Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa
ISSN: 0067-270X (Print) 1945-5534 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/raza20
Archaeological manifestations of cross-cultural
encounters along the Dixcove coastline, Western
Region, Ghana
Fritz Biveridge
To cite this article: Fritz Biveridge (2020) Archaeological manifestations of cross-cultural
encounters along the Dixcove coastline, Western Region, Ghana, Azania: Archaeological Research
in Africa, 55:2, 189-216, DOI: 10.1080/0067270X.2020.1757861
To link to this article:  https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2020.1757861
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AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA
2020, VOL. 55, NO. 2, 189–216
https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2020.1757861
Archaeological manifestations of cross-cultural encounters
along the Dixcove coastline, Western Region, Ghana
Fritz Biveridge
Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Ghana, P.O. Box 3, Legon, Ghana
ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY
Using both archaeological and historical data, this paper examines Received 30 June 2018
the consequences of the British presence at Dixcove in the Accepted 15 October 2019
seventeenth to nineteenth centuries and how their encounter
with local Ahanta populations there impacted the body polity of KEYWORDSAtlantic contact era; cross-
Ahantaland and the local economy. It shows that prior to the cultural encounters; Dixcove;
advent of the British and their construction of Fort Metal Cross, Ghana
Dixcove was a small coastal chiefdom with fishing and salt
production constituting the mainstays of the local economy. The
period subsequent to British arrival then witnessed the rapid
development of vibrant commercial relations between the two
groups and the evolution of Dixcove from cosmopolitan to urban
status.
RÉSUMÉ
Employant les données archéologiques et historiques, cet article
examine les conséquences de la présence britannique à Dixcove
entre les dix-septième et dix-neuvième siècles, et considère la
manière dont leur rencontre avec les populations Ahanta locales
impacta sur la politie d’Ahantaland et l’économie locale. L’étude a
révélé qu’avant l’arrivée des Britanniques et leur construction de
Fort Metal Cross, Dixcove était une petite chefferie côtière où la
pêche et la production de sel constituaient les piliers de
l’économie locale. La période suivant l’arrivée britannique vit le
développement rapide de relations commerciales dynamiques
entre les deux groupes, et Dixcove évolua d’un statut cosmopolite
à un statut urbain.
Introduction
This research presents results of the first historical archaeology investigations conducted at
Dixcove (4°48´N, 1°57´W) located 35 km west of Takoradi, the capital of Ghana’s
Western Region. Two reasons necessitated the investigation of this site, which had pre-
viously not been explored by archaeologists. The first and most important was that Fort
Metal Cross and its neighbourhood, the commercial epicentres of the Anglo-Ahanta
encounter during the Atlantic contact era, had been leased to a foreign investor who is
converting the facility and its environs into a hotel/leisure complex primarily to
promote historical tourism in the district. Ongoing construction of an administrative
CONTACT Fritz Biveridge fbiveridge@ug.edu.gh
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
190 F. BIVERIDGE
block, a restaurant and several chalets to house tourists has destroyed much of the archae-
ological data embedded in the stratigraphy around the fort’s environs. Making this loss
worse, was the general dearth of archaeological information relating to the Anglo-
Ahanta encounter along the Dixcove coastline due to the fact that the geographical
focus of most historical archaeologists researching cross-cultural contacts in the past
has been the Central and Greater Accra Regions, further to the east. It was thus imperative
to conduct salvage excavations in areas as yet unaffected by construction in order to
recover archaeological data with which to illuminate and facilitate the reconstruction of
over four centuries of Anglo-Ahanta interactions, including the impact of those inter-
actions on the body polity of Ahantaland, the local economy and the British settlers
living in the fort.
The focal loci of the investigations were the two ancient suburbs of Ntwarkro (Upper
Dixcove) and Daazikessie (Lower Dixcove). Archaeological data retrieved from surface
surveys and excavation of five units constituted the primary data sources used for the
study. Early European records archived at the Public Records Office, London, and the
State Archives at The Hague and ethnohistorical data constituted the other sources
used. The research was funded by the Ghana Denmark Archaeological Project (GDarch
Project) and the University of Ghana Faculty Development Fund.
Historical background to the Anglo-Ahanta encounter at Dixcove
Much of what is known about the Anglo-Ahanta encounter derives from the testimony of
European mariners and traders. It is uncertain when the first contact between the Ahanta
and Europeans took place, although Lawrence (1963: 292) has postulated that it preceded
by some two hundred years the construction of Fort Metal Cross in 1692. According to
Bosman (1705: 12-13), before European arrival Dixcove was called Efiema and comprised
two small chiefdoms, each governed by its own paramount chief. Nana Amoako-Agyebu
VI, Adontenhene of Daazikessie (pers. comm., 28 July 2012), has noted that the name
change occurred sometime in the early seventeenth century after British mariners began
referring to the area as ‘Dick’s cove,’ after Dick, a prominent British trader who operated
from the natural cove at the site. This was later corrupted to ‘Dixcove’ by European sea-
farers to refer to both the cove and its environs. Early European records posit that fishing,
gold mining and palm oil and salt production constituted the major lynch-pins of the local
economy prior to European contact and subsequently constituted important traditional
exports from the Dixcove coastline to Europe (Dumett 1987: 209; Marees 1987: 75).
Items exchanged via the inter-continental Atlantic trade included blue/red perpetuanoes
(a light form of cloth), pewter basins, glass products, iron and copper bars and sheets,
Flemish knives, cases of liquor and spirits, guns, gunpowder and coral, as well as perish-
able consumables such as tea, lard, vinegar, flour, molasses, candles, soap, tallow and
tobacco (Feinberg 1989: 50; DeCorse 2001: 154).
Trade between the Ahanta and Europeans (principally the British) during the early
contact period initially boomed because Dixcove had abundant reserves of quality gold,
lime, gneiss, granite and timber required for the refurbishment of ships and trade factories
on the Gold Coast (Daaku 1970: 40; Dantzig 1980: 45). A missive from the captain of the
Eliza, Samuel Swan, to his brothers that dates to August 1811 states, among other things,
that ‘the gold dust collected from Cape Lahou down to “Dix Cove” is thought to be the
AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA 191
purest on the whole coast’ (Bennett & Brooks 1965: 50). According to Lawrence (1963:
293), the British Royal African Company and the Dutch West India Company were the
most vibrant European trading companies operating at Dixcove. To enhance their com-
mercial activities there and gain a foothold on the African mainland, the Royal African
Company began the construction of Dixcove Fort in 1692. After a brief transfer of prop-
erties between Britain and The Netherlands between 1868 and 1872, the fort was renamed
Fort Metalen Kruis (Fort Metal Cross). According to Lawrence (1963: 293), an English-
man named Charles Hinson is presumed to have negotiated and sought the consent of
the chief and tribal elders of Ntwarkro to pave the way for its construction.
The coastal trade was essentially a very profitable enterprise for both the British and the
indigenous populace of Dixcove. A 1772 document entitled A Treatise upon the Trade
from Great Britain to Africa that evaluated British trade on the Gold Coast described it
‘as the first principle and foundation of all the rest; the main spring of the machine
which sets every wheel in motion’ (PRO. T. 70/1455. F.1: 1778). Commenting on Britain’s
overseas commerce on the Guinea Coast in the early modern era Priestley (1969: 3)
asserted that trade ‘was the bedrock of her national power,’ while Hallett (1963: 196)
described it as ‘essentially necessary to the well-being’ of Britain’s New World Colonies.
According to Coombs (1963: 4), British trade on the Guinea Coast was very profitable,
with its total value in the 1850s estimated to be about five times that of the Dutch,
whose economy also benefitted from the trade in gold and later also in slaves. The com-
petitive zeal of Europeans to build trade factories on the Gold Coast to exploit its natural
and human resources is itself a testimony to the profitability of the commerce in which
they engaged.
There is, however, overwhelming documentary evidence to indicate that trade along the
Dixcove coastline was not limited to traders based in Britain, but that it also attracted ships
from several areas of North America, including New York, New Orleans, Charleston,
Newburyport and Boston. American trade on the Gold Coast blossomed after the
United States gained independence in 1783, taking advantage of the subsequent embroil-
ment of much of Europe, Britain included, in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic
Wars. A report by Samuel Swan, an American trader aboard the R.I Love & Unity to
Jacob Tidd at Elmina dated 20 August 1809 asserted that:
‘I have been offered at 17 Gall. [gallons] p[e]r. oz. [ounce] to take all my rum, but as I know
there is no American on the coast & that all my rum is in demand, I have determined not to
sell at less than 15 & I expect by the time I return from ‘Dix Cove’ (which place I am now
under weight for) to get an oz for 14 or 13 Gall. The rum is so good that Davison could
not sell at 18 pr Oz while I would give 16G. My rum is now my principal object having
74 hhd. still on hand, 60 bar flour, 50 cases of Gin & most of the cloth & some of the
small articles. The Amt sales are at present 16,139 Doll. & the Amt Invoice on hand is
12,725 dollars. I shall go no further up than ‘Dix Cove’ and shall touch at every place
from that to Accra, by which time I expect I will have no more on board than I shall want
to carry over to Prince Island with me’ (Bennett & Brooks 1965: 28).
There is documentary evidence to suggest that the British introduced Western forms of
education and even attempted to propagate the Gospel and Christianise the local popu-
lation at Dixcove. Examples of Dixcove notables who received such education include
Quamina, son of Acca, (a Dixcove caboceer, i.e. a native African appointed by his ruler
to supply European traders wiuth slaves), who became an educated protégé of The
192 F. BIVERIDGE
British Company under Mr Thomas Allan of Dublin (Priestley 1969: 37–37), and the son
of the chief of Ntwarkro, who was placed under the educational charge of another gentle-
man in Dublin with sponsorship from the Company of Merchants in the 1750s
(PRO. T. 70/1530 25 February and 6 June 1759). Others were Harry and Richard Brew,
sons of Richard Brew, both of whom were educated in England and returned to
Dixcove in 1768 (PRO. T. 70/1536. Thomas Westgate to Richard Brew 28 October
(1768). DeCorse (2001: 37) notes that mulatto individuals in particular ‘were educated
in the art of letters, the Holy Scriptures, foundation of economics, some crafts as well
as in the making of plantations’.
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries also saw many Africans on the lower
rungs of the social ladder learning to read and write because literacy afforded a valuable
means of guaranteeing access to upscale jobs like trade brokers and interpreters that
were considered prestigious and affluent occupations during the period (Graham 1976).
Literacy also facilitated the transfer of European technical know-how in fields such as
brass smelting and carpentry. Evidence by the Rev. J. Beecham to a question by the Chair-
man of the Proceedings of the Select Committee on West African Forts of the House of
Commons in 1842 regarding where British missionaries were stationed on the Gold
Coast indicated their presence not only at Dixcove, but also at a range of other locations,
including Commenda, Cape Coast Castle, Annamaboe, Cormantine, Salt Pond, Tantum,
Lago, Mumford, Winnebah and Accra (Metcalfe 1964: 176).
Deductions from historical sources clearly indicate that before the late nineteenth
century, Dixcove was not a British cultural transplant or colony because British traders
there continued to make regular ground rent payments and a variety of other payments
described as ‘tributes’, ‘funeral fees’ and ‘Friday drinks’ to the two Dixcove traditional
ruling authorities (P.R.O. T 70/1433). It is also worth noting that, while the British domi-
nated trade there, they had not monopolised it because the two groups were mutually
dependent on each other. Relations were, for most periods, symbiotic, convivial and ben-
eficial to both and it appears that the British only began to exercise absolute political
control in Dixcove’s municipal affairs after the late nineteenth century, even though its
commercial role almost ceased with the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807
(Anquandah 1999: 78–79). Thereafter, it served as an indispensable service station/admin-
istrative hub until 1874 when the Gold Coast was proclaimed a British colony.
Archaeological research at Dixcove
Archaeological investigations at Dixcove began with three unstructured surface surveys all
undertaken on foot at Ntwarkro and Daazikessi (Figure 1). These are the oldest settlement
quarters of Dixcove and are where much of the interaction between the Ahanta and Eur-
opeans occurred. They thus constituted the best areas for recovering archaeological data
relevant to the reconstruction of that interaction. Ntwarkro is estimated to have
covered some 6.47 ha, including the precincts of Fort Metal Cross, and survey here
revealed that much of the stratigraphy from ground surface to about 30 cm into the
sub-surface soil was loose and friable, having been extensively damaged by ongoing con-
struction activities. It was not possible to explore Daazikessie in detail because the original
settlement quarter, which covered 33,120 m2, had been built upon by the current popu-
lation, making the recovery of cultural materials impossible.
AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA 193
Figure 1. Map of the Dixcove area showing the locations of Fort Metal Cross, Lower Dixcove (Daazi-
kessie) and Upper Dixcove (Ntwarkro).
The purpose of the survey was to identify recognisable material traces indicative of
culture contact and exchange between the Ahanta and Europeans, establish their geo-
graphical extent and note the spatial distribution and density of the cultural materials
present. Along with three in situ archaeological features — a group of three abandoned
stationary stone grinders, a house floor and part of its standing wall — the cultural
materials listed below in Table 1 constituted all the material remains recovered at
Table 1. Ntwarkro: types of finds recovered during the surface survey.
Types of finds Total Percentage of total finds
Imported ceramics 13 9.1
Glass beads 3 2.1
Local pottery 26 18.2
Bones 6 4.2
Solidified tar 3 2.1
Metal objects 17 11.9
Mollusc shells 35 24.5
Stone grinders 5 3.5
Cannons 4 2.8
Bottle fragments 31 21.7
Total 143 100.0
194 F. BIVERIDGE
Ntwarkro. The second phase of the archaeological investigation then involved the exca-
vation of five units (Figure 2). Unit 1 measured 2 × 1 m and was located 0.8 m east of
Fort Metal Cross. Units 2 and 5 measured 1.5 × 2 m each and were located 51 m and
51.8 m respectively northeast of Fort Metal Cross, while Units 3 and 4 measured 1 ×
1 m and 1 × 3 m respectively and were placed 3 m south and 4.2 m southwest of it. The
location of Units 1, 3 and 4 was informed by the dense scatter of cultural materials
found there relative to the areas bordering them as noted during the surface survey,
while the locations of Units 2 and 5 was informed by ethnohistorical information that
Figure 2. Site plan of the five excavated units and some major features at Upper Dixcove (Ntwarkro).
AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA 195
identified them as refuse disposal points (Atua Gyasie, pers. comm., 13 June 2012; Nana
Kwesie Aggrey, pers. comm., 13 June 2012).
Form, size, shape, function and medium of manufacture were the major attributes used
to facilitate the description of the cultural materials retrieved from excavation. In the fol-
lowing discussion the term ‘type’ refers to all those diagnostic attributes that describe,
illustrate and differentiate one artefact type from another, while ‘category’ is defined as
any set of diagnostic attributes that bring together distinct features, acts and experiences
that, while not identical in every respect, are nevertheless sufficiently similar to enable
them to be described as a label. In turn, ‘attribute’ refers to all the inherent characteristics
that define a particular artefact such that any entity exhibiting those characteristics will
automatically be included in that type.
‘Decoration’ refers to any colour, design, motif or physical manipulation of the exterior
or interior surfaces of a medium like clay for the purpose of enhancing its aesthetic value,
whereas ‘decorative field’ refers to any area on a vessel where decoration has been placed.
‘Fabric’ refers to all the internal constituents (clay, temper, levigation etc.) used in the pro-
duction of ceramics, while ‘burnished’ describes potsherds with shiny smooth surfaces
devoid of all conspicuous pores. An arbitrary level of 20 cm thickness was used to
control vertical provenience while stratigraphic colours were determined by use of a
Munsell Soil Colour Chart. Tables 2–6 record the frequencies of the various cultural
materials retrieved from the five excavation units.
Cultural materials of local origin
A total of 2664 local potsherds were recovered, constituting the most abundant and ubi-
quitous artefact retrieved from the research area. The bulk of them are dull, well worn and
lustreless and measure approximately 7–12 cm across their longest axis. Mineralogical
analysis of 40 potsherds randomly selected from all the stratigraphic levels at Ntwarkro
and Daazikessie was undertaken at the Department of Earth Sciences Laboratory, Univer-
sity of Ghana, Legon, and revealed that plagioclase feldspars, quartz and hornblende con-
stitute the principal mineral constituents present. On the other hand, the principal mineral
constituents of the rocks and clays of the Dixcove area are phyllites, schists, quartzites,
Table 2. Ntwarkro: types of finds recovered from Unit 1.
Type of finds Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Total Percentage of total finds
Smoking pipes 8 8 13 - - 29 3.2
Beverage bottles 7 25 40 4 - 76 8.5
Red bricks 2 4 1 - - 7 0.8
Bones 1 36 9 17 5 68 7.6
Mollusc shells 16 92 119 124 13 364 40.6
Imported ceramics 37 33 - 1 - 71 7.9
Tiles 4 - - - - 4 0.4
Glass beads 1 4 1 - - 6 0.7
Metal objects 5 8 8 2 2 25 2.8
Palm kernel shells - - - 1 26 27 3.0
Local pottery 9 37 42 85 24 197 22.0
Slate pencils/boards - - 1 - - 1 0.1
Iron slag - 3 - 7 10 20 1.3
Tar 1 - - - - 1 2.2
Total 91 250 234 241 80 896 100.0
196 F. BIVERIDGE
Table 3. Ntwarkro: types of finds recovered from Unit 2.
Stratigraphic level
Type of finds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total Percentage of total finds
Beverage bottles 69 67 263 166 184 199 237 148 56 60 28 - 1477 12.6
Bones 25 42 19 33 78 213 164 138 124 45 15 - 896 7.7
Imported ceramics C 39 72 57 43 43 89 166 185 115 16 - 851 7.3
Smoking pipes 2 3 14 13 10 2 23 28 23 49 4 - 171 1.5
Mollusc shells 442 341 178 427 706 594 898 298 341 408 185 23 4841 41.4
Glass beads 81 166 131 44 104 98 52 61 37 16 12 - 802 6.9
Slate 1 2 - 9 1 - - 2 2 1 - - 18 0.2
Red bricks - - - - 2 - - 3 2 - - - 7 0.1
Metal objects 44 71 146 161 168 193 215 142 102 29 29 - 1300 11.1
Kernel shells 2 - 9 11 13 1 21 15 - 2 - - 84 0.7
Local pottery 11 32 66 52 85 125 147 113 140 220 126 12 1129 9.7
Tiles 1 3 1 - - 11 - 12 - - - - 28 0.2
Grinders 1 3 - 1 - 1 - 3 - - - 9 0.1
Coins - - - - - 1 - - - - - 1 0.0
Iron slag - - - - 1 2 1 - 4 3 9 13 23 0.2
Buttons - - - - - -1 1 1 - - - - 2 0.0
Tar - - - 2 5 - - - - --- - - 7 0.1
Daub - - - 2 2 5 3 2 1 4 2 12 33 0.3
Tuyères - - - - - - - - - - - 1 1 0.0
Total 705 769 899 978 1322 1498 1851 1132 1017 952 426 61 11680 100
AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA 197
Table 4. Ntwarkro: types of finds recovered from Unit 3.
Type of finds Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Total Percentage of total finds
Metal objects - 1 2 - - 3 15.8
Mollusc shells - 2 3 1 2 8 42.1
Imported ceramics - - 1 - - 1 5.3
Beverage bottles - - 2 - - 2 10.5
Bones - 1 4 - - 5 26.3
Total - 4 12 1 2 19 100.0
Table 5. Ntwarkro: types of finds recovered from Unit 4.
Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Percentage of total
Type of finds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total finds
Smoking pipes - 1 3 4 2 - 1 - 11 0.5
Buttons - - - - 1 - - - 1 0.0
Local pottery 11 27 29 45 32 21 9 2 176 8.6
Imported - 6 4 25 33 16 19 - 103 5.0
ceramics
Beverage 2 4 9 10 17 18 9 - 69 3.4
bottles
Metal objects 14 21 23 24 23 43 20 - 168 8.2
Mollusc shells 2 59 83 288 293 453 199 2 1379 67.4
Bones - 9 7 16 22 17 7 2 80 3.9
Glass beads - - 10 19 13 9 4 - 55 2.7
Cannon 2 - - - - - - - 2 0.1
Slate - - 1 - - - - - 1 0.0
Total 31 127 169 431 436 577 268 6 2045 100.0
Table 6. Ntwarkro: types of finds recovered from Unit 5.
Stratigraphic level Percentage of total
Type of finds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Total finds
Smoking pipes 14 31 18 16 34 21 21 27 12 2 - 196 2.7
Buttons 3 1 2 - - - - - - - - 6 0.1
Local pottery 51 61 84 5 111 135 257 229 167 43 19 1162 16.0
Imported 13 42 52 122 143 94 42 26 2 1 - 537 7.4
ceramics
Beverage 11 33 41 92 117 163 27 19 2 4 - 509 7.0
bottles
Metal objects 16 74 167 184 136 368 42 29 7 2 - 1025 14.1
Mollusc shells 786 132 294 22 176 90 79 126 31 26 15 1777 24.5
Tuyères - - - - - - - - 1 3 - 4 0.1
Bones 6 11 99 112 149 118 39 72 2 - 3 611 8.4
Glass beads 275 90 96 125 97 41 23 10 - - - 757 10.4
Slate - - - - 8 1 2 - - - - 11 0.2
Kernel shells 3 6 11 91 131 171 111 73 4 3 2 606 8.3
Roof tiles - - 1 1 - - - - - - - 2 0.0
Querns - - 1 - - 2 1 - 1 - - 5 0.1
Iron slag - - - 1 1 3 2 2 7 7 24 47 0.6
Grinders - 2 - - - - - - - - - 2 0.0
Coins - - 2 - - - - - - - - 2 0.0
Red bricks 1 2 1 - - - - - - - 4 0.1
Total 1178 484 870 772 1103 1207 646 618 238 97 50 7263 100.0
hornstones, biotites and andesites (Kesse 1985: 12–16), indicating that the inhabitants of
Dixcove sourced their pottery from beyond the local area. The large number of such locally
produced sherds found and their presence in all stratigraphic levels of the excavations
198 F. BIVERIDGE
suggest that they constituted an integral and essential household item in common use
during the period covered by this study.
All three major traditional surface treatment types associated with locally manufactured
vessels in the region are represented, namely red-slipping, smudging and surface smooth-
ing. As part of the analysis, all the rimmed sherds that could be reconstructed were broadly
categorised into two vessel forms, namely jars and bowls. Within these classes three types
of jar (Vessel Types U1–U3) and eight types of bowl (Vessel Types U4–U11) were
identified.
A total of 326 sherds were decorated. In most cases their decorative field has patterns
inclined vertically along the shoulder and upper neck regions of the vessels. Six principal
decorative patterns were identified with short incised linear motifs the most dominant, fol-
lowed by single circumferential grooved patterns, multiple circumferential grooved pat-
terns, dot stamped patterns, short linear oblique patterns and short vertically inclined
patterns (Figure 3). Combing using a tool with multiple teeth marks appears to have con-
stituted the principal device used to achieve the linear patterns because the grooved lines
were parallel and equally spaced, both vertically and horizontally.
A large faunal assemblage was also retrieved (N = 14,029), the majority of it consisting
of molluscs (N = 11,463) rather than bone (N = 2566). The identifiable fraction of the
latter comprised 744 specimens (29.0%) with mainly long bones (femora, tibiae, fibulae,
humeri) being the most common (61%) followed by metapodial and phalanges (32%)
and teeth (7%). Mammals dominate the identifiable assemblage, followed by fish, reptiles
and birds. Species present include domestic dwarf short-horn cattle (Bos taurus), sheep
(Ovis aries) and goat (Capra hircus), along with giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus), cane
rat (Cricetomys gambianus), grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus) and red river hog
Figure 3. Ntwarkro: examples of the ceramics recovered showing the two principal decorative patterns
present: short linear oblique/diagonal patterns (left) and short vertically inclined patterns (right).
AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA 199
(Potamochoerus porcus). A sample of 1752 oil palm (Elaeis guineenis) kernel fragments
constituted the only botanical material recovered.
Analysis of cultural materials of foreign origins
Items of foreign origin were analysed under the following sub-headings: ceramics, hard-
ware and construction materials, clothing and dress accessories, leisure items, healthcare
and medical equipment, weaponry and firearms, literacy and education-related materials
and household accessories.
Ceramics
A total of 1657 imported ceramics (plates, mugs and condiment-holding vessels) were
recovered (Figure 4), the bulk of them comprising fragmented late nineteenth- and
early twentieth-century creamwares, delftwares, porcelains, white wares and stonewares
with an average sherd size of less than 7 cm2. Analysis of the few larger sherds that
could be reconstructed indicated that they comprised a gamut of shallow eating plates
and bowls. The breakdown according to form is as follows: (a) flat plates (N = 975,
58.8%), (b) condiments holding vessels (N = 16, 1.0%), (c) teacups (N = 19, 1.1%) and
(d) mugs (N = 149, 9.0%). Only 11 pieces were clearly identified because they had manu-
facturers’ marks embossed on them. Five of these came from Britain (one each from
Staffordshire, Burslem, Cobridge (both in Stoke-on-Trent, which in turn lies within
Staffordshire), Bristol and Chelsea). The first had the inscription ‘AULT’ imprinted at
its base. According to Godden (1968: 40), this was the trademark of William Ault and
Company (c. 1887–1923). The second fragment had the inscriptions ‘BOOTE’ and
‘England’ imprinted at the base and was most likely manufactured by T. & R. Boote, man-
ufacturers of different earthenware types. Again according to Godden (1968: 43), this
company, located at Burslem, has been in operation since 1842. Godden (1968: 10)
further notes that the inclusion of the word ‘England’ on British ceramic wares denotes
a post–1891 production date while ‘Made in England’ denotes a twentieth-century pro-
duction date. The third fragment had the inscription ‘W.B’ impressed at its base and
was most probably manufactured by William Brownfield (and Sons). Godden (1968:
48) notes that this company operated between about 1850 and 1891 and that after 1871
it added ‘& S’ or ‘& Sons’ to its original ‘W. B.’ trademark initials. This suggests that
the fragment recovered at Dixcove pre-dates 1871 because it did not have either of
these additions on its base. The fourth fragment had the trademark of a globe with the
inscription ‘MINTONS’ imprinted in the middle and a crown located atop of it. According
to Godden (1968: 94), this trademark belongs to Mintons and Sons, a Bristol porcelain
manufacturer incorporated since 1851 to the present day. Finally, the fifth fragment con-
sisted of the base and lower body of a mug and had two inscriptions, a ‘C.V’ imprint and—
below this — ‘Made in England’. ‘C.V’ was the company logo of Charles Vyse, a Chelsea-
based producer/modeller of earthenwares and porcelain whose company operated from
1919 until 1963 (Godden 1968: 128). According to Godden (1968: 43), the five British
earthenware-manufacturing companies positively identified above operated collectively
between 1842 and 1963. The various ceramic wares and, by association, the other artefacts
200 F. BIVERIDGE
Figure 4. Assorted imported creamwares, whitewares and porcelains from the Dixcove study area
dating to c. 1740–1880.
AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA 201
recovered from Levels 1–3 of Units 2, 4 and 5 at Ntwarkro should therefore be dated to the
late nineteenth or twentieth centuries.
Four delftware fragments thought to have originated from companies in Rotterdam
were also identified. The first with the inscription ‘De Drie Klokken’ (translated ‘The
Three Bells’) imprinted at the base began manufacturing ceramics in the late eighteenth
century (Morley-Fletcher and McIlroy 1984: 200–201). The second fragment appeared
to be part of a pancake plate with famille verte designs imprinted in the middle.
Morley-Fletcher and McIlroy (1984: 209) note that the famille verte design was
unique to the Ary Rijsselberg in De 3 Vergulde Astonnekens factory and was probably
manufactured there. The third fragment was a small thin-lined circular patterned poly-
chrome dish with the word ‘De’ inscribed at the base is likely to have been manufac-
tured by the De Roos factory in Friesland, while the fourth had only part of a ‘Bijl’
imprint readable and was thus difficult to assign to a date or manufacturer. The
remaining two fragments comprised floral patterned sponged designed porcelains
ascribed with the word ‘VDuyn’.
That over 1576 sherds of local and foreign origins were retrieved around the precincts
of Fort Metal Cross at Ntwarkro which historical records posit was densely settled by local
people in the past (Lawrence 1963: 296) compared to only 81 sherds at Daazikessie pro-
vides clear attestation that the former area was the commercial epicentre of Dixcove
during the Atlantic contact era and that the bulk of the imported ceramics originated
from the fort and the African settlement bordering it.
Hardware and construction materials
Construction materials comprising metal nails, screws, iron rods, brackets, mottled
dark-red daub, fragments of asbestos roofing sheets and a bell (Figure 5) were
retrieved from Unit 2 (Levels 2–9) and Unit 5 (Levels 2–8). Other retrieved materials
included fragments of imported dark-red roofing slates that are S-shaped in section
and protuberance, red bricks, hinges and tar. In all, 2969 metal items were found,
most with extensive degrees of corrosion that made identification difficult and cum-
bersome. Materials identified numbered 168 and include 96 nails in a variety of sizes
and shapes (57.1%), five bolts with lengths of 4.0 and 5.3 cm (1.1%), seven iron rods
(4.16%), a hasp (0.59%), 26 iron brackets (11.3%), seven brad nails (4.16%), four
door hinges (2.38%), 19 screws in a variety of shapes and sizes (11.3%) and ten rem-
nants of what appeared to be hoes (5.9%). All the nails had ‘T’ heads and appear to
be hand-forged as evidenced by variations in the diameter and thickness of their
shanks.
Establishing the chronology for the various construction materials found was done
in association with datable imported ceramics and Venetian and Bohemian glass
beads. According to Francis (1995: 64), the earliest European beads to arrive in Sub-
Saharan Africa were Venetian drawn beads in the 1500s and 1600s. In the light of
the above observations, the construction and hardware materials recovered at
Ntwarkro, particularly those between Levels 4–9 should be assigned post-seventeenth
century dates while those underlying Level 9 should be assigned a pre-seventeenth
century age.
202 F. BIVERIDGE
Figure 5. Ntwarkro: hanging metal bell from Unit 4 dating to c. 1720–1820.
Clothing and dress accessories
A total of 1640 artefacts associated with clothing and dress accessories were recovered.
They mainly comprise glass beads, dress buttons, a metal hook (part of a belt), metal
bangles and rings. The bulk of the 1474 glass beads are monochrome (72.5%) rather
than polychrome (27.4%) Venetian and Bohemian beads (Figure 10), with a few
chevron beads as well. Bauxite beads locally called nsamso and Akyem te constituted
the only locally manufactured beads found. All were relatively well preserved, having
retained their main characteristic attributes such as colour, pattern and shape; only 33
had their ends partly fragmented or unevenly chipped. Five shapes were identified: spheri-
cal 191 (12.9%), barrel 64 (4.3%), disc 824 (55.9%), tubular 68 (4.6%) and seed 327
(22.1%).
All 12 of the dress buttons found were well worn as evidenced by their dull vitreous
interior and exterior surfaces that lacked back-markers to facilitate manufacturer identifi-
cation and probable country of origin. In shape they varied from near rounded discs
(N = 3) to squares with smooth rounded edges (N = 2) and included two boutonnières,
each of which ranged in diameter from 1 to 3 mm.
Leisure items (glassware and tobacco pipes)
A total of 2557 glassware fragments and 415 smoking pipes constituted the main items
associated with leisure activities or personal indulgence. The bulk of the glassware consists
AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA 203
of schnapps, gin, champagne, wine, whisky and beer bottle fragments (Figure 6), closely
followed by pharmaceutical/medicinal vials, pomade-holding containers and perfume
storage bottles in that order (Figure 7). Other items associated with European imported
liquor included 13 alcoholic beverage stoppers, three glass pewter caps and eight bottle
spigots (Figure 8). There was a glaring paucity of stemwares in the glass assemblages.
The type of alcoholic beverages present in the various bottle types found was determined
by contained reference to Doreen Beck’s (1977) Book of Bottle Collecting.
The majority of the assemblage retrieved from Units 2 and 5 (Levels 3–7) comprised
parts such as mouths, shoulders, bodies and bases, with only 41 items recovered whole.
A further 29 of the alcoholic beverage bottles comprised dark-green and light-green
case bottles, some with kick-up bases. According to Beck (1977: 48–50), case bottles
were associated with gin exports from the seventeenth century onwards; he describes
them as tall, square-based, rectangular and hunched with squared-off shoulders and
short stubby necks. Table 7 provides quantitative data on the various types of alcoholic
beverages present at the site.
Establishing the winery, distillery, chronology and country of origin of these beverages
was difficult because of the very fragmentary sizes of the glassware found (mean area <10
cm2). A sizable number had also developed patches of patina along several parts of their
exterior and interior surfaces, further exacerbating the difficulty of identifying them. Only
11 fragments were lettered with identifiable trademarks and seals. The majority originated
from distilleries in Britain and The Netherlands. Other recovered non-alcoholic glass
bottled items of indulgence included pomade containers, toilet water bottles, ‘torpedo’-
shaped soda water bottles, scented oil bottles, pickle jars and syrup bottles. Other
notable items included Perrier mineral water bottles, fragments of panes of mirrors that
Figure 6. Ntwarkro: gin/schnapps bottle remains from Units 2 and 5 dating to c. 1780–1850.
204 F. BIVERIDGE
Figure 7. Ntwarkro: excavated fragments of soda water and pomade-holding bottles from Units 2, 4
and 5.
had lost their reflective mercury coating and lavender and perfume bottles. Perfume
bottles were the most common non-alcoholic glass container present (N = 107, 35.0%).
Further information on the items with identifiable marks is provided in Table 8.
According to Beck (1977: 80), the eighteenth century was ‘a great age for perfume
bottles’, something duly reflected in the relatively sizable number of them recovered.
DeCorse (2001: 161) has noted that the nineteenth century then witnessed production
of a greater diversity of bottle forms and shapes due primarily to technological improve-
ments in the bottle manufacturing industry. These new bottle forms became important
receptacles for new exotic European export items like Vaseline, tobacco snuffs and per-
fumes. Like ceramics, the bulk of the glass bottle assemblage was retrieved from Units 2
and 5 in areas historically recorded as being heavily populated by local people and thus
further supporting the assertion that this area may have been the commercial epicentre
of Anglo-Ahanta trade. Table 9 gives a breakdown of the various non-alcoholic beverage
bottles according to excavated units from which they were found.
A total of 415 imported smoking pipes were retrieved (Figure 9), almost all of them (N
= 407, 98.1%) from Ntwarkro as opposed to Daazikessie. Stems comprised 401 of these
items and measured 3.0–6.5 cm long, while there were 14 bowls. All appeared to be
well fired and relatively well preserved with smooth, well burnished surfaces. Twenty-
six pipes from Units 2 and 5 displayed signs of charring and evidence of extensive use-
AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA 205
Figure 8. Ntwarkro: alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage stoppers from Units 2 and 5 dating to c.
1750–1880.
Table 7. Ntwarkro: alcohol beverage types by excavation unit.
Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Total count and percentage of beverage type
Gin/Schnapps 21 1226 2 19 103 1371 (80.2%)
Whisky 4 77 8 24 113 (6.6%)
Wine 2 18 6 81 107 (6.2%)
Champagne - 5 3 12 20 (0.7%)
Beer 4 87 3 3 97 (5.6%)
Total 31 1413 2 39 223 1708 (100.0%)
wear attested by light-brown coloration and several striation marks. Establishing the man-
ufacturer and country of origin of the pipes was difficult because only four bowls were
marked or decorated. DeCorse (2001: 165) has noted that the bulk of smoking pipes man-
ufactured in Britain, continental Europe and America after 1800 were largely unmarked,
while the shapes and sizes of their bowls were also very similar. The first decorated bowl
206 F. BIVERIDGE
Table 8. Ntwarkro: bottle fragments with identifiable marks.
Stratigraphic
Trademark/seal Distillery name and location Count Unit levels
Star and Stork with a worm J. H. Henkes Company, Netherlands 4 2 3, 4, 6, 7
AVDE monogram A. van den Elaarf Distillery, Schiedam, 1 2 6
Netherlands
Merkles - 1 2 6
T & J. Hunt Brewers, Branbury, England 1 5 6
Bansley Bottling Company, England 1 2, 5 5, 7
F.C.C. - 2 5 6
Walkers Kilmarnock Whisky Kilmarnock, Scotland 3 2 5, 7
(established 1865 to the present
Belfast, Northern Ireland 2 2 5, 7
Falcon Ba--------? (Trade mark: reindeer England 1 2 6
horn)
F.AS England 1 2 4
Blanxenheym & Nolet (Trade mark: Schiedam, Netherlands (established 1 2 6
key) 1714 to the present)
Eagle Whasekame & Co. (Trade mark: Netherlands 3 2, 5 3,4,5
eagle)
Table 9. Ntwarkro: non-alcoholic beverages, other items in containers and mirrors.
Total Percentage of total
Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 types non-alcoholic containers
Pomades - 5 - 3 7 15 5.2
Scented oils - 14 - 7 14 35 11.7
Mirrors 1 7 - - 9 17 5.5
Syrups 2 16 - 2 12 32 10.4
Perfumes 3 39 - 16 48 106 35.0
Toilet water 4 16 - 3 23 46 15.2
Pickle jars 1 9 - 1 9 20 6.5
Mineral water 4 16 - 3 6 29 9.4
Soda water - 1 - - 2 3 1.0
Total 15 123 - 35 130 303 100.0
displayed flowery patterns at the point where the bowl attached the stem, the second had a
bulging ridge around the rim, the third the ‘TD’ trademark embossed at its base and the
fourth the word “LONDON” boldly inscribed at the bottom.
The bulk of the imported smoking pipes found at Dixcove probably originated from
Britain because British pipes dominated collections at Elmina and other parts of British
West Africa by the end of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (DeCorse 2001: 165).
Those retrieved from the lowest stratigraphic levels of the Dixcove excavations should
be assigned a post-seventeenth-century date because current archaeological evidence
and documentary information suggest that smoking tobacco through pipes was a practice
introduced onto the Gold Coast during that period (Harrington 1978: 1–5; DeCorse 2001:
163). Their recovery from all levels of the excavations corresponding to the post-Atlantic
contact period attests to their popularity as smoking devices among the local population.
That no smoking pipe of local manufacture was retrieved from the excavations is also
further testimony to the popularity of imported pipes. Together with tobacco, they were
most likely among the earliest European consumables offered for sale along the Dixcove
coastline.
AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA 207
Figure 9. Ntwarkro: examples of excavated tobacco pipe bowls and stems dating to c. 1780–1900.
Figure 10. Examples of excavated Venetian polychrome (background) and monochrome (foreground)
glass beads from the Dixcove study area dating to c. 1640–1820.
208 F. BIVERIDGE
Table 10. Ntwarkro: pharmaceutical products by excavation unit and stratigraphic level.
Pharmaceutical product Origin Unit Stratigraphic level Date range
Fisher’s Seaweed Extract. England 5 Level 6 1890–1920
Handysides Blood Food England 2 Level 5 1900–1920
Kruschen Salt England 2 level 6 1930–1950
Bailay Castor Oil England 2 Level 5 1930–1950
Sloans liniment England 2 Level 3 1940–1950
Vaseline ChesebroughNew York 5 Level 3 1930
Liqufruta Cough Syrup England 2 Level 1 1950
Healthcare and medical equipment
A total of 315 items relating to healthcare practices was found. They principally comprise
fragmented pharmaceutical bottles, a microscope dish (Figure 11), poison vials, chemical
suppositories and household cleaning containers. Most display a heavy patina on their
exterior and interior surfaces and represent 12.3% of the total glassware assemblage.
Like the other glassware items, the bulk of this category of finds were retrieved from
Units 2 and 5 and from all stratigraphic levels except those of likely pre-Atlantic
contact date (Level 10 (200 cm) in Unit 5 and Level 11 (220 cm) in Unit 2).
Blakeman (2010: 226) has noted that before the nineteenth century medicines, particu-
larly ointments, which had previously been packaged in galipots and small barrel-shaped
pudding bowls and pots for export, were now placed within straight-sided transfer printed
pots that rarely exceeded 5 cm in length and that had details of the manufacturer, retailer
and the compounds embossed on their sides. In the latter half of the twentieth century,
Figure 11. Ntwarkro: microscope dish with patina dating to c. 1880–1920.
AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA 209
shallow dishes with transfer printed lids and glass jars with ceramic button lids became
popular. The relatively high count of pharmaceutical bottles associated with Western
orthodox medicine suggests that it was heavily patronised by the indigenous population
and was not limited to British residents of Fort Metal Cross alone.
Level 4 of Unit 5 produced the base and lower body of a ceramic water filter (Figure 12)
partly embossed on its side with the inscription ‘Doult’, suggesting that it was probably
manufactured by the Doulton Water Filter Company, at Lambeth, London. Also found
at all levels of the stratigraphy were large numbers of a local vessel similar to current eth-
nographic models in use at Dixcove for preparing indigenous medicinal concoctions. This
suggests that issues pertaining to health and sanitation were a priority and of serious
concern, not just for the British residents of the area, but also the indigenous population.
That these vessels were recovered at all levels of the stratigraphy also indicates that indi-
genous medical practice has persisted for several centuries in the area.
European weaponry and firearms
A total of 52 heavily fragmented metal objects associated with European weaponry were
recovered. They comprised two heavily worn gunflints, two fragments of shells, 42
cannons and part of a musket, all retrieved from Units 2 and 5. Gunflints retrieved
Figure 12. Ntwarkro: lower body of the Doulton water filter from Unit 5, Level 4, dating to c. 1880–
1920.
210 F. BIVERIDGE
from archaeological contexts are usually associated with European firearms. DeCorse
(2001: 171) has, however, cautioned that they were sometimes also used as strike-a-
lights in the past, postulating that most of the gunflints recovered from his extensive
fieldwork at Elmina Old Town may have been used for this activity. The majority of
those found at Dixcove had battered edges or distinctive U-shaped wear patterns that
suggest they were used and reused as strike-a-light.
All the cannons with their decrepit carriages were unserviceable and were found within
the precincts of the fort. The largest consisted of two nine-pounders located on its south-
east bastion and two very large cannons of unknown pounderage located southwest on the
spur curtain facing the anchorage at the cove. Others included 12 six-pounders and 16
four-pounders on the spur facing south to the sea and ten one-pounders on the north
bastion facing the town. All the cannons were of British origin with the insignia ‘GR’
and ‘G.R.A.C’ embossed on them. The ‘GR’ insignia (Figure 13) is the royal cipher of
George III (reigned 1760–1820). The earliest European weapons to be traded on the
Gold Coast consisted of axes, half pikes and crossbows (Jones 1983: 132). However,
during the sixteenth century, small and limited quantities of smoothbore muskets
became the principal European firearm traded there (Vogt 1979: 45, 155–157, 192).
Literacy and education-related materials
A total of 154 artefacts associated with education and literacy were found, comprising 148
fragments of slate boards and six fragmented slate pencils (Figure 14). It is worth noting
Figure 13. One of several unserviceable British-made cannons from Dixcove dating to c. 1780–1900.
AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA 211
Figure 14. Ntwarkro: slate pencils and slate boards from Units 2, 3 and 4 dating to c. 1890–1950.
that 123 (79.9%) of these items were confined to the upper stratigraphic levels (Levels 1, 2,
3 and 4) of Units 2 and 5. Examination of the writing slates under a magnifying glass
revealed a concentration of several irregular and jagged scratch marks/fine wear patterns
concentrated along their inner central portions that indicated extensive usage. Their
recovery near the fort suggests that writing and formalised instructional education may
have been undertaken inside it. Some of the items found in association with these edu-
cation-related materials included imported ceramics and plastic beads that can be dated
to the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. Since the stratigraphy of Units 2 and
5 is undisturbed, these dates can be assigned to the educational materials under discussion.
Household accessories
Two corroded silver spoons, one fork and five metal blades believed to be knives (repre-
senting 0.2% of all the metal objects found) and 98 fragments of drinking glasses (repre-
senting 3.8% of the total number of glass items) constituted the principal household
accesories recovered, mainly at Ntwarkro. To facilitate their analysis, the metal items
were first desalted by boiling them in water and then sun-dried to remove caked debris
to expose any manufacturer/attrition marks that might have been embossed on them in
order to facilitate their identification. Also recovered were three pieces of transparent
broken glass belt-jars with patina that are believed to be part of a lantern. Together,
they constituted the only artefacts associated with lighting to be recovered at Dixcove.
The bulk of the glassware, mainly parts of tumblers, carafes and soup bowls, were retrieved
212 F. BIVERIDGE
from the upper stratigraphic levels (1–3) of Units 2 and 5 and are dated to the period
1850–1950 by association with datable European ceramics and beads also retrieved there.
Discussion
The cumulative evidence from the archaeological investigations undertaken at Dixcove
indicates that three trade systems operated simultaneously in the research area during
the period covered by this study. The first was an intra-regional trade network with neigh-
bouring coastal polities like Fanti and Nzema and inland populations like Wassa and
Ncassa, the second with neighbouring polities on the Atlantic seaboard in Ivory Coast
and atWhydah inmodern Bénin and the third the inter-continental trade across the Atlan-
tic with European companies and interloper traders. All three of these trade systems were
integral and contributed significantly to the growth and development of the local economy.
Historical (Barbot 1732: 433; Fage 1967: 42; Daaku 1970: 5–7) and ethnohistorical sources
(Nana Kwesi Apeatu, pers. comm., 23 July 2015; Maxwell Akah, pers. comm., 26 December
2015; Isaac Attu Cromwell, pers. comm., 26 December 2015) have it that the first and
second systems predated the advent of Europeans to the Gold Coast and involved the
exchange of a variety of local products such as fish, salt, quaqua cloth, cori beads,
leopard skins, pottery, food staples and processed shellfish. According to Daaku (1970:
6) and DeCorse (2001: 142), early European traders exploited to their advantage the big
and ready market for local products like quaqua cloth (also called adra or Benin cloth)
and acori beads on the Gold Coast by procuring large quantities of them from Ivory
Coast and Benin, where they were produced on a large scale, and reselling them on the
Gold Coast for profit. The relevance of the intra-regional trade system was that it made
possible the exchange of a variety of goods readily and easily available in one area to less
endowed areas with a demand for them. Analysis of the imported artefact inventory recov-
ered from the excavations indicates that they originated from diverse places suggesting that
Britain, the main European power trading at Dixcove, did not only procure goods from
home, but also relied on supplies from other countries to satisfy local demand. Some of
the products identified in the archaeological assemblage that document this include
Chinese porcelain, Rhenish stonewares and Bohemian and Venetian glass beads.
The recovery of slate pencils and boards attests to the importance of literacy and
Western education at Dixcove. That the bulk of the education-related artefacts were recov-
ered at Ntwarkro and from stratigraphic levels corresponding to the mid-nineteenth to
early twentieth centuries suggests that Ntwarkro was probably the local centre of edu-
cation and instructional training because Western style education gained eminence
during that period. According to DeCorse (2001: 149), institutions linked to Basel, Wesle-
yan and Catholic missions were at the forefront of this endeavour. That the bulk of the
educated-related materials were recovered around the precincts of the fort is testimony
to the fact that the British also documented their trade/administrative transactions with
local people. It was difficult to gauge from the available data the success of European edu-
cation at Dixcove primarily because of limited documentation and the unusually low
count of education-related materials retrieved and their fragmented nature. However, it
was probably not common in the community and largely limited to mulatto individuals
and the children of the local élite. Its impact was probably of little consequence overall,
especially as there is no record of expatriate teachers having been present.
AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA 213
The recovery of substantial quantities of metal objects associated with various forms of
building work is testimony to the regularity of constructional works undertaken at
Dixcove. That the bulk of them were recovered around the fort’s precincts indicates
that much architectural re-engineering and re-enforcement were undertaken on it
during the period of its occupation. According to Lawrence (1963: 292–298), no other
European trade station on the Gold Coast experienced and resisted as many sieges and
bombardments as Fort Metal Cross. This was primarily because of the intense commercial
rivalries that periodically erupted between British, Brandenburger and Dutch traders along
the coast that occasionally led to war, a situation necessitating regular repair work to
refurbish and make structural alterations to the fort’s architectural design to expand
and fortify it. Red bricks, granite blocks, lime and wooden planks constituted the main
building materials used in constructing Fort Metal Cross (Lawrence 1963: 91–95).
Five of the liquor bottles retrieved from the excavations had a caked dark-brown talc-
like substance embedded at their bottoms that easily disintegrated between the fingers
after applying only a little pressure. While these impregnations could not be clearly ident-
ified, they suggest that liquor bottles were re-used by local people for other purposes aside
from the storage of liquor after the original liquor contents had been consumed and the
bottles had been discarded.
The combined evidence (archaeological, historical and ethnohistorical) reviewed above
provides a glimpse of past socioeconomic and cultural relations between British traders
and the indigenous population of Dixcove. Their relationship appears to have been gen-
erally convivial and symbiotic, inextricably linked to trade and to the economic interests of
the two parties. That a large number of local people settled around the precincts of the fort
further testifies to the harmonious relations between them. Dow (1927: 2), for example,
noted during his visit to Dixcove that ‘most of the huts belonged to Negroes in the
service of the factory and were under the protection of its guns’. Such settlement was,
however, probably also necessitated by security concerns as they sought protection
from the Nzema and the Dutch whom they mistrusted (Lawrence 1963: 301–303). That
14 of the heaviest cannons (8 to 10 poundage capacity) were directed toward the land,
rather than the sea, appears to support this assertion.
Conclusion
The impact of trade can be gauged by the extent to which foreign products are accepted by
and integrated into a community. The number and wide range of European trade com-
modities recovered from the excavations at Dixcove shows that local people there had
developed strong tastes and inclination for European products, notably alcoholic and
non-alcoholic beverages, ceramics, Western orthodox medicines and tobacco. Other
areas where change was evident included Western education and architecture. It was,
however, difficult to glean from the archaeological record the effect that imported trade
commodities had on settlement patterns or the ideology and belief systems of local
people. The high demand and propensity for imported goods nevertheless not only
attests to the socio-cultural interactions and expanding commercial relations between
the two groups, but also offers a clear testament to the vibrancy, sophistication and
ever-widening nature of the economic system that existed along the Dixcove coastline.
214 F. BIVERIDGE
The multiplicity of economic opportunities, exchanges and incentives created by trade
probably encouraged other ethno-linguistic populations to resettle at Dixcove. This is
reflected in the dramatic increase in molluscs, local ceramics and imported pottery recov-
ered from stratigraphic levels corresponding to the Atlantic contact era compared to those
that predate it. The wide array and number of locally produced artefacts and exotic Euro-
pean items recovered is phenomenal and attests to the importance of the coastal trade in
the Dixcove area. Dixcove may have vied with Fort St Antony for commercial dominance
and was probably the administrative hub of British traders along this stretch of the Gha-
naian coast. That the bulk of European imports were retrieved around the precincts of Fort
Metal Cross and the adjourning indigenous settlement suggests that the area was the com-
mercial epicentre of the coastal trade and that the population of Ntwarkro was bigger than
that of Daazikessie in the past.
The coastal trade impacted on other aspects of the local economy because it provided a
wide variety of inputs necessary for their facilitation. For instance, the large quantum of
fish remains found in the post-Atlantic contact stratigraphic levels compared to those
of pre-contact age suggests that novel introductions like imported cotton sails and nets
probably boosted the output and growth of the local fishing industry. In addition, trade
facilitated the introduction of new products like tobacco and a gamut of novel alcoholic
beverages, mainly from Europe, into Dixcove society. Another development was the
modification and diversification of the intra-regional trade network, leading not only to
an increase in the volume and array of goods exchanged but also to their diversification,
with European imports now dominating.
Trade along the West African coast facilitated the evolution and growth of a new social
stratum of wealthy, property-owning indigenous merchants at Dixcove. The building of
several, large storied European style houses using imported building materials such as
slate, baked clay tiles and asbestos roofing systems is overwhelming evidence of an
expanded African élite class. That all these structures were sited on the beachfront close
to the fort suggests that their owners had established a good and sound rapport with
the British residents of the fort.
Fort Metal Cross played a vital role in the ascendancy of the political economy of
Dixcove. It served not only as the principal catalyst that boosted trade and tilted the
regional balance to her advantage, but was also the single most important factor facilitat-
ing the rise and expansion of the two Dixcove states from the status of small insignificant
fishing villages to places of cosmopolitan standing with links to bustling ports such as
Bristol and Liverpool in Britain and Boston and Charleston in North America, thereby
directly connecting the research area to the global economy.
Notes on contributor
Fritz Biveridge is Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Archaeology and Heritage
Studies, University of Ghana, Legon. His research interests include issues relating to heritage man-
agement, culture contact, acculturation patterns and the socio-economic and political implications
of the latter on the groups involved. He is currently investigating the consequences of the British
presence along the Dixcove coastline and how it impacted Ahantaland and neighbouring polities
in the early sixteenth to late nineteenth centuries.
AZANIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA 215
ORCID
Fritz Biveridge http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7754-3394
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