Making History in Banda: Anthropological Visions of Africa's Past (New Studies in Archaeology)

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Dedication......Page 9
CONTENTS......Page 11
FIGURES......Page 13
PLATES......Page 14
TABLES......Page 15
PREFACE......Page 17
Organization of this volume......Page 19
Silences in the production of history......Page 23
Envisioning Africa’s past......Page 24
Anthropological visions of Africa’s past......Page 25
Historical visions of Africa’s past......Page 31
Archaeological visions of Africa’s past......Page 34
Working in interdisciplinary spaces......Page 37
2 Envisioning Africa’s lived past......Page 41
The role of the precolonial in historical imagination......Page 42
Precolonial baselines: the logic of the present......Page 43
“Invented traditions” and the knowability of the past......Page 48
Into the past: upstreaming from the present......Page 49
The supplemental use of sources......Page 53
Source-side concerns......Page 58
Subject-side concerns......Page 61
Envisioning Banda’s past......Page 62
3 The past in the present: history-making in Banda......Page 63
Defining the spatial scale of analysis......Page 65
Geography of the space......Page 67
Natural resources......Page 70
Agricultural production......Page 71
Craft production......Page 72
Cultural geography of Banda......Page 73
Nafana......Page 76
Kuulo......Page 80
Mo and Ewe......Page 81
Village organization and layout......Page 82
Organization of the chieftaincy......Page 85
State festivals......Page 89
Power and social control......Page 91
Making history in the colonial period......Page 92
History-making and the politics of chieftaincy......Page 94
The Banda Research Project and history-making in Banda......Page 98
Subcontinental and intercontinental exchange c. 1100–1600......Page 104
The Atlantic trade and the growth of forest polities c. 1500–1700......Page 110
Asante’s dominion c. 1700–1896......Page 112
British interests on the Gold Coast 1844–1874......Page 115
British entrenchment and the disintegration of Asante 1874–1896......Page 117
The colonial political economy 1897–1930......Page 120
5 Local life in the context of the Niger trade c. 1300–1700......Page 129
Settlement of the Banda area c. 1300–1700......Page 135
Daily life at Kuulo Kataa......Page 138
Housing and settlement dynamics......Page 140
The domestic economy......Page 141
Market activity and subcontinental exchange......Page 158
A question of taste......Page 162
Summary......Page 165
The imagining of Golden Ages......Page 167
The end of a “Golden Age”......Page 170
The Banda polity......Page 173
Oral-historical and documentary perspectives......Page 177
Archaeological perspectives......Page 181
The material record of Banda life......Page 184
The settlement history of Makala Kataa......Page 185
Daily life at Early Makala......Page 187
Disposing of the dead......Page 201
Early Makala in the regional and subcontinental economy......Page 202
Summary......Page 207
Reflections......Page 209
Migration and assimilation: oral-historical and documentary perspectives......Page 211
War and migration: political history of the Banda chieftaincy......Page 212
Immigrants in a frontier setting: perspectives from family histories......Page 220
Daily life at Late Makala......Page 222
The domestic economy......Page 226
Disposing of the dead......Page 230
Late Makala in the regional and subcontinental economy......Page 231
Summary......Page 234
8 Reflections: historical anthropology and the construction of Africa’s past......Page 237
Silences and mentions in Banda history......Page 238
On constructionism and the lived past......Page 241
On supplementarity and sources......Page 245
NOTES......Page 247
Public Records Office, Kew, London, England......Page 250
Secondary sources......Page 253
INDEX (REFERENCES TO FIGURES, PLATES AND TABLES APPEAR IN ITALICS)......Page 280