Benjamin W. Kankpeyeng

The Tension between Communities, Development and Archaeological Heritage Preservation: The Case Study of Tengzug Cultural Landscape, Ghana

Abstract The relationship between traditional beliefs, worldview, heritage conservation, and archaeological investigation is a complex one. This is considered with reference to perceptions of the landscape and the conflict which can occur between government policy and indigenous beliefs in relation to architecture amongst the Tallensi communities of Tengzug in Northern Ghana. It is evident that both tangible and intangible elements constitute heritage in Tengzug and this needs to be recognized by researchers, heritage professionals, and government bodies charged with implementing development policies. Abstract La relación entre las creencias tradicionales, la visión del mundo, la conservación del patrimonio y la investigación arqueológica es muy compleja. Este fenómeno viene examinado aquí con referencia a las percepciones del paisaje y el conflicto que puede surgir entre la política del gobierno y las creencias indígenas con relación a la arquitectura de los pueblos de Tengzug en el norte de Ghana. Es obvio que el patrimonio de los habitantes de Tengzug tiene elementos a la vez tangibles e intangibles, y por ende los investigadores, los profesionales del patrimonio y las agencias del gobierno responsables de la ejecución de políticas de desarrollo deben tener presente este hecho.

Indigenous cosmology, art forms and past medicinal practices: towards an interpretation of ancient Koma Land sites in northern Ghana

The ancient cultural tradition in the middle belt region of northern Ghana, with its stone circle and house mounds, contains varied material culture. The unique contextual arrangements of the material culture within the stone circle mounds and the diverse ceramic art forms, as well as their ethnographic analogues in West Africa, indicate the mounds’ association with past shrines that have multiple functions, including curative purposes. The archaeology of the mounds and ethnographic associations related to past indigenous medical practices is reviewed and discussed. This paper will also consider how some of the figurines through which the Koma tradition has achieved ‘fame’ possibly functioned as physical representations of disease, perhaps underpinned by intentions of transference from afflicted to image. The notions of protection and healing are also examined with reference to the resorted and disarticulated human remains sometimes recovered from the sites.

The Slave Trade in Northern Ghana: Landmarks, Legacies and Connections

Indigenous slavery, the trans-Saharan commerce in slaves and modern forms of slavery have all impacted upon Ghanaian life, and abundant material evidence for these various forms of slavery survives. Yet until recently, attention has largely focused on the European trading fortresses dotted along the coastline of Ghana. This article will argue that material remains in the northern Ghanaian hinterland have an equal potential to enhance our understanding of slavery, and its legacy, in 2007 and beyond.

Fragmentary Ancestors? Medicine, Bodies, and Personhood in a Koma Mound, Northern Ghana

Excavation of a single mound at Yikpabongo, Koma Land, northern Ghana, recovered a significant assemblage of ceramic figurines and figurine parts radiocarbon dated to the early second millennium ad. Rather than haphazard deposition of waste materials, the contextual arrangements suggest meaningful intention, and that the mound might have been a shrine, possibly linked in part to a medicinal or healing function. Potentially, significant statements were also being made about bodies and persons via the figurines, their fragmentation and selection, and their association with selected human remains—skulls, teeth, long bones—and other materials—pottery, lithics, iron, and glass beads. Complex beliefs seemingly underpinned these actions and this is explored in relation to the concept of the ancestors and how this might have helped structure past personhood and ontology.

The Iron Age Ceramics from the Tong Hills, Northern Ghana. Sequence and Comparative Perspective

The archaeology of Ghana north of 10 degrees remains little known, thus between 2004 and 2009 archaeological research was completed in the Tong Hills, the home of the Talensi ethno-linguistic group. An overview of the research is presented here with especial emphasis placed on the ceramic traditions and chronology. These are contextualised within the archaeology of the wider region of northern Ghana.

Novel Nanocrystal Clay Materials with Potential Bone Cells Growth Enhancement or Inhibition Characteristics In Vitro

The application of clay nanocrystals in healing has gained notoriety in recent years. The objective of this work was to investigate whether two medical clay nanocrystals obtained from different geographical locations could exhibit differential cell growth. X-ray diffraction analyses of both nanocrystal materials revealed orthorhombic chamosite structure with lattice parameters: a =15 Å, b= 8 Å and c=7 Å whereas energy dispersive x-ray results showed the presence of Al, Si, Fe and O in both materials. However the porosity measurements of the two materials revealed different pore structures. Both materials were tested on human fetal osteoblast cells and the results showed differential cell growth in vitro. The results underscore the significance of pore structures in cell response as against the chemical composition or the structure of the material. Future mechanistic evaluation would be conducted to better understand the pathways leading to the increased/decrease osteoblast adhesion and proliferation by these materials and possible modification of the clay materials for biomedical applications.