Style in Mafa material culture

Bibliography: p. 269-278

Daboya and the Kintampo culture of Ghana

Bibliography: p. 114-120.The main obJective of this thesis is to develop a typology of the Kintampo cultural assemblage based upon materials obtained from the Kintampo culture levels, and Kintampo-related surface finds of Daboya, Northern Ghana. The Kintampo culture is believed to represent the earliest farming village communities that inhabited the savanna woodland belt of Ghana. Ever since the culture was identified and defined, there has not been a detailed analysis of the associated artifacts and this has limited the reconstruction of the processes of change to and within the culture. The classification of Daboya Kintampo artifacts can serve as a framework for detailed comparative studies of the culture with other early agricultural village communities in West Africa. The thesis is divided into six chapters. The first is a revival of evidence for the earliest farming villages in West Africa including information on environmental change associated with them. Chapter 2 consists of a brief geography of Daboya, a description of my research at Daboya and summaries materials at of data on other the site. The pits that yielded Kintampo classification of Daboya Kintampo and Kintampo-related pottery is presented in chapter three while the rest of the archaeological finds are analysed in the fourth. Chapter 5 has two sections, the first being a synthesis of the information obtained on the Kintampo occupation. The second section is a comparison of the Daboya Kintampo information with data from other excavated Kintampo culture sites. In the final chapter, the relationships of the Kintampo culture in time and space are evaluated based upon the data from Daboya, other Kintampo culture sites, and West Africa at large

Social Identities and Material Culture: Oral History, Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology in the Upper Basin of the White Volta (NE Ghana)

This article presents an update of the overall results from ethnoarchaeological field seasons carried out between 2009 and 2013 in the frame of the project 'Oral history, archaeology and ethnoarchaeology in the upper basin of the White Volta (NE Ghana)', a joint research by the University of the Balearic Islands (Spain) and the University of Ghana. The project aims to develop multidisciplinary research by combining different strategies -archaeology, ethnoarchaeology and oral history - in the study of the diverse social identities that define daily life of the communities of people inhabiting the upper basin of the White Volta river. Specifically, this multidisciplinary approach intends to broaden our knowledge of how these social identities are constructed and continuously modified, as well as to understand the role material culture has played in this process

I Like You, I Like Your Pottery: An Ethnoarchaeological Approach to Ceramic Distribution and Acquisition in Northeastern Ghana

[eng] This article deals with the myriad determinants involved in pottery distribution in northeast Ghana, considered from a theoretical perspective that integrates the materiality of vessels and the social, political and historical context where both communities and pottery operate in their daily practice. Hence, we develop a comprehensive research strategy that combines emic and etic views covering the multiple dimensions of pottery life history. In this sense, production units, technical traditions and the characteristics of the redistributive centres, as well as the strategies for pottery acquisition, are studied. Special attention is paid to quite varied aspects such as the physical properties of vessels and their performance characteristics, the reputation of both vessels and potters according to the consumers and the mobility and connectivity patterns found in the study area. On the other hand, interpretations regarding the historical and sociopolitical context of the region are emphasised, as well as the interethnic relationships amongst groups inhabiting the area.[fre] Dans cet article nous abordons les différents facteurs impliqués dans la distribution de la céramique dans le nord-est de Ghana à partir d'un cadre théorique qui tente d'intégrer la matérialité propre des récipients avec le contexte social, politique et historique dans lequel les communautés et leurs céramiques s'insèrent au jour le jour des pratiques quotidiennes. Pour cela, nous avons développé une ample stratégie d'étude qui combine tout autant les perspectives emic comme etic et qui englobe de multiples dimensions du cycle de vie de la céramique. Avec cet objectif nous avons étudié les unités de production, les traditions techniques employées ou les caractéristiques des centres distributeurs, ainsi que les stratégies suivies par les consommateurs afin d'acquérir les céramiques. Tout cela a été effectué en accordant une attention particulière, d'un côté, à des aspects aussi variés que les propriétés physiques des récipients et leurs performance characteristics, la réputation qu'ont les céramiques e t l a f emme pot i e r pour les consommateurs et les modèles de mobilité et connectivité présents dans la zone d'étude. D'un autre côté, un rôle déterminant a été octroyé aux interprétations réalisées sur le contexte historique et socio-politique de la région, ainsi qu'aux relations inter-ethniques existant entre les différents groupes vivant dans ce territoire