A Zoo-Archaeological Investigation of the Nyarko Quarter of Begho, Bono Region, Ghana

Abstract

The focus of this study is on the identification and documentation of faunal remains recovered from the Nyarko Quarter. It is one of six quarters of Begho discovered by Merrick Posnansky in the early 1970s. Begho was an ancient market town located in the Bono Region of Ghana, and noted to have had extensive trade links with Jenne, Timbucktu and Gao, located along the Niger River, as well as with several coastal polities during the era of the Trans Saharan and Atlantic trade respectively. Its importance has been documented in several early Arabic manuscripts, European records and ethno historical accounts of the Hani people, ancestors of the people of ancient Begho. The modern Hani settlement overlies parts of the ancient Begho settlement. The study revealed that the people of the Nyarko Quarter exploited and procured for themselves wide varieties of domesticated and undomesticated animal and plant species. Some of the recovered bones identified belonged to wild/undomesticated animals species and included grasscutter, duiker, squirrels and antelopes. Some of these animals were captured through various means such as hunting and the use of snares and pitfall traps. A few of the bones recovered also displayed charred marks and cut marks, indicating that smoking over open fire was probably an important mode of processing meat in the past. Other faunal material recovered from the Nyarko Quarter comprised mollusc shells, indication that the inhabitants of that quarter exploited these resources. The recovery of palm kernel and cowpea seeds is direct evidential data supporting the cultivation of these crops and may have served as important dietary complements during the period. Other notable non-faunal recoveries from the excavations included daub and lateritic stones, which could have been used for the construction of wattle and daub house structures. Veritable quantities of locally manufactured potsherds were also recovered. The settlers had extensive socio-economic interactions with neighboring communities’ like Menji, Namasa, Debibi, Wenchi and Nsoko