Within savanna and forest: A review of the Late Stone Age Kintampo Tradition, Ghana

Abstract

The Kintampo Tradition (c. 3600–3200 BP) of Ghana is associated with the earliest manifestations of figurative art, personal adornment, semi-sedentary ‘village’ settlements and food production in the Late Stone Age (LSA) of the savanna-forest/forests of West Africa. Despite decades of research, fundamental questions regarding this tradition remain unresolved and discussion of it remains heavily structured by notions of diffusion or migration. This study synthesises the available data with a comprehensive comparative analysis of Kintampo material culture in order to explore and evaluate this tradition's temporal and spatial patterning, as well as theoretical issues regarding identity and the socioeconomic and technical practices associated with the appearance of food production. Available data evince the existence of a unique adaptation that confounds attempts to interpret it within traditional socio-economic categories such as ‘Neolithic’. The Kintampo is recast here as a distinctive and durable archaeological tradition that constitutes the beginnings of food production in Sub-Sahelian West Africa.

La tradition de Kintampo (c. 3600–3200 BP) du Ghana est associée aux manifestations les plus tôt de l'art figuratif, de l'ornement personnel, des villages (semi-sédentaires) et de la domestication (végétal et animal) dans les savanes-forêts et forêts de l'Afrique de l'Ouest. En dépit des décennies des questions fondamentales de recherches concernant cette tradition, elle reste non définie, et beaucoup de discours sont structurés par des notions de diffusion ou de migration. Cette étude synthétise des données disponibles avec une analyse comparative complète de la culture matérielle de Kintampo afin d'explorer et évaluer sa structuration temporelle et spatiale, et des issues théoriques concernant l'identité et l’économie. Les données disponibles démontrent l'existence d'une adaptation unique qui confond des catégories socio-économiques traditionnelles, comme "néolithique". La Kintampo est remaniée ici comme tradition archéologique distinctive et durable qui constitue le début de la production alimentaire en Afrique de l'Ouest au sud du Sahel.

Keywords:

• Kintampo Tradition
• Ghana
• material culture
• food production

Acknowledgements

I should like to thank Professor James Anquandah, University of Ghana, Dr A. C. D'Andrea, Simon Fraser University, and Amanda Logan, University of Michigan for their constructive reviews of earlier versions of this article. Rémy Pasquet, of the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Kenya, generously provided unpublished data regarding the domestication history of cowpeas. Any errors of fact or interpretation remain my own.

Notes

1. The domestication history of cowpea is unresolved (D'Andrea et al. 2007). However, preliminary research on the species’ genetic variability within Sudan and Ethiopia suggests the possibility that domestication occurred near or westwards of Kordofan, as all samples east of the Nile River lacked ‘domesticated markers’ (that is, the Amp isozyme and the cpDNA mutation; Rémy Pasquet, pers. comm.).

2. Unfortunately, only the most basic outline of Flight's (1970, 1976) original ‘60m²’ excavation of K6 has been published.

3. Two apparent rasp fragments from Ntereso illustrated by Davies (1973, Figure 120 no. 3–4) appear to have been reformed (ground?) as ‘bifacial projectile points’, suggesting perhaps that this method of manufacture may have been relatively widespread.