This is our backup site. Click here to visit our main site at MellenPress.com
Agorsah, E. Kofi
About the author: Dr. E. Kofi Agorsah, (BA and MA in African Archaeology, University of Ghana; PhD in Archaeology, University of California - Los Angeles) served on the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board with the responsibility for the Volta Regional Museum, and the Historical Museum of Cape Coast, Ghana. He was Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, and the Edward Moulton Barrett Lecturer in Archeology at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica. He is currently a full Professor of Black Studies and International Studies, Chair of Black Studies, and Co-Chair of the Diversity Action Council at Portland State University, Oregon. He is Vice President of the International Association for Caribbean Archaeology, and a Board member of the African Burial Ground Project of New York.
2003 0-7734-6677-0This study examines the functional adaptation of traditional societies to changing economic, social and spatial transformations in the Volta Basin of Ghana, in particular the changes caused by the construction of the Akosombo Dam in the early 1960’s and its effect on two Volta Basin communities displaced by the flood waters. It introduces the history of some of the core West African ethnic groups who laid the foundation for the development of cultural traditions in the area. A special feature of the book is that it identifies natural and cultural environments on an equal basis. It also identifies individual and group response to the transformations that created new and challenging conditions. Methodologically, the book employs an objective application of the principles of ethnoarchaeology to identify progressive societal adaptive strategies, which include settlement patterns, building technology, oral traditions, religion and ritual, marriage and death customs. The book is a result of over twenty years of research in the Volta Basin, living among and sharing knowledge with the people. With many illustrations.