Heritage and Loss on the West African Coastline: An Historical-Archaeological Study of the Old Apa Site, Badagry, Nigeria

西非海岸线的遗产与损失：尼日利亚巴达格里老阿帕遗址的历史考古研究

• 批准号: 2886765
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of East Anglia
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2886765
• 关键词: Heritage; Loss; West; African; Coastline

My study will examine the archaeology of the West African coastline using as a case study the Old Apa site in Badagry, Nigeria. Archaeological work has shown that parts of West Africa's coastline have been occupied for at least 3000 years, while historical records show that the region was an important interaction zone between Europeans and West Africans in the past 500 years. However, previous studies of this later historical period have focused on the polities slightly inland and ignored the consequences of climate change on coastal cultural heritage. As such, the backdrop of the encounters between Europeans and West Africans, in particular, through the infamous trade in enslaved people and other goods, remains little understood. To fill this gap in knowledge, my research will examine the Old Apa site, which once served as a slave port and is one of the oldest sites that contributed to the Atlantic trade networks. On the surface of this site (Old Apa site) are scattered smoking pipes, bottles, and potsherds, as well as remnants of slave chains and European constructions. Despite the abundance of materials on the surface of the site and its significance in the history of the West African coastline, less attempt has been given to investigate the site archaeologically, document the cultural practices of its past inhabitants, and examine the effects of a changing environment on the past and present tangible and intangible heritage. Through interdisciplinary methods such as excavations of 6 test pits across the site, to obtain secure sequences of material culture (especially pottery) informing cultural and chronological affiliations; ethnographic interviews of the present inhabitants at New Apa across different occupations, sex, age, and status; surveying an area of 40,000m2 at Old Apa site, to assess the extent and the distribution of material culture on its surface; analysis of the assemblage of pottery and other artefacts to be recovered; and comparative studies of data from the Department of Archaeology, University of Abomey-Calavi (Republic of Benin) and the University of Ibadan (Nigeria), this research will reveal the history of the people who occupied the region; the nature of their material culture; and the effects of climatic change on cultural heritage (both tangible and intangible). This work will seek to contextualize the Old Apa settlement within the burgeoning field of West African coastal archaeology and thus add to an important developing body of research.My study will expand scholarly knowledge of the coast and offer a pioneering investigation into how climatic change has affected the West African coast's history since European contact about 1480 CE. Since most historical knowledge of the West African coast comes from European sources and the experience of individuals who lived there is poorly understood, this research, therefore, will expose the cultural sequences of previous human cultures.

我的研究将以尼日利亚巴达格里的旧阿帕遗址为例，研究西非海岸线的考古学。考古工作表明，西非的部分海岸线至少被占领了3000年，而历史记录显示，该地区在过去500年中是欧洲人和西非人之间重要的互动区。然而，以前对这一后期历史时期的研究主要集中在内陆的政治上，忽视了气候变化对沿海文化遗产的影响。因此，人们对欧洲人和西非人之间相遇的背景，特别是通过臭名昭著的奴隶和其他货物贸易相遇的背景仍然知之甚少。为了填补这一知识空白，我的研究将考察旧阿帕遗址，它曾经是一个奴隶港，是促成大西洋贸易网络的最古老的遗址之一。在这个遗址（旧阿帕遗址）的表面，散落着烟斗、瓶子和陶器碎片，以及奴隶链和欧洲建筑的残余。尽管该遗址表面有丰富的材料，在西非海岸线的历史上具有重要意义，但很少有人尝试对该遗址进行考古调查，记录其过去居民的文化习俗，并研究不断变化的环境对过去和现在的物质和非物质遗产的影响。通过跨学科的方法，如在整个场地挖掘6个测试坑，以获得安全的物质文化序列（特别是陶器）告知文化和年代的联系;对新阿帕目前不同职业、性别、年龄和地位的居民的人种学采访;在旧阿帕遗址调查40，000平方米的区域，以评估其表面物质文化的范围和分布;分析待恢复的陶器和其他人工制品的组合;通过对阿波美-卡拉维大学（贝宁共和国）和伊巴丹大学（尼日利亚）考古学系数据的比较研究，这项研究将揭示该地区原住民的历史、他们物质文化的性质以及气候变化对文化遗产（物质和非物质）的影响。这项工作将寻求在西非沿海考古学的新兴领域的背景下的老阿帕解决，从而增加了一个重要的发展中的研究机构。我的研究将扩大海岸的学术知识，并提供了一个开创性的调查如何气候变化影响了西非海岸的历史，因为欧洲接触约1480 CE。由于大多数西非海岸的历史知识来自欧洲的来源和生活在那里的个人的经验知之甚少，这项研究，因此，将揭示以前的人类文化的文化序列。