Flight, Colin

English

IDS OpenDocs

LIBRARY AN D  MUSEUM REPORTS 105.
RADIOCARBON DATES FOR G H AN A:
KINTAM PO SERIES
by Colin Flight
In the last but one issue o f Research Review, a progress report was 
published (F ligh t, 1967) summarizing the results o f recent work on the pre­
history o f the Kintampo area. Two successive cultures were recognized, 
sharply d iffe rentia ted  one from the other. For the earlier culture the term 
'Buobini cu ltu re ' was introduced; the other was described provisionally as 
the 'Stone Axe cu ltu re ' but can now be identified w ith the Kintampo cu ltu re , 
or 'K in ta m p o -n e o lith ic ', as defined by Davies (1964 : 239-46). The date of 
1600 B .C . suggested there for the transition from the Buobini to the Kintampo 
culture needs to be revised in the light o f radiocarbon dates received since • 
that report was w ritte n .
During the 1966/67 season seven samples were collected for radiocarbon 
dating , three o f which were submitted to Isotopes, In c ., and four to the B ir­
mingham laboratory. A ll the results are now in . I am grateful to Professor 
F.W Shotton o f the Department of G eology, University o f Birmingham, for 
accepting the samples from K6 and K8 (Birm-29 and -31), and to Philip Rahtz 
for a llow ing me to include in this list the rwo dates which he had processed 
for K1 (Birm-28 and -30).
Buobini Culture
Three dates are availab le  for the Buobini cu ltu re , one for each o f the 
sites where it was identified :
Birm-31; 1451 + 74 BC K8 layer 2
1-2699: 1580 + 100 BC K1 layer 9
Birm-29: 1620 + 84 BC K6 layer 3
* M r. Colin  Flight is a Lecturer in the Department o f Archaeology.
LIBRARY AND  MUSEUM REPORTS 106.
When the pottery has been fu lly  analysed it may be possible to distinguish 
d ifferent phases w ith in  the Buobini cu ltu re , and thus to check more precisely the 
consistency o f these dates. It was not expected that Birm-29 would turn out to 
be the earliest of the three; in fact on stratigraphic grounds this sample was 
thought to date the very end o f the Buobini culture at K6, just before the arriva l 
o f the Kintampo cu ltu re . It may be that K6 was abandoned for a tim e, and that 
the latest phases o f the Buobini culture are not represented. No sign o f an 
unconformity was seen in the 1967 te s t-p it, but this is a problem which w ill need 
to be investigated further in this year's excavations. On the w hole, however, 
these three dates hang together fa ir ly  w e ll. Provisionally the Buobini culture 
can be dated from around 1700 to 1400 BC. The burials described b rie fly  in 
the previous report are o f interest as the oldest human skeletons yet found in Ghana.
K1 layer 8
There are also three dates for layer 8 at the K1 rock-shelter, overlying 
the Buobini culture in layer 9.
1-2697: 1270 + 110 BC from a hearth
near the top of 
layer 8.
Birm-30: 1389 + 35 BC ) from the rubble
) at the base of 
1-2698: 1610 + 100 BC ) layer 8.
The discrepancy between these last two dates is such that at least one of them may
w ell be unre liab le . Considering the pattern o f the dates as a w hole, Birm-30 is 
acceptable and 1-2698 is not. Layer 8 can therefore be dated provisionally from 
1400 to 1200 BC . There is s till some doubt whether the material from this layer 
can be assigned to the Kintampo cu ltu re , but it has at least a general s im ila rity  
as well as several specific features in common. Sim ilar comments apply to the 
site excavated by Dr. Davies at Ntereso. A ll in a ll the Ntereso material probably 
differs less from the Kintampo culture than the published accounts would suggest, 
but it  is certa in ly  not iden tica l. Three radiocarbon dates have been published 
recently (Davies, 1967: 11 7) for this site: 1240 + 120 BC for the earliest
le v e l, level 1, 1320 + 100 BC for level 2, and 1630 + 130 BC for level 3 
(SR—61 , -81, -52 ). Though they are not altogether satisfactory, a date o f around
LIBRARY AN D  MUSEUM REPORTS 107.
1300 BC seems least u n lik e ly . No typ ica l site of the Kintampo culture has yet 
been dated, but very probably it belongs in the second ha lf o f the second 
m illennium  ,
The quern factory at K1
O nly  one date is availab le for the upper levels, layers 1 through 7,
at K1 .
Birm-28: 57 + 10 BC layer 5
So l it t le  pottery was found in these layers that the significance o f the date is 
hard to assess. It would be as w ell i f  at least one more sample could be processed 
as a check on Birm-28.
References
DAVIES, O . ,  1964. The Quaternary in the Coastlands of Guinea. 
Glasgow: Jackson.
1967. 'Tim ber-construction and wood-carving in West A frica  
in the second millennium BC .' M a n (N .S .)  2 (1): 115-8,
FLIGHT, C . ,  1967. 'Kintampo 1967. Research .Review 3(3): 72- 7 .
(S)®©®
This work is licensed under a 
Creative Commons
Attribution -  Noncommercial - NoDerivs 4.0 License.
To view a copy of the license please see: 
http://creativecommons.Org/licenses/bv-nc-nd/4.0/
This is a download from the BLDS Digital Library on OpenDocs
http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/
if^ iInstitute of 
Development Studies


Radiocarbon dates for Ghana: Kintampo series

https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/20.500.12413/11472/1/Colin%20Flight-Radiocarbon%20Dates.pdf

Radiocarbon dates for Ghana: Kintampo series

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

IDS OpenDocs