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

我的研究将考察西非海岸线的考古学，以尼日利亚巴达格里的老阿帕遗址为例。考古工作表明，西非的部分海岸线至少有3000年的历史，而历史记录表明，在过去的500年里，该地区是欧洲人和西非人之间重要的互动地带。然而，以往对这一后期历史时期的研究主要集中在略微内陆的政治上，而忽视了气候变化对沿海文化遗产的影响。因此，欧洲人和西非人相遇的背景，特别是臭名昭著的奴隶和其他货物贸易，仍然鲜为人知。为了填补这一知识空白，我的研究将考察老阿帕遗址，它曾经是奴隶港口，是对大西洋贸易网络做出贡献的最古老的遗址之一。在这个遗址（老阿帕遗址）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遗迹。尽管该遗址表面上有丰富的材料及其在西非海岸线历史上的重要意义，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，并检查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，如在整个遗址中挖掘6个测试坑，获得物质文化（特别是陶器）的安全序列，告知文化和时间关系；对不同职业、性别、年龄和地位的新阿帕现有居民进行人种学访谈；对老阿坝遗址进行了4万平方米的调查，以评估其表面物质文化的范围和分布；对陶器和其他待回收文物的组合进行分析；并对来自阿博梅-卡拉维大学（贝宁共和国）和伊巴丹大学（尼日利亚）考古系的数据进行比较研究，这项研究将揭示占领该地区的人们的历史；他们物质文化的本质；以及气候变化对文化遗产（包括有形和无形的）的影响。这项工作将寻求在西非沿海考古学的新兴领域中建立旧阿帕定居点的背景，从而增加一个重要的发展研究机构。我的研究将扩大对海岸的学术知识，并对自公元1480年欧洲人接触以来气候变化如何影响西非海岸的历史进行开创性的调查。由于大多数关于西非海岸的历史知识来自欧洲，而人们对生活在那里的个人的经历知之甚少，因此，这项研究将揭示以前人类文化的文化序列。

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.