Browsing by Author "Apoh, W."

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Adevu and Chiwara rituals in West Africa compared to hunting rituals and rock art in South Africa
(South African Archaeological Bulletin, 2014-06) Thackeray, J.F.; Apoh, W.; Gavua, K.
In May 2013 in Accra, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Vice Chancellors of the University of Ghana (Professor Ernest Aryeetey) and the South African University of the Witwatersrand (Professor Loyiso Nongxa). Almost immediately, ethnographers and archaeologists from both countries met to discuss matters that related to anthropology in Ghana and South Africa. Of particular interest were accounts of hunting rituals, stimulated by discussion of research reported by Frobenius (1931) and Thackeray (1986,2005,2013). Here we report the results of our initial research, associated with the principle of 'sympathetic magic'
Alternative Site Conservation Strategies in Ghana: The Adome Ancient Ironworking Site.
(2011) Apoh, W.; Gavua, K.
Archaeology and world heritage sites in west africa
(2019-07-09) Apoh, W.
The need to integrate world heritage curriculum in the academic programmes of African educational institutions has become the clarion call of UNESCO and the African World Heritage Fund to African institutions. According to UNESCO, Africa boasts of a heritage of unrivalled natural and cultural diversity that constitutes the very essence of its identity. Yet, sub-Saharan Africa is underrepresented on the World Heritage List. With 93 properties (51 cultural sites, 37 natural sites, 8 mixed sites), Africa is the most under-represented region on the List. Despite the adoption of the Global Strategy for a representative balanced and credible World Heritage List, the continent hosts only 9 per cent of all World Heritage sites, while the European and North American Regions account for 47 per cent of properties inscribed on the List. Thus, the call for African educational institutions to implement the World Heritage Convention is an undeniable expectation that we must champion; as a credible regional body in Africa. This conference among other things offers the platform for us to brainstorm and dialogue on how to facilitate our contributions to the existing curricula related to research, conservation and management of world heritage sites in West Africa.The low inscription rate has been adduced to factors such as; i) the poor quality of the nomination dossiers, which often results from the lack of close collaboration between academic institutions, specialized institutions in World Heritage and the governments of African member states; ii) the limited budget allocated to the national heritage sector in many African countries; especially concerning the process of archaeological research and inscription on the Tentative and World Heritage Lists; iii) the limited number of experts specialized in the field of heritage management and conservation of Africa’s heritage as well as insufficient academic guidance and lack of sufficient integration of world heritage studies into the existing programmes of academic institutions in Africa. How do we convince government institutions to support academic institutions in the creation or strengthening of curricula oriented towards increasing heritage professionals and with a view to expanding job prospects and supporting Africans in taking ownership oftheir unique heritage? It is in this context that this conference would like to complement the efforts of our international partners. The sessions and papers cover, but not limited to, issues and case studies on the role of archaeology in world heritage research, documentation and inventory of sites, site management and conservation practices, the preparation of tentative lists and nomination files, innovation and job creation with archaeotourism and heritage resources as well as the creation of homegrown academic theories and practices to enhance this discourse.
The Archaeology of German and British Colonial Entanglements in Kpando-Ghana
(International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 2013-06) Apoh, W.
In talking about the cultural diversity of Africa's past, the archaeological assessment of West African sites with mangled tangible and intangible fragments of German and British and/or French colonial encounters should not be ignored but rather discussed. This research explores how specific daily material cultural practices of German and British colonizers and Kpando indigenes in the Volta Region of Ghana were enmeshed in a medley of geopolitical, ideological and exchange connections. Through the use of archaeological, archival and ethnographic sources, this paper examines how daily practices of the people of Kpando were impacted by pre-colonial and dual colonial political economic pressures from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries. This paper archaeologically explores how colonial officials maintained and renegotiated the norms of domesticity/gentility/Europeaness in their encounter with Akpini domestic technology, foodways and cultural practices. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.
Archaeology of Ghana: An introduction
(Current Perspectives in the Archaeology of Ghana, 2014) Anquandah, J.; Kankpeyeng, B.; Apoh, W.
Archaeology of Prince's Town (Ghana)
(University of Ghana, 2013-07) Nyarko, E.A.; Apoh, W.; Apaak, C.A.
This Archaeological research was undertaken at the town of Kpokeso now called Prince’s Town on the coast of Ghana, West Africa. Prince’s Town grew to fame in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as a trading post and a port of great importance in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Traders of many European nations including the Brandenburg, Holland, Denmark, France, Portugal and England once maintained permanent trading establishments on the Gold coast and traded with the Africans at Kpokeso as well as traders from other parts of the Gold Coast. These historical circumstances place Prince’s Town in a unique situation thus shedding light on the transformations and continuities experienced by an African society in the early period of extensive European trade contacts. This thesis discusses a research that is focused on understanding the nature of contacts and interactions that existed between Africans and Europeans at Prince’s Town during the Trans-Atlantic trading era. It also seeks to assess the contribution of the fort to the understanding of contacts and interactions between Africans and Europeans as well as gather data that inform on how the presence of the Brandenburg and other Europeans affected the people of Prince’s Town and their culture. The research seeks to establish a chronology for the site of Prince’s Town through the use of the artifacts from the excavation. The Archaeological research has demonstrated that materials from excavations combined with documentary evidence and oral histories provide insights into interactions between Africans and Europeans through trade contact. The research also indicates that there is no clear stratigraphic distribution between the Brandenburg period, the Dutch period and the English. This may be due to the choice of sites. The presence of European materials in African contexts provides insights into the African and European interaction. It has also revealed that the people of Prince’s Town are Nzima and not Ahanta and that the encounters with the Europeans did not largely influence their indigenous religion as the people go to church and still practise indigenous religion.
Ceramics As Product Of Technology And Art: A Case Study Of Archaeological Remains At Yikpabongo
(University of Ghana, 2013-06) Asamoah-Mensah, H.; Anquandah, J.; Apoh, W.; University of Ghana, College of Humanities, School of Arts, Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies
The focus of this archaeological research is in the area of ceramic technology and art. The aims of this study is to analyze the data on ceramic technology and art, establish ceramic typology base on technological and stylistic attributes and to determine the source of clay raw material of the excavated ceramics. To achieve these goals, the research approach adopted includes archaeological and chemical compositional analysis so as to provide answers to the unsolved concerns. The recovered materials from mound D included: human and animal remains, potsherds, stone objects, postholes, floor and a pot. The findings for this work indicated that mound D was a habitational/settlement mound. The radiocarbon date indicated that the excavated mound was between 5th and 7th centuries AD. The analysis of the potsherds revealed that large quantities of the potsherds were undecorated. The surface treatment techniques discovered were red-slipping, burnishing, dyeing and hand-smoothing of the vessels. Decorations on the potsherds consist of grooves, incisions, punctates, roulettes and channeling. Two types of vessel forms (jars/bowls) were discovered. X-ray fluorescence analysis was conducted on the excavated ceramics from Yikpabongo. These were compared to clay from Fumbisi. The result indicated that Fumbisi was the most likely source of the clay used to manufacture the excavated ceramics. The study indicated that ceramic technology and artistic decorations are the manifestation of the interaction or interrelation between societal goals, ideology and human capabilities on one hand and their environment on the other hand at every given time. This data adds to the existing body of knowledge about ceramics from Yikpabongo in the areas of technology of pottery production and decorative art.
Concise Anthropology: The Five-Field Approach
(Kendall/Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2010) Apoh, W.
Embroideries of imperialism: An archaeo-historical overview of akwamu, asante, German and british imperial hegemonies at Kpando, Ghana
(Current Perspectives in the Archaeology of Ghana, 2014-01) Apoh, W.
Human-altered soils – Signatures of Anthrosols and their potential for arable lands
(Soil Ecology Letters, 2023) Asare, M.O.; Apoh, W.; Afriyie, J.O.; Száková, J.; Asrade, D.A.
● Past human activities result in the formation of Anthrosols and the accumulation of nutrients. ● Enrichment in physicochemical properties relates to the intensity of settlement activities. ● The level of releasability contributes to the extended retention of nutrients in soils. ● Past settlement sites represent nutrient-rich Anthrosols suit able for arable fields. The fertility of human-altered soils, Anthrosols, developed from past settlement activities for crop production is scarcely studied. The study evaluated the fertility of Anthrosols developed from the 15th to mid-20th century AD settlement in Old Buipe, Savanna region, Ghana, to determine whether abandoned localities are suitable for arable fields. Human activities enhanced the physical attributes of the Anthrosols: brown to pH[H2O] pH[CaCl2 ] dark brown intergrain fine soil, 15%−35% organic matter, 15%−30% potsherd, and 5%−15% charred materials. The Anthrosols were slightly acidic to neutral reactions ( 5.67−6.83, 5.83−6.95), high cation exchange capacity (CEC; 18.77−45.31me/100 g), electric conductivity (EC = 0.28−0.36 dS m−1), accumulation, and distribution of organic C, total N, P, Mn, Cu, Zn, K, and Fe, and available P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn. Plant-available nutrients were comparatively higher than concentrations in non-anthropogenic soils. The level of releasability (bioavailable fractions of total concentrations) of P, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn partly compensates for low plant-available portions. Enrichment of chemical and physical properties of Anthrosols make them fertile for arable fields. The signatures of settlement activities are strong and can remain in soils for a long time, even under harsh environmental conditions
Material Culture and Indigenous Spiritism; The Katamansu Archaeological ‘Otutu’ (Shrine)
(2010) Apoh, W.; Gavua, K.
A Preliminary Archaeological Investigation of Mountain Agbenu, Abutia, Ghana
(University of Ghana, 2016-07) Ayipey , P.; Apoh, W.; Kankpeyeng, B.W.; University of Ghana, College of Humanities, School of Arts, Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies
This thesis presents the result and interpretation of the preliminary archaeological investigation conducted at the Agbenu Mountain in the Kalakpa Resource Reserve, an abandoned settlement of the contemporary people of Abutia. Drawing on the oral traditions, archaeology and ethnographic data, the study enriched information on the migration history and lifeways of the Ewe people at Abutia. It revealed that by the 15th Century there was human occupation of the area. Additionally, the thesis also laid bare the interaction between the ancient settlers of Abutia with the Akwamus and Germans in the 18th and 19th Century respectively. Remnants of material cultures such as the German building and mango alley, and the cultural practices of the Asafo attested to these influences. Furthermore, excavated materials recovered from the Agbenu Mountain helped to determine the local resources available in the area and how the settlers made use of those resources. Data from the study also communicated some of the practices of the Abutia people during their stay at the Agbenu Mountain. Again, a laboratory-based analysis of the charcoal sample gathered from the study area which dates the site to the 15th Century predates the date given to the Ewe migration story from Notsie, which was the 17th Century. This study encourages more exploration on the chronology of the Abutia migration and settlement in Ghana
Sankofatization and decolonization: The Rapprochement of German Museums and Government with Colonial Objects and Postcolonialism
(Museum Anthropology, 2020-05-19) Apoh, W.
This paper examines how node three national museums in Germany are dealing with colonial objects in their spaces. It also explores the German government’s recent rapprochement with scholars in its ex-colonies on how to deal with its colonial past within a discourse of evidence and sankofatization. Sankofatization is defined as a Ghanaian- Akan ideology that signifies the selection of past ideas for retention within a type of renaissance paradigm. In December 2015, the German Federal Foreign Office invited delegates from Togo, Ghana, Namibia, Tanzania, and Cameroon to take part in a unique program dubbed “A Themed Tour of German Colonial History.” Reporting on this tour, the paper assesses the activism of German civic organizations and museums in their ongoing attempts to decolonize colonial cityscapes, street names, and exhibits. But this discussion is much more than an ethnographic report. The implications of this rapprochement policy for discourses on the archaeology of German colonialism and the anthropology of colonial museums denote significant changes in transnational cooperation. Overall, the themed tour recalled that silencing of negative past experiences and past misdeeds is never permanent. Generational change often influences a renaissance, or sankofatization, of past realities to serve emerging postcolonial needs. [museum anthropology, Africa, Germany, decolonization, repatriation]
Shit, Blood, Artifacts, and Tears: Interrogating Visitor Perceptions and Archaeological Residues at Ghana's Cape Coast Castle Slave Dungeon
(Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage, 2019-02) Apoh, W.; Anquandah, J; Amenyo-Xa, S.
Involuntary servitude, trade, and exchange in humans occurred among communities in parts of what is today known as Ghana before the advent of European involvement. However, with Europeans’ involvement and subsequent colonialism, this practice rapidly evolved into the heinous transatlantic chattel slave trade. Scholars studying slavery know that the material vestiges and memories of this phenomenon persist in the present. Yet, how public audiences engage with slavery’s past is determined by more than the transmission of such academic expertise. Visitors arrive to slave-related heritage sites typically having already had significant exposure to histories of slavery through public discourse and their own schooling. Public tours at such sites also may not relay all types of relevant evidence equally. Historical evidence may be given more attention than archaeological evidence. A monument’s architecture may be given more attention than less obvious material residues. This article explores visitor experiences at Ghana’s Cape Coast Castle, with particular attention given to visitor perceptions of the monument and of the history of slavery. We analyze how these perceptions are affected by visitors’ exposure to information on archaeological residues identified in Cape Coast Castle’s dungeons and in broader historical contextualization of the site.
Statement issued by participants of workshop on issues of restitution and repatriation of looted and illegally acquired African objects in European Museums
(Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), 2018-12) Apoh, W.
A study of the akan and ewe kente weaving traditions: Implications for the establishment of a kente museum in Ghana
(Current Perspectives in the Archaeology of Ghana, 2014-01) Atsutse, K.; Apoh, W.
Using Africa’s Past To Promote Change Toward Safer Alternatives For Food Packaging In Accra
(Cogent Social Sciences, 2022) Boateng, J.K.; Frimpong, W.O.; Apoh, W.; et al.
This study aimed to promote attitude change among street vendors and their customers by exposing them to a communication intervention. The respondents were exposed to digitized images of ancient pottery and materials used to meet the daily needs of food storage in Africa’s past, followed by a narration of. how these materials were used in the past that could be used in the present day to package food. Respondents reflected on their experiences in the communication intervention and were engaged in a focus group discussion and in-depth interviews to tap their perceptions and intentions about safer alternative practices of food storage in the present times. To discourage the use of harmful food packaging products, respondents called for attitudinal changes among all actors and suggested that government interventions, prudent economic practices, and education about food packing practices should lead to the adoption of cultural packaging practices that are safe and enhance food quality, taste, and palatability. Respondents further indicated that innovative strategies aimed at transforming traditional packaging practices will add a modern touch and make traditional and cultural food packaging safer and more acceptable. Thus, the use of earthenware, clay, leaves, and pottery should be innovatively designed to be more portable and convenient for packaging food. Modern food packaging businesses should, therefore, explore the combination of knowledge and ideas from the past and present to make food packaging safe and more environmentally friendly.