Archaeology of Historic Kormantse and the Colonial Trans-Atlantic Encounter
Sponsor
The Kormantse Archaeological Research Project (KARP) was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), USA through Portland State University, Oregon, with additional support from a Fulbright (USA) Senior Scholar Grant.
Published In
Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage
Document Type
Citation
Publication Date
12-2021
Abstract
Today, the name “Kormantse” (alternately Coromantee) continues to evoke significant pride in numerous African diaspora societies who claim descent. Scholars have sometimes cast such heritage claims as based on an “imaginary” reference population. However, Kormantse was a real place populated by real people. This paper reviews an archaeological research project at Historic Kormantse located in coastal Ghana (Gold Coast); the project’s main objective was to examine residents’ cultural responses to the trans-Atlantic colonial encounter. We sought to explain the processes by which settlement populations negotiated their survival since European contact in the sixteenth century. Archaeological traces reflecting exchanges, trade, occupations, burial practices, resistance, and technology are examined here as indices of the community’s identity and responses to changing conditions. The challenge of fully explaining Kormantse’s role in African diaspora cultures is also discussed. While Kormantse diaspora cultural signatures are real, not imagined, our understanding of them remains elusive.
Rights
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1080/21619441.2021.2010400
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/37105
Citation Details
E. Kofi Agorsah (2021) Archaeology of Historic Kormantse and the Colonial Trans-Atlantic Encounter, Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage, 10:3, 191-231, DOI: 10.1080/21619441.2021.2010400