Ethno archaeological Clues to Stone Exploitation in Ancient Dangme-land, Greater Accra Region, Ghana

Abstract

<jats:p>Dangme-land is naturally replete with abundant stone resources whose exploitation facilitated the peoples’ adaptation to their environment. The objective of the researcher in this paper was to investigate for what purposes the ancient indigenous Dangme populations that occupied Sega Hill, Kpone, Shai and Prampram exploited and used stones in the remote past. It also documented the techniques and methodologies utilized by the people to exploit this resource. Data for the study were derived from ethnographic and archaeological investigations and from early European sources relating to the area. The combined evidence revealed that the people of the aforementioned settlements exploited stone for a variety of purposes, such as for the construction of agricultural terraces and protective enclosures against slavers. The ethno archaeological evidence also indicated that the four principal early vocations of the people namely; fishing, crop farming, hunting and trapping were facilitated greatly by the use of a variety of tools manufactured from stone.</jats:p>

Cultural Sustainability of Dipo Puberty Rite and Its Associated Hiv Risks in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in Ghana

“…The study showed that the stone at the shrine was associated with idol worship since it is against the first commandment of the Bible. History has it that, the Krobos who are part of the Dangme group exploited stones and used them for many purposes (Biveridge, 2019) which may include their use in the rite. Additionally, the first traditional priestess of the people of Krobo appeared on Krobo Mountain and later became a deity of the mountain (Ostrow, 2011).…”