engaged in re-appraising

issues related to early pastoralism and crop production in' astern

Africa. This exercise has included systematic study of the relevant

literature, analysis of axchaeological assemblages in museums, and

excavation of archaeological sites. As a result of this study

I

have

arrived at a number of conclusions,

a summary of which is given in

this note.

There is a definite Neolithic period, in the classic meaning

of the term, in eastern Africa,

The chronology of the eastern African Neolithic points to a

close contemporaneity with the Neolithic cultures in other

parts of the world, including West Asia which has been

repeatedly referred to as the source of neolithic cultures in

Africa.

The Quaternary faunal history of eastern Africa is still too

incomplete to allow for a final solution of the important

question of animal domestication in this part of the continent.

There is, however,

a

strong possibility that there were wild

progenitors of cattle, goats, sheep, and pigs, in eastern

Africa as is the case with the donkey.

It is therefore quite

probable that there was autochthonous domestication of animals

in eastern Africa contrary to the popularly held notion that

the practice first started in Asia and part of m o p e from where

it diffused to Africa, and especially the so-called sub-Saharan

Africa. also found indirect but convincing evidence for

domestication of plants in East Africa.

There is an urgent need for linguists to find a different term

for the groups of languages they have been referred

to as

Cushitic since it is impossible to remove the implicit

connection between the ancient North African Kingdom of Kush,

and the beginning of the Neolithic period in East Africa, as

long as the term Cushitic-speaking is applied to modern

populations considered descended from the early pastoralists

and sultivators.


13/55

Radiocarbon dated polished stone axeheads from Crescent Island,

Lake Naivasha, Kenya.

The r es e ar c h a l r e a d y r e f e r r e d t o a l s o r e s u l t e d i n t h e

d is co ve ry of p ol is he d s t o ne a r t e f a c t s i n s i t u a t Crescen t I s l and

f o r which rad iocarbon da te s were ob ta ined .

The polished Knobbed-

bossed s ton e adzes/axeheads were recovere d from two di f f e r e n t

excavat ions ass ocia ted wi th pes t le / r ubbers , po t te ry of Narosura

Ware type, bones of wild animals

as

w el l as domes ti c c a t t l e and

goats /sheep , and f la ked s tone ar te fa ct s . Gr indstones and s ton e

v es s e l f ragm en ts , i n ad d i t i o n t o o t h e r a r t e f ac t s , w ere r ecov e red

from a nearby excavation.

Bone samples processed

a t

Krueger Enterprises, Inc. Geochron

La bor ato rie s Di vis ion , Cambridge, Massac husetts, U.S.A. have given

the fo l lowing da tes :

Gx-4588-A

2405 150

C-14

ye ar s B.P. c-13 cor rect ed)

Gx-4587-G

2795

155

2-14 ye ars B.P. c-13 co rre ct ed)

A s

fa r as a m

aware

t h e C re scen t I s l an d p o l is h ed a r t e f ac t s

a r e the on ly ones i n eas t e rn Af r i ca which have been s a t i s fa c t o r i l y

dated using radiocarbon method ut would apprec ia te fu r t he r

informat ion on th e mat ter .

Future Research Plans

am commencing a fou r t o f iv e year r esearch programme i n th e

Lake V ic to ri a Basin, Kenya, i n February 1978.

The a re a t o be

covered includes a l l d i s t r i c t s of Nyanza and Western Province s.

The programme i s an in t e r -d i sc i p l in ary one invo lv ing a rchae o log i s t s ,

geo log i s t s , pa lae on to log i s t s , e thnographers , and o r a l h i s to r i a ns .

Although the immediate r esearch p lans a re f o r fou r t o f iv e yea r s ,

env is ag e t h a t t h e p r o j ec t w i l l

l a s t

f o r a much longe r du ra ti on and

w i l l

i nvolve o ther pro fess iona l s no t mentioned i n th i s no te so f a r .

Furt her in qu ir ie s regar ding th e rese ar ch programme could be

addresse d t o me a t the fo l lowing address :

Di vis ion of Archaeology,

T.I.L.L.M.I.A.P.,

BOX

46727,

NAIROBI. Kenya.

D r Onyango-Abuje a l s o sup pl ie s th e follo win g info rmat ion:

Master of Sci ence and Doctor of Philosophy Archaeology) Uni ve rs it y

of Nai rob i .

t i s

now poss ib le t o r e g i s t e r fo r Master o f Science M.SC.)

and Doctor o f Phi losophy P ~ . D ) egrees Archaeology) i n th e Fac ul ty

of Sci en ce , Un iv er si ty of Nair obi . The programme which i s a n i n t e r -


14/55

disc ip l i nary one

i s

co-ordin ated i n th e Department of Geology.

The

Archaeology programme i s run i n c lose co l l aborat ion wi th the

Int er na t io na l Louis Leakey Memorial I n s t i tu te f o r African Preh isto ry

which provides some aspec ts of labo rato ry and fi e l d rese arc h

f a c i l i t i e s .

A

NOTE

ON

THE

CORD

ROULETTED POTTERY

N

WESTERN KENYA

Simiyu Wandibba

Department of Archaeology

Southampton University, England.

I n western Kenya th e making of po tt e ry

i s

among th e few

t r a d i t i o n a l c r a f t s

s t i l l

pract ised on

a

wide scale.

The main reason

f o r t h i s ,

I

bel ieve, i s t h e f a c t t h a t p o t te r y

i s

s t i l l general ly

regarded as

an

important utensi l .

Many families

s t i l l

u se p o t s t o

co l le ct and s t or e water, t o cook in , t o make beer i n and t o dr ink i t

from and t o s to re various typ es of food.

Besides these domestic uses,

po ts have a commercial value i n th a t t hey a re

s t i l l

s o ld i n l a r g e

numbers.

Pot-makers a r e found both among Baluy ia and t h e Luo. Although

each group seems, t o

a

grea te r o r l es se r degree ,

t o make vesse ls th a t

ar e d i s t in ct ly d i f fe re nt , both of them use

a

p l a i t e d

grass

t o decorat e

th e i r pots . The cord ro ule t te technique therefore s tands out as a

measure of s i m il a r it y between th e Luyia and Luo pot te ry .

The

a i m

of t h i s no te

i s

t o giv e some prelim inar y informatio n on

some as ye t incomplete re sear ch . The major

a i m

of t h i s research i s

t o t r y and es t ab l i sh t he o r ig i ns of t he cord rou le t t e d pot$ery i n

western Kenya.

Pot t ery decorated with a cord rou le t t e

was f i rs t

r e o rte d i n

Kenya from the central R i f t Valley by Louis Leakey (19317. These

potsher ds had been recovered from th e Nakuru Buri al s i t e , some th re e

o r f i v e kilome tres o uts ide Nakuru on th e Nakuru-Nairobi roa d.

I t

w a s

l a t e r reported from the North-east Vil lage on

yrax H i l l

Nakuru

( ~ e a k e ~ ,.D. 1945).

Both Louis and Mary Leakey as cr ib ed t h i s po tt er y

t o t h e Gumban

B

va ria nt of th e stone bowl cultu re .

I n 1967 Merrick Posnansky coined a new term fo r t h i s pot tery

c a l l i n g i t

'Lanet ware ' , af ter

a

s i t e of t h e same name n ea r Nakuru.

He defined the chief ch ar ac ter ist ic s of t h i s ware as: ve r t i ca l hand les

placed near the r im;

s t r a i g h t r i m forms with

a

squared l i p and

roulet ted (or knot ted grass decoration around the r i m ( ~ o s n a n s k ~967a:

108)

The presen ce of sp ou ts and lug s

w a s

a l so r eport ed .


15/55

A t

f i rs t i t w a s

thought t h a t Lanet ware was

c on fi ne d t o t h e

Kenya R i f t Valley. This

i s

no l onge r t r ue .

Posnansky r epor t s t ha t

t h i s ware h as vague a f f i n i t i e s w i th t h a t of r a t h e r e a r l i e r w ar es i n

Uganda ( ~ i ~ o )nd Rwanda ( ~ a n ~ e )hich a r e a s soc i a t ed with pas to r a l

p eo pl es ( i b i d . ) . S u tt o n r e f e r s t o t h i s ware as

Class C

and gives

i t s d i s t r i b u t i o n as follows: Hyrax

H i l l

Nakuru; Mau Narok; Nanyuki;

so ut h of E l do re t ; Kabyoyon Farm, Suam; Lan et ; Namgoi, Kabsabet

( ~ u t t o n 973).

More recently,

Lanet ware has been rep or te d as far

e a s t as Lukenya

H i l l

near Machakos.

The ques t ion t o ask then

i s ,

can we regard th e cord ro ul e t te d

po t t er y i n western Kenya today as

a

cont inua t ion of th e Lanet

t r ad i t i o n . With t he l im i t e d r e sea rch t h a t has been done, and

moreover based not on excavat ion s but on o ra l t r a di t i on s , i t i s ve ry

d i f f i c u l t t o p ro vid e

a

conclus ive answer t o th e ques t ion .

W

can ,

however, suggest an answer.

I t

seems that

i f

t h e r e

i s

d e f i n i t e l y

a

c o n t i n u i t y i n t h e L an et

t r ad i t io n i n t h e

R i f t

Valley of Kenya.

Modern Okiek cermics are

char ac te r i sed by pa i red handles ,

two or more sma l ler l ug s and var i ous

r o u l e t t e d d e s i g n s la lack burn 1973:68).

Okiek pot tery has thus two of

th e thr ee ch ief ch ar ac te r i s t ic s of Lanet ware and one of th e two minor

ch ar ac te r i s t i c s . On th e o the r hand,

t h e p o t t e ry i n west ern Kenya has

one of t he major cha rac t e r i s t i c s , namely, t h e rou l e t t e d decora t i on ,

and one of t he minor ones, t h e lug s.

If

t h e absence of t he o the r

a t t r i b u t e s was in t e rp re t ed i n te rms of change through t ime as wel l

as

adapta t ion by d i f f e r en t groups of people , we would have l i t t l e

d i f f i c u l t y i n accep t i ng t h e west e rn Kenya po t t e r y as being

a

cont inua t ion i n the broad t r ad i t io n of th e Lanet makers .

Many caves

i n Bungoma,

th e occupation of which could sa fe ly be asc r ibed t o th e

l a s t

c e nt ur y , a r e l i t t e r e d w i th r o u l e t t e d s h er d s ( a u t h o r ' s p e r s o n al

o - x e r v a t i o n s )

According t o Posnansky (1967b) t h e makers of t h e Lanet ware

were disp lace d from t he ce n tr a l Kenya R i f t V al le y t o t h e x e a o f t h e

Uasin Gishu Plat ea u, f rom where t hey were f i n a l l y dis per sed towards

Mt.Elgon, on whose sl op es th e r e

s t i l l

e x i s t S i ri kw a c l a n s , o r o v e r

th e edge o f t he E lgeyo e scarpmen t. ques t i on t h a t a r i s e s f rom t h i s

as se r t io n i s , how did Lanet ware g et t o Lukenya H i l l One can say

t h a t one of th e ways i n which t h i s could have been done

w a s

through

t h e medium of tr a d e.

T h i s would be d i f f i c u l t t o v e r i f y on t h e

present ev idence i n view of t he f a c t th a t whereas

a t

Lanet the ware

has been da t ed t o

A.D.

1585

100

a t

Lukenya H i l l

i t

has been dated

t o A D 449 170 ~ r am l ~

975

:C-5

So far t h e o l d e s t d a t e

obta ined on zane t ware i n th e

R i f t

Val ley

i s

tha t f rom Salasun ,

M t

Suswa.

Here a date of 1185

140 B .P. (GX-4420) o r A .D. 765 4 140

w a s ob tai ne d on animal bone apa te.

Another ex pla na tio n must

therefore be sought .


16/55

Alan Jacobs has concluded that most evidence suggests that

the Sirikwa were a ba s ic al ly Maasai-speaking people who ori gi na te d

e a s t of Mt.Elgon and occupied t h e Uasin Gishu Pla tea u a t the t ime

that they were dispersed by the

Maasai

( ~ a c o s 9 70). I f t h i s

conclusion be taken

as

t r u e , then t h e makers of Lanet ware migrated

from th e Mt.Elgon ar ea t o t he R i f t Valley.

The t radi t ions of

Sirikw a clan s among some Baluyia groups seem t o l end weight t o t h i s

conclusion. Those of Babukusu, f o r example, s t a t e t h a t Basilikwa

( ~ i r i k w a lans) migrated from nor th-east of

M t

.Elgon south-eastwards

towards th e R i f t Valley when they were ha lte d by t he Maasai and the

Kalenjin-speaking peoples.

They were then forc ed t o move t o t h e i r

present homeland (Wandibba 1977d).

Posnansky notes that modern Sebei

po t t e ry i s i n t h e same t r a d i t i o n as Lanet ware (1967a).

s

I

have

s t a te d above, th e same can

be

s ai d of modern po tte ry i n western Kenya.

If we take t h i s t o be

a

cont inua t ion of th e Lanet t ra di t i on , then

t h e r e i s

a

st ro ng argument fo r th e o ri gi n of Lanet ware t o have been

western Kenya rather than the central

R i f t

Valley. The genera l ar ea

t o th e north-ea st and ea st of Mt.Elgon could have been th e cr ad le of

t h i s ware.

Who then,

among the Baluyia and th e Luo were resp ons ibl e f o r t he

introd uct ion of cord rou le t te d pot tery i n western Kenya?

Although on

th e pre sen t evidence we cannot answer t h i s que sti on con clu siv ely, one

thin g seems t o be cer ta in .

If

we ar e r ig ht i n a t t r i bu t i ng Lanet ware

t o th e S i r ikwa,

whoever they were, then n ei th er of th es e two groups

can legi t imate ly c la im to have in t roduced cord ro ul e t t in g i n th e a rea .

A t

most

a

group can claim t o have been f i r s t i n adopting

i t

Since

the Bantu were the f i r s t people t o inhab i t t he a r ea a f t e r the

o r i g i n a l i n h a b it a n t s , t h e r e i s eve ry poss ib i l i t y th a t t hey were the

f i r s t ones t o adopt t h i s decorat iv e technique. The northern Bantu,

Baluyia, have s ince continued t o decora te t h e i r pot te ry i n th e same

manner (Wandibba, o p . c i t

.

Acknowledgement

This research w a s financ ed by t h e Natio nal Museums of Kenya,

t o whom I would l ik e t o extend my sincer e thanks.

References

Blackburn,q.H. 1973 Okiek ceramics: evidence f o r c e n t r a l Kenya

prehistory. Azania 8:55-70.

Gramly,R.M. 975 ' Pa s to ra l i s t s and hun te r s ecen t p reh i s to ry i n

southern Kenya and northern Tanzania'.

Ph.D.

Thesis ,Hkvard Univers ity .

Jacobs,A.H.

1970 New l i g h t on i n t e r i o r peoples- t h e Sirikwa

phenomenon. Unpl.

Seminar paper, University of

Nairobi.


17/55

Leakey,M.D.

1945

Report on t h e excavat ions

a t Hyrax

H i l l

Nakuru,

Kenya Colony,

1937 1938.

Trans. Roy Soc. S. Afr. 30: 27-409

Leakey,L.S.B

1931

The ston e age cu l t ur es of Kenya colo ny .

London: Cambridge Uni ve rs it y Pr es s.

Posnansky

M. 1967a

Excavat ions a t Lanet, Kenya

1957.

Azania 2:

89-114.

1967b The Ir on Age i n Ea st Afr ica. I n Background t o

evo lut io n i n Afr ic a , eds . W.V.Bishop and

J .D. Clark, Chicago.

Sut ton,J .E.G.

1973

History and archaeology of the western highlands

o f Kenya . N ai ro bi : B r i t i s h I n s t i t u t e i n Ea s t er n

Africa.

Wandibba,S.

1977d The o r ig in o f co rd ro u l e t t ed po t t e ry i n west e rn

Kenya-a prel imin asy re p o rt . Unpl. seminar pap er,

Universi ty of Nairobi .

M r .

Hamo Sassoon of t h e F o r t J e s u s Museum, P.O. Box 82412,

Mombasa, Kenya con ti nu es t o send r e p o r t s on th e Mombasa Wreck

Excavation.

This project which i s examining the sunken Portuguese

f r i g a t e , Santo Antonio de Tanna, has cont inued through January t o

March of t h i s year

and a number of f u r t he r i n t e r es t i ng f i nd s

have been made. The i r s t two in t e r im repor t s fo r 1978 have been

iss ue d and can be obtained from Mr.Sassoon. For an e a r l i e r note

on t h i s s ee Nyame Akuma no. 10 (1977) 23.


18/55

EGYPT

EXCAVATIONS AT QASR IBRIM 1978

From January t o Apri l , 1978, th e Egypt Exp lora t ion Soc iety conducted i t s

n i n t h s eason of excava t ions a t Qasr Ib rim , i n t he f a r sou th of Egypt.

T h is f o r t i f i e d c i t a d e l , now a n i s l a n d r i s i n g f o r l o r n l y f ro m t h e w a te r s o f

Lake Nasser, was fo r mi l l enn i a one of t h e most impor tan t po l i t i c a l ,

re-

l i g i ou s, and commercial ce nt er s i n Lower Nubia .

t w a s

founded a t

l eas t

a s f a r back as t h e Egyp t ian n ine t ee n th dynas ty , and t h e re a f t e r

w a s

more o r

less c o nt i nu a ll v o c c u ~ i e d n t i l t h e e a r l v ve a rs of t h e l a s t cen tu rv .

The midden d e ~ o s i t s nd s t r a t i f i e d b u i l di n n r em ain s a t

Oasr

Ib r im

r e a c h a d e ot h , i n ~ l a c e s , f s ev en t o e i g h t m e te r s. Our e xc a v a ti o n s t h u s

fa r , which cove r abou t one - f i f t h of t h e t o t a l su r f ace a r ea , have neces sa r i -

l y been concen t r at ed upon t h e upper and l a t e r occupa t ion l ev e l s , da t i n g

from l a t e C l a s si c a l and mediev al time s c. 400-1900 A.D.). I n 1978, how-

eve r ,

we

began f o r t h e f i r s t tim e t o p e n e tr a t e s i g n i f i c a n t l y i n t o e a r l i e r

dep os i ts . This was a

matter

l e s s o f c h o i c e t h a n o f u r ge n t n e c e s s i t y , f o r

wind and wave ac t io n have wrought su bs ta n t ia l damage to the o u t e r f o r t i -

f i ca t i on s a t Qasr Ib r im and have made impera t ive th e prompt i nv es t i ga t i on

d t h e immediat ely ad j acen t depo s i t s , o f wha teve r age.

Our excava t ions i n ea r l i e r seasons have focused pr i ma r i ly upon hab i ta -

t i o n rema in s c f . Nyame Akuma, No. 3, pp. 42-3 and No. 9, pp. 16 -17), f o r

Qasr

I br im i n a d d i t i o n t o

i t s

admin i s t r a t i ve and r e l i g i ou s func t ion s was

a l s o

a

m aj or r e s i d e n t i a l c e n t e r . However, t h e r em ai ns a t t h e e a r l i e r l e v e l s

th a t have so f a r come t o l i g h t a r e ex c lu s ive l y of a monumental ch a ra c t e r .

They in cl ud e fragmen ts of temples, magazines, rampar ts, towers , gateways,

and per haps tombs; some i n mud br ic k, some i n rough st on e, and some i n


19/55

massive , f i ne ly d re s sed s tone . We have no t ye t had th e oppor tu n i ty t o i n -

v e s t i g a t e an y s i n g l e s t r u c t u r e v er y f u l l y , b u t t h e s e qu en ce and s u p er p os i -

t i o n of monumental co ns t r uc t ion wi th in t he l i mi ted a re a of our excav a t ions

i s

t r u l y e x t r a o r d i n a r y .

t

s ho ul d be added t h a t t h e f o r t i f i c a t i o n and

temple remains her e , a s everywhere a t Qasr Ibrim, a r e deeply bur ied i n

ordi nar y midden depo si t s , which i n t h i s ca se can only have come from

h a b i t a t i o n a r e a s e ls ew he re on t h e s i t e .

The co nte n t s of the midden r e f us e a r e themselves someth ing of a

s u r p r i s e , f o r we h av e j u s t w i t h i n t h e f o r t i f i c a t i o n s , a m et er o r more

of what app ears t o be pu re ly Roman de po si t .

t

inc lu de s Ptolemaic and

Roman co ins , l i nag a r me n t s i n co n t r a s t t o t h e co t t on ha b i tua l l y worn by

th e Nubian na t i ve s a t t h i s t ime) , Roman lamps and pot te r y , l e a t he r san da l s

and boo ts of Roman type , and even fra gme nts of L a t in pap yri .

Coins and

i n s c r i p t i o n s su g ge s t a d a t i n g i n t h e r e i g n o f Augustus; i . e . , a t t h e

very ou ts et of Roman ru l e on the Nile .

t

i s t em pt ing t o a s s o c i a t e t h i s

ma te r i a l with th e hi s t o r i c a l l y documented Roman occupa t ion of Qasr Ibr im

from 23 t o 21 B.C. b u t i n f a c t t h e d e p t of m idden i n d i c a t e s

a

much longer

in te rv a l . Probably , a s S i r Laurence Kirwan has suggested in an unpubli shed

pape r ) ,

Qasr Ibr im was f o r a long t ime a ce nt er of Roman inf lu en ce wit h

Me ro i t i c Nubia.

The pot t e ry types encountered i n 1978 a r e comple te ly un l ik e anyth ing

prev iou sly known from Nubia . The fa c t th a t s im il ar wares have not been

found

a t

o the r s i t e s l ends suppor t t o t he i dea , l ong ago sugges t ed bu t

never whol ly accep ted , t h a t Qasr Ib r im in t he l a s t mi ll ennium B.C. was one

of t he few inhab i t ed ou tpos t s i n a gen e ra l ly de se r t e d r eg ion .


20/55

The 1978 excavations a t Qasr Ibrim, l i k e those of the previous thr ee

seasons , were sponsored by th e Egypt Exp lora tion Socie ty of Grea t Br it ai n,

with as si st an ce from th e Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology, th e

American Research Center i n Egypt, t h e Un iv er si ty of Kentucky, and t he

Smithsonian Forei gn Currency Program. Co-Directors were Robert

D

Anderson

of th e Egypt Exp lora tion S ocie ty and William Y Adams of th e Un iv er si ty of

Kentucky.

D r

Vermeersch sends t h i s rep or t:

BELGIAN MIDDLE EGYPT PRMISTORIC PROJECT - 1978

om t h e 30th December 1977 u n r i l the 11 th February 1978 a group

of t h e Belgian Middle Egypt P re hi st or ic Pro je ct of Leuven Un iv ers ity

excavated

a

Middle P a l a e o l i t h i c s i t e

a t

Nazlet ~ h g t i r o t he nor th wes t

of Tahta.

This group

w a s

composed of Pr o f . Dr.1P.M. Vermeersch, pr o je c t

d i r e c t o r , D r E. Paulissen geomorphologist D r M O tte ( ~ i z ~ e

u n i v e r s i t y )

G G i

sel ings and

D

Drappier prehis tor ians .

t

was

a s s i s t e d by Mohamed Mohamed Mahmoud Shaban, in s pec to r of t h e Egy pt ian

Department of Antiquities.

The s i t e o f N azlet ~ h g t i r o n s i s ts of

a small

e l e v a t i o n i n t h e low er

deser t 100

m

e a s t o f t h e a l l u v i a l p l a in . t w a s b u i l t up by d i f f e r e n t

Nil e sediments of which t he upper gr ave l con tain s

a

Middle Pa leol i th ic

indus t r y o f Leva l lo i s i an t echn ique. The indus t ry l i e s i n

a

der ived

pos i t ion bu t

i s

r a t h e r well documented by numerous Le va ll oi s co res and

flakes of Nubian type.


21/55

Above th e Nile gr av el s ,

l a y e r of s i l t y sa nd w i th p e b b le s ,

probably of wadi or ig in , conta ins anoth er very h igh conce nt ra t ion

o f Middle Pa l a e o l i t h i c a r t e f a c t s w it h i n t e n s e w h it e p a t i n a t i o n .

This ind us try produced, b esid es numerous piece s of Lev al lo is

techniq ue, numerous blade s. The extreme r a r i t y of t o o l s seems t o

i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e o c cu rr en ce o f t h e a r t e f a c t s

i s

r e l a t e d t o a n

i mp or ta nt f l a k i n g s i t e ,

a t

which over 1 ,000 f la ke was tes p er square

met re cou ld be r eg i s t e r ed ,

Anothe r concen t r a t i on o f a r t e f ac t s

i s

i nc lu de d i n

a

l imes tone

g r a v e l s i t u a t e d above t h e l a y e r of s i l t y sa nd and

i s

of wadi or ig in .

The a r t e f a c t s were o n l y s l i g h t l y d i s p l a c e d by t h e wadi a c t i v i t y s o

t h a t t h e o c c u p a t i o n area

w a s

o n ly p a r t i a l l y d e st ro ye d .

The concentra-

t i o n of a r te f a c t s remained very dense wi th more tha n 2 ,000 was te

produc ts pe r squa re me tr e . Th i s unpa t ina t ed indus t ry

i s

a l s o o f

Le va l lo is ia n technique mainly of Nubian type. Tools a r e extremely

r a r e .

Geomorphologica l in ve s t ig a t i on s of th e sur rounding ar ea res ul te d

i n t h e c o n tr u ct i on o f a l o ca l s t r a t i g ra phy i n which t he Ni l e and wadi

a c t i v i t y

i s

d i s t i n g u i s h e d .

I n t h e p r es e nt

s t t e

of knowledge of t h e Egypt ian Nile v al le y

p r e h i s t o r y ,

t h i s

i s

t h e

f i r s t

ti me t h a t t h e a s s o c i a t i o n o f

Leva l lo i s i an in du s t r i e s w ith N i l e sed iments of t h e ea r l y Upper

P le i s tocene could be spe c i f i ed . The Leva l lo i s i an indu s t r i e s can be

da t ed i n t he pe r iod of 100,000 t o 40,000 yea r s be fo re p rese n t .

Th i s r e sea rch

was

made possible by

a

grant f rom the Belgian

Committee f o r Excavations i n Egypt.

Be lg i an Middle Egypt P re h i s to r i c P ro j ec t Pub l i c a t ions

VERMEERSCH, P.M., PAULISSEN, E., GIJSELINGS,

G .

1977

Prospect ion ~ r g h i s t o r i ~ u en t r e Asyut e t Nag Hammadi

( ~ ~ y p t e )Bull . Soc . Roy. b e lg e An throp ~ r g h i s t

88

17-124.

VERMEERSCH, P.M,, PAULISSEN, E. , OTTE, M . GIJSELINGS,G., DWPIER,

D .

978

Middle Pa l aeo l i t h i c i n t h e Egypti an Ni l e va l l e y ,

~ a l g o r i e n t

4

( i n p r e s s ) .

1978

Asheulean i n Middle Egypt, Paper pre sen ted

a t

t h e

V I I I

Pan-

a f r i c a n c on g re ss o f p r e h i s t o r y q u a t e r na r y s t u d i e s ,

Nai robi , Sept 1977 ( i n ~ r e s s )

1978

Pr eh is to r i c and geomorphological resea rch i n Middle Egypt ,

Palaeoecology of Afr ica, X ( i n p r e s s )

1978

Belgian Middle Egypt Pr eh is to r i c Proj ec t

1978

Nyame

Akuma (calgary)


22/55

VERMEERSCH, P.M., PAULISSEN, E .

Research results of the Belgian Expedition on the

problem of r i v e r f lo od changes i n Middle and Upper

Egypt, Sumer ( i n pre par at ion )

M r M i l l s of the Royal Ontario Museum sends this:

THE

DAKHLM OASIS PROJECT

The Dakhley

Oasis

Proj ect , under th e jo i n t sponsorship of th e

Society f o r th e Study of Egyptian Anti qui ti es and th e Royal Ontario

Museum,

w i l l

begin i t s i n i t i a l f i e l d season i n October, 1978.

The

pro jec t i s des igned t o explore the se t t lemen t pa t te rns , cu l t u ra l

development, e xt er na l rel at io ns hi ps and environmental changes from

t he Neol ithi c down t o th e Roman perio d i n t h e Dakhleh

Oasis,

some

900

km

SSW of Cairo.

The f i rs t phase of th e project w i l l consis t o f a survey to

loca te and id ent i fy archaeological s i t e s and environmental featu res .

This phase

i s

expected t o

l a s t

through several campaigns.

The area

i s la rg e about 3 ,000

km2

and although part of the oasis w i l l be

ina cc es sib le due t o heavy surf ac e sand or modern occupati on,

our

i n t e r t i o n

i s

to cover

as

much of t h e ground as pbssible. Following

completion of the survey, excavation

a t

s el ec te d s i t e s

w i l l

be

undertaken t o so rt out s pe ci f i c problems.

Our hopes f or the p ro ject are grea t

as

t h i s w i l l be the

f i r s t

stu dy of such

an

area dur ing the h is to r i ca l per iod . Textual evidence

from the Nile Valley indicates the probabili ty of

a

continuous

occupation a t the oasis by a non-Pharaonic population and a more o r

l e s s continuous re la ti on sh ip between th e two are as . The nature and

q u a l i t y of t h e r e l a t i o n s h ip

i s

however, no t understood. We expect

t o be ab le t o explore th e problems concern ing the i n i t i a l se t t l i ng and

subsequent ag ra ri an development of t h e

o as i s ,

a

p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t e r e s t -

in g study i n view of th e fa c t t ha t topographical di ffer ence s probably

make Nile Valley technique unsuitable.

I t

w i l l

be impor tan t t o lea rn

whether any of the Libyan peoples fa mi li ar t o th e an cie nt Egyptians

can be associa ted with t h i s are a

-

th ere ar e references t o them from

ea r l ie s t t imes , ye t no ind ica t ion of the loca t ion o f the i r ac t ua l

ha b i ta t u n t i l we ll i n t o th e New Kingdom.

I t w i l l

also be most

in te res t ing t o l ea rn whether the re

i s

any connexion between t h i s

southern oas is and th e Nubian ar ea of th e Nile t h a t

i s

so well known.

The position of Dakhleh within the communications and trade network of

trans- and sub-Saharan African

i s

a l s o a most i nt er es ti ng one. I t l i e s

away from th e ro ut e from Egypt t o Darfur and th e Sudan, but d i r e c t l y on

t h e ro ut es t o Kufra and t o Ennedi and t he Lake Chad bas in .


23/55

I n fa c t , ther e ar e many in t er es t i ng problems connected with th e

Dakhleh Oasis and we expect t h a t more problems w i l l be c re ate d by

the survey than

w i l l

be answered.

I exp ec t t h a t f u t u r e n o t i c e s h e r e

w i l l

contain rat he r more information tha n specu lat io n.

GABON

D r . Cahen

C 14 date from

of Tervuren sends t h i s repor t which g ives th e f i r s t

Gabon :

Le Gabon e s t encore trss

m a 1

connu du point de vue archgologique,

s i

l ' on excep te l e s tr avaux e f fec t

il

y a longtemps d gjg dans l e

cadre de

l a

~ o c i g t 6 r6h is to rique Gabona ise. Lors d 'un s6jour

~ n i v e r s i t 6Nat ionale du Gabon ( ~ i b r e v i l l e ) n janvier 1977 nous

avons eu l 'occas ion d 'ef fectuer de brsves prospect ions .

C ' e st a i n s i que l e l o ng de l a route menant de Librevi l le au port

d 'ovendo, hauteur environ de s travaux du chemin de f e r Transgabonais,

nous avons repgr6 deux horizons arch6010giques distincts s 'gtageant

dans un t a lu s de sab le b lanc g ros s i e r .

L 'hor izon supgr ieur , d i s t an t

de l a su rf ac e d'une vi ng ta in e de centim Gtres au maximum compo rtait d e

l a p o t e r i e e t d es co q u i ll ag es , s u r t o u t de s h u i t r e s . I1 a 6 t g poss ib le

d e r e c on s t it u e r l e p r o f i l d ' u n va se ( f i g . 1 ) .

Entre

50

e t 70 cm s ou s l a s u r f ace ac t u e l l e , on r en co n t r a i t d e g ro s

f ragmen ts de charbon de bo i s a in s i que des p ie r re s t a i l l g e s de pe t i t e s

dimensions. La mati sre premisre co ns is te esse ntie llem ent en un

gr

tr calc6donieux e t en quart z.

Le matzriel comportait surtout du

dgbitage mais nous avons

pu

rgcolter quelques microl i thes dont un

trapGze e t un segment.

Nous devons l 'ob l igeance de Madame

G .

Del ibr ias , du Laborato i re

du Radiocarbone de Gif-sur-Yvette d' av oi r pu d a t e r un Gch antil lon de

charbon de bois qui a donn6 l e rg su l t a t su ivan t

:

Gif 4157 : 5040 130 BP.

Cet te date associge

une in du st r i e part i el lem ent ou totalernent

microl i thique trouv6e dans l a gas t i e occ iden tal e de l 'Af r ique cen t ra l e

para?t accepta ble. El le peut e t r e comparge aux gges calcul6 s pour l e s

in du st r i es d i t e s du Ts hit ol i en tas d if , au ZaYre, en R6publique populaire

du Congo e t en Angola par exemple ( ~ a r e t P. de, Van Noten,

F.

and

Cahen, D . 1977. Radiocarbon dates from West Central Africa a

syn thes i s .

J . A . H .

X V I I I - 4 pp. 481-505).


24/55


25/55

GHANA

The Accra Pl ai ns Archaeological and Hi st or ic al Pro jec t

Report on 1976/77 Fieldwork

James Anquandah

Department of Archaeology

University of Ghana, Legon,

I n July-August 1977 t h e above-named p ro je c t w a s i n i t i a t e d t o

conduct a rchaeologica l , h i s to r i ca l , and e thnographic research i n t o

th e o ri gi ns and c u lt u ra l development of t h e Ga-Dangbe pe oples of th e

Accra Pla ins and t h e i r i r on age predecessors . Dur ing t h i s f i r s t

season, a team from th e Department of Archaeology l e d by t he w r i t e r

co ll ec te d o r a l tr a d i t i o n s i n th e Dangbe towns of Prampram and

Dawhenya and

a t

Ayaso, the t r a d i t i on a l cap i ta l s i t e of Grea t Accra

founded i n th e 16th century. This

was

followed by

a

tes t -excavat ion

of t h e town s i t e of Ladoku near Dawhenya, th e nucl ear se tt le me nt of

t h e L a sub-group of the

G a

P a r t

Oral Traditions and Ethnographx

Below i s a br ie f ou t l ine of the t r ad i t io ns and the e thnographic

d a t a as co l l ec t ed

a t

Prampram,Dawhenya and Ayaso.

Origins:

The Gbugbla peo ple of Prampram say t h e i r ances tors who came

from Tetetutu, a p la ce l oc at ed somewhere i n t he ~ a h o m e ~ / ~ o ~ orea were

f i s he r f o lk and s o t he i r f i r s t s e t t l emen t s i n t he Accra P l a in s w ere

lo ca te d along t h e lagoons l i k e Lalue lagoon near Prampram. t w a s

from here th at l a t e r they moved t o s e t t l e a long inla nd s t reams and

v a l le y s l i k e t h e R Dechidaw and R Ohudaw of Dawhenya, where they

began cu l t iv at in g crops .

Dur ing the i r ea r ly se t t l ement per iod they

l iv ed s ide by s i de wi th th e G a of La who occupied th e h i l l t o p near

Dawhenya and with ot he r Dangbe people l i k e t he Sh ai .

The G a of Ayaso

s t a t e t ha t t h e i r o r ig ina l home was i n Muslim Savanna c oun try whence

th ey moved t o B enisaki

?

Benin c i t y before coming down t o est ab li sh

th e i r f i r s t s e t tl em en t s i n t he Accra P l a in s i n t he Densu Nsaki ba sin

around Weija and Botiano. t

was

from th er e t h a t th ey moved t o th e

co ast and Ayaso. The ir founding an ce st or s were note d as growers of

m i l l e t , a crop which i s only grown by present-day G a t o be cooked and

served as a n o f f e ri n g t o t h e G a d e i t i e s

a t

t h e i r Homowo fe s t i v a l .

Today,

the G a grow maize as a su bs t i tu te f o r mi l l e t , and a l so cocoyam,

and planta in,

Local Calendar: Both the Gbugbla of Prampram and Dawhenya and the G a

of Ayaso preserve t ra di t i on al agra r ian calendars which i n the p as t

provided a month-to-month t ime ta bl e fo r ag r i cu l t ur a l ac t i v i t i e s and

fo r the observance of t r a d i t i on a l f es t i va l s . The ca lendars a r e sa i d

t o be based on a s tudy of the co nst e l l a t i on s .


26/55

Urbanization:

Tradi t ions r e f e r t o urban development i n the Accra

P la in s f o r i n s t anc e t he Ga towns of La near Dawhenya and Ayaso near

Pokoase and th e Dangbe town of Sh ai on t h e Adwuku h i l l s .

The time

of t h i s urban development

i s

r ou gh ly s t a t e d t o b e i n t h e e a r l y p e ri od

of conta ct with t he European natio ns along the coa st .

A

c i v i l

w a r

between Shai and La s t i l l remembered i n Dangbe tr a d i t i o n a l songs le d

t o th e evacuation of La

a t

Dauhenya and the foundation of a new town

a t modern Labadi near the coast.

S t a t e Format ion: Gbugbla and Ayaso t r ad i t io na l i s t s say th a t t h e i r

r e a l s t a t e r u l e r s were, and a r e s t i l l t he Chief p r i e s t s ( ~ u lom e i n

Ga).

I n the pre-European per iod they were th e ef fe c t iv e r ul er s of

soc ie ty i n eve ry sense .

But as

i t i s a

t aboo fo r them t o t r av e l , and

sometimes even go out of doors, and t o engage i n sec u la r bus iness ,

when i t became necess ary f o r th e Ga-Dangbe t o do bus in ess with t h e

Portuguese, a Manche ( fa th er of the s t a t e )

w a s

appoin ted t o be th e

s e c u l a r rm of t h e p r i e s t l y r u l e r a nd

w a r

l eader .

Later the Mauche

w a s

provided with regalia such as a palanquin and stool copied from

neighbouring Akan peoples.

The people of Ayaso have a k i n g - l i s t

beginning with Ayite who founded the Ayaso st a t e i n t he l a t e 1 6th

century.

Social Organization:

The G a and Dangbe were each divided into 7

di s t in c t iv e c lan groups , each group ca l led Akutso i n G a and Wetso i n

Dangbe

Industry and Trade:

The Gbugbla have been noted s in ce t h e i r e a r l i e s t

s et tl em en t s f o r t h e i r f i s h and t r a d i t i o n a l

sa l t

indus t r i e s , which a r e

today

s t i l l

the mainstay of the local economy.

Sa l t and f i s h were so ld

t o hinter lan d neighbours i n exchange fo r corn f o r domestic use and o i l

palm f o r s a l e t o t he European t ra der s .

The

G a

of Ayaso practised

a l l u v i a l gold-mining i n th e pre-European period.

Later they found tha t

t h e i r Akan neighbours were producing bett er -q ua li ty gold and so th ey

founded th e e nt re po t town of Abonse where t he y s e t up as middlemen t o

purchase Akan gold f o r sa l e t o European trad er s . Local bark cl ot h and

cotton cloth-making was known among t h e Ga .

Fl or a and Fauna: Sh el l- fi sh

w a s

and i s s t i l l an important par t of

th e s ubs ist enc e economy of th e l i t t o r a l Ga-Dangbe.

( ~ o l l u s c s hought

t o be os t r ea cochlear , s trombus Bubonius, Thais Cal l i fe ra , P i t ar i a

Tumens, Natica Gastropoda, and es pe ci al ly Arca S e n i l is were l a t e r found

i n the excavat ions a t ~ ad ok u ) . Tulinum Tr iangu lar is , a vegetable and

Adansonia Digi a t a ( the baobab) f lo ur i sh i n g rea t quan t i ty

Ladoku r u i n s , The Tulinum i s

a

common lo c a l veg etab le f o r

whi le t he f r u i t of th e Adansonia

i s

t r a d i t i o n a l l y used f o r

por r idge ,

P a r t I

Archaeological Excavations a t Ladoku

ground survey

was

conducted i n June and Ju ly on th e

(545'15 N, 0 ~ 0 5 ' ~ )ocated

7 . 2

rn

north of Prampram beach

amidst the

making stews,

making

s i t e

and about


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2 5 km

from Dawhenya town. This

w a s

followed by

an

excavation

di re ct ed by the wr i t er with th e ass is ta nc e of W.J.A. Quansah and

M r B.M. Murey, bo th of t h e Department of Archaeology. Three

archaeology s tuden ts pa r t ic ip a t ed . i n th e excavat ion which

was

funded

by th e Univ ers ity of Ghana and conducted under th e l ic en ce of t h e

Na ti on al Museum and Monuments Board. The v i t a s up po rt giv en by

M r

R B

Nunoo, Di rec to r of Museums and Monuments through l o c a l

contacts which made

i t

p o s si b le t o i n i t i a t e t h e r e se ar c h i s very much

apprec ia ted .

The aims of t he d i g i n t h i s f i r s t

s ea so n n e r e t o a sc e r t a i n t h e

e x t e n t of t h e s i t e , t e s t t h e s t r a t i g r a p h y , and e s t a b l i s h t h e c hro nolog y

of th e h i l l t o p par t of the va st town-si te which extends over an a rea

of 3 k m x 2 k m .

1)

The h i l l t o p

w a s

surveyed and

a

s i t e plan made.

(2)

Three t e s t p i t s e ach 2 m x 2 m were excavated.

I n two of the

p i t s bedrock was reached. One p i t gave us a comple te cu l tura l

sequence of the hi l l to p.

3 )

There were 4 main l ev e l s below th e to p so i l .

The f i r s t two

upper lev e l s contained loc a l pot te ry , some wi th red c la y s l i p ,

some wi th 'smoke glaz in g' and most of

i t

with mica tempering

cha rac te r i s t i c o f Sha i po t t e ry . In form, the

f l t

bases , h igh

pedes ta ls and angular pro f i le s of t he pot t e ry from these

le ve ls r e c a l l the p ot te ry from 16th and 17th century contexts

of Dawu mound exca va te d by C.T. Shaw, Ayaso midden exca vate d

by Owusu and Ozanne, and Asebu excava ted by Nonoo. Severa l

imported European smoking pi pe s, l o c a l pi pe s, European

imported potsherds, cowrie sh e l l s , and gl as s beads from thes e

le ve ls da te them t o the per iod of European contac t ( i . e . post

A D

1471).

Below the se le ve ls was l ev el

3

c l e a r l y

dis t inguishable by i t s cul tura l content and i t s sepa ra t ion

from the upper levels by a lay er of ash .

Level 3 contained

dark brown gneiss-tem ere d po tt er y decorated with multi -

embossment and human nimal f i g u r i n e applique* mo ti fs . Th is

p o t t r t y i s well-known not on ly from su rf ac e co ll e c t i o n s made

a t

Cherekecherete h i l l i n Sha i ( i t s p robable source of o r i g in ) ,

but a l so ( i n a ssoc ia t ion with i ron ) from R B Nonoo's

excavation

a t

Ormsby Road, ne ar U ni ve rs it y

D r a m a

Studio, Accra

Central, some

4 4

kilometres away from Ladoku. No European

impor t s , l o ca l p ipes o r s tone too l s were found i n th i s l ev e l ,

which seems th er ef or e t o be an ir on age pre-European l e v e l

whose occupants may have been th e e a r l i e s t Ga-Dangbe s e t t l e r s

of th e Accra Pla ins . We have cal le d t h i s the Cherekecherete

Phase . The lowest le v e l comprising qu ar tz conglomerate

depos i t s contained l a t e r s tone age qua r tz f l a kes , no t

assoc ia ted wi th pot te ry .

4)

~e ta l / wo rk : I ron and copper/brass objec t s were found i n th e

top s o i l and l ev e l s and 2 .


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Ar ch ite ctu re: Remains of wa tt le and daub houses occu rred

i n t h e t o p l e v e ls .

I n l e v el

3

of one p i t , a l ay e r o f we l l -

la id s ton es without mor tar

w a s

found, probably representing

a

house f loor . I n

a

number of places elsewhere on the town-

s i t e , the r e a r e ru in s o f co l lapsed s tone houses which w i l l

be test-excavated next season.

Su bs is te nc e Economy: Bones of domestic a nim als (mainly

bovids) as well as molluscs (named i n pa r t of t h i s paper )

o ccu rr ed i n l e v e l s o

3 .

Trade:

The European t r ade wi th th e ~ ra m~ ra m/ ~a do kur e a

between AD 1550 and

1630

which

i s

wel l a t t e s te d i n European

records i s r e f lec ted i n the l a rg e quan t i ty o f European

impor ts found both on th e sur f ac e and i n the s t r a t i f i e d

depos i t s .

Typology:

Ozanne who ca rr ie d out an ea r l i e r t e s t excavation

a t

Ladoku i n 1964,

d i s t ingu ished 3 main phases M 1 M2,

M3

f o r I ro n Age Ladoku on the b as is of t he p ot te ry f rom the

d i f f e r en t l ev e l s o f occupat ion .

When th e po tt e r y excavat ed

i n August 1977 has been s tu di ed , it w i l l be pos s ib l e t o s a y

whether Ozanne s desc r ipt ion s ar e va l i d ,

and whether or not

our l e v e l s o 3 correspond t o Ozanne s

M3

M2 and M 1

( ~ h e r e k e c h e r e t e )

Ter ra Cot ta:

t

i s

thought by some tha t t e r r a co t t a f ig ur i nes

were

a

cu lt ur al preserve of t h e Akan.

One surface find of a

l a r g e f i g u r i n e a t ta c he d t o

a

pot whose fabr ic suggests a

1550 1630 AD da te could be argued t o be due t o Akan

inf luence which increased i n t h i s per iod and manifes ted

i t s e l f i n Ga-Dangbe adoption of Akan r eg a li a f o r the new pos t

of a Manche. But the po t t e ry seems t o be of l oc a l ( ~ h a i )

o r ig in .

Also Ladoku a r e a had

a

long app l ied- f igur ine t r a d i -

t i on dat i ng back t o e ar ly Cherekechere te t imes .

t seems t o

me the ref or e th a t th e Ga-Dangbe

cl ea r l y developed t h e i r own

t e r r a - c o t t a c u l t u r e .

(10) Dating: Pending th e re ce ip t of radiocarbon da te s which

should da te l eve l s 2 and

3

f i r m ly ,

one can only extrapolate

from th e upper l ev el s downwards and ( i n co rr el at io n with

evidence from European documents which suggest that the La

l e f t Ladoku between 1600 and 1628) hazard t h e foll owin g

guesses:

c . AD 1600

LEVEL 2 c .

AD.

1500

CHEREKECHERETE PHASE

C . AD

1200-1400

?

LATER

STONE

AGE


29/55

The f ol lo wi ng news h as been r ec ei ve d from t h e Ghana Na ti on al Museum:

The Ghana Museums and Monuments' Board i s p a r t i c ip a t i n g i n a n

exh i b i t i on on t he

Arts

of Ghana which

i s

c u r r e n t ly t a k i n g p la c e i n

t h e United St a t e s of America under t h e spon sorsh ip of t h e Museum of

cu l t u ra l His t ory of t h e Univ ers i t y of Cal i fo rni a , Los Angeles . The

ex hi bi t i on which opened i n October

w i l l

continue t ll August 1978

a f t e r

a

to ur of th re e c i t i e s , namely Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and

Dal las .

The Ghana Museum al s o pa rt ic ip at ed i n ex hi bi t i on on Africa n

arts i n Teheran .

The exhibition which opened on 1st November, 1977

was

being organised by the Shabanu Farah Foundation, and ended on

1 5 t h December 1977

Among th e e x h i b i t s from Ghana a r e c la n

s t a f f s

s t a t e swords , d rums , funerary t e r ra co t t a , smoking p ipe s , go ld weights

and wooden combs. The D i r ec t o r of t h e Ghana Nat io na l Museum Pr0f. R.B.

Nunoo

was

i n Teheran, and gave

a

s e r i e s o f l e c t u r e s on t h e

arts

of

Ghana.

Field Work

Mr

E.K. Agorsah has re ce nt ly undertaken

n

archaeologica l

su rvey of t h e Awudome-Kwanta a r e a of t h e Vo lt a Region of Ghana.

A

s tone sge s i t e with handaxes , and an i ron-smel ting s i t e on a

mountain neas Awudome-Kwanta (a bo ut 22 kilom etres south-west of HO)

have been loca t ed . I n addi t ion t o smoking p ipe s , i r on s l a g and

tuy ere s , two pots , p a r t ly exposed by ero sio n, and cla imed by lo c a l

informants t o cont ain cowry s he l l s were found.

Trad i t i ons a s soc i a t e t he i r on - smel t ing s i t e s wi t h t h e peopl e

of Akpafu a people well known f o r t h e i r mast erly knoulege of ir o n

smel t ing.

S in ce t h e s i t e s are t o be commercially farmed, prepa rat io ns ar e

under way t o conduct resc ue ex cava tions .

NEW APPOINTMENTS

M r Paul Duamena and Mr,J.E. Turkson have tak en up t h e i r p o st s

as

Assis tant Keepers .

Mr

G.B.L. S i i l o has a l s o been appointed

a

Research Off icer .

Pro fes sor Posnansky of U.C.L.A. sends t h e followin g no ti ce s:

SANKOFA The Legon Jou rn al of A rch aeo log ica l and H i s t o r i c a l St u di e s

Volume 2 f o r 1976 i s now av ai la bl e from Pr of . M Posnansky, Department

of His tory, Univers i ty of Cal i fornia , Los Angeles , C a l 90024 a t 4.00

p o s t f r e e f o r i n d i v i d u al s and 5 .0 0 f o r I n s t i t u t i o n s . Only

a

l i m i t e d


30/55

number of cop ies ar e av ai la bl e .

The journa l con ta ins a r t i c l e s on

t h e archaeology of Ghana and adjacen t ar ea s , f o r

a

f u l l c on te nt s

l i s t

s e e Nyame Akuma May 1977 (no . l o ) p . 61

Pl ans are now be i ng f i na l i ze d fo r a f i e l d s ch oo l i n A f ri ca n

Archaeology t o be he ld under th e aus pices of the Uni vers i ty of

Ca l i f orn ia with th e coopera t ion of t h e Univers i ty of Ghana

a t

Begho

i n Brong Ahafo, Ghana from Jan uar y

6

March

20, 1979

( d a t e s

approximate only).

Graduate Students w i l l by arrangement be abl e t o

o b t a i n

8

cr ed i t u n i t s i n Afr ican Archaeology Fi e l d Techniques and

Afr ican Archaeology da ta an a ly s i s . S tudents w i l l spend mornings i n

field work workin

Nyame Akuma Issue 012

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