Globalizing Lifeways: An Analysis of Local and Imported Ceramics at an Aku Site in Banjul, The Gambia.

Summary

Following the 1807 British abolition of the slave trade, the West African coast saw the rise of a new phenomenon: the liberation of captive Africans found aboard illegal slaving ships and their resettlement in Sierra Leone and The Gambia. This diaspora group became known as the Liberated Africans, and eventually transformed into the creole ethnic group known as the Aku in The Gambia. After its establishment in 1816 Bathurst (now Bathurst) welcomed the Liberated Africans as a source of low-paid labor. Many of the Aku went on to hold positions of prominence in the colony. During the summer of 2014 as part of the Banjul Heritage Project, excavations were carried out at a property belonging to one of the more influential Aku families in the 19th century. This poster focuses on the influence of globalization on Aku lifeways, evidenced by the imported and local ceramics recovered from the site.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Poster Submission 2016   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 268