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.

我的研究将研究西非海岸线的考古，以案例研究为尼日利亚贝达格里的旧APA遗址。考古工作表明，西非海岸线的一部分至少已经占领了3000年，而历史记录表明，该地区是过去500年来欧洲人和西非人之间的重要互动区。但是，以前关于此后期历史时期的研究集中在稍微内陆的政治上，而忽略了气候变化对沿海文化遗产的后果。因此，尤其是通过被奴役的人和其他商品的臭名昭著的贸易，尤其是欧洲人与西非人之间相遇的背景仍然很少了解。为了填补这一知识的差距，我的研究将检查旧的APA网站，该网站曾经是奴隶港口，并且是为大西洋贸易网络贡献的最古老的地点之一。该地点的表面（旧的APA站点）是散落的吸烟管，瓶子和陶器，以及奴隶链和欧洲建筑的残余物。尽管该地点表面上有大量的材料及其在西非海岸线历史上的重要性，但尝试在考古学上调查该地点，记录其过去居民的文化实践，并研究环境对过去和现在有形和无形的遗产的影响。通过跨学科的方法，例如在整个站点上进行6个测试坑的发掘，以获得材料培养的安全序列（尤其是陶器），以告知文化和年代隶属关系；在不同职业，性别，年龄和地位的新APA居民的民族志访谈；调查旧APA站点的40,000m2面积，以评估其表面上物质培养的程度和分布；分析要回收的陶器和其他伪影的组合；以及来自阿伯米 - 卡拉维大学（贝宁共和国）和伊巴丹大学（尼日利亚）考古学系的数据比较研究，这项研究将揭示占领该地区人民的历史；他们物质文化的本质；气候变化对文化遗产（有形和无形的）的影响。这项工作将旨在将西非沿海考古学新兴领域内的旧APA定居点与之相关，从而增加了一项重要的发展研究。由于西非海岸的大多数历史知识都来自欧洲的消息来源，而居住在那里的个人的经验知之甚少，因此这项研究将揭示以前人类文化的文化序列。