The Archaeology of Shrines among the Tallensi of Northern Ghana: Materiality and Interpretive Relevance
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2009
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Calgary Press
Abstract
The material culture of the Tallensi is, comparatively speaking, somewhat analytically neglected in comparison to the wealth of ethnographic material available. The present paper seeks to redress this dearth of archaeological data by focusing on the history of a particular Tallensi shrine in the Tongo Hills of northern Ghana. Shrines, especially in the West African context, appear to serve as symbolic repositories of information and shared understanding about regional social processes, and ethnohistory and archaeological excavation of shrines and associated material culture can reveal much about settlement patterns, resource utilization, and ethnicity.
Description
Keywords
Tallensi, shrines, materiality, Tongo Hills, Ghana
Citation
In Allan Charles Dawson (ed.), Shrines Africa: History, politics, and society. University of Calgary Press, pp.41-70