Abstract
This paper is centered on an ancient cultural landscape called Pizaga located in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The landscape is endowed with adequate traces of past human existence. It comprises a flat land and intriguing rock formations within which are a series of rock shelters. It is characterized by several surface configurations of potsherds, house mounds, mass of iron slag, and other archaeological features. However, the landscape is endangered by several destructive mechanisms. Currently, it is impacted by several indigenous agricultural practices, such as the felling of trees for farming and domestic uses and grazing of animals. To explore the landscape through an archaeological exploration as a means of salvaging its archaeological heritage from destruction, a conflict erupted between two communities (Kolon-Yiri and Tabiesi) over its ownership. However, to avoid escalated conflicts among the parties involved, the community-based research model aided a mitigation process that allowed for the conduct of the research. As research anchored on a multi-disciplinary approach, other methods were employed. These included the collection of oral accounts, preliminary archaeological investigations, and the use of ethnographic research tools and techniques including photography. Using these methods helped to obtain both qualitative and quantitative data for the research analyses. Through the archaeological exploration, the research helped to foster historical relationships and a greater understanding of shared ownership models that engender peaceful co-existence as well as positions the site at Pizaga in a temporal context, and this makes the study critical.
Author Information
Jonathan Ampofo Manu, University of Ghana, Ghana
Samuel Nilirmi Nkumbaan, University of Ghana, Ghana
Paper Information
Conference: ACCS2024
Stream: Cultural Studies
This paper is part of the ACCS2024 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Manu J., & Nkumbaan S. (2024) The Nexus Between Archaeological Exploration and Heritage Contestation: Perspectives From Pizaga, Upper West Region of Ghana ISSN: 2187-4751 – The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2024: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 291-298) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4751.2024.24
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4751.2024.24
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