Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Artifacts Of Exchange: A Multiscalar Approach To Maritime Archaeology At Elmina, Ghana, Andrew T. Pietruszka

Anthropology - Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the excavation and interpretation of two European ships discovered at Elmina Ghana, the coastal site of the first and largest European fort in sub-Saharan Africa. Discovered in 2003, the first vessel, located 1.5 miles offshore of the castle, is largely comprised of remnants of cargo exposed on the seafloor. European trade wares recovered from the site suggest a mid-seventeenth century vessel, most likely of Dutch origin. AMS radiocarbon dates obtained from several fragments of wood recovered in cores taken at the site support this assumption. The second vessel was discovered by accident during the 2007 dredging …