Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

West African Archaeology And The Atlantic Slave Trade, Christopher R. Decorse

Anthropology - All Scholarship

Recent archaeological research in the New World has focused on slave dwellings and post-emacipation communities, providing a great deal of insight into slave life and the emergence of African-American culture. In contrast, the material record in West Africa has supplied little new information on the slave trade. Numerous European forts and barracoons serve as pervasive reminders of its existence. However, excavation of these sites is only likely to attest to the meagre possessions of the slaves and their treatment prior to the middle passage, offering little insight into their cultural and ethnic origins. European forts were collection points; the slaves …