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The
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the Bui
Hydroelectric Project recommended that a ‘salvage archaeological’
exercise be undertaken within the area of inundation.
BPA therefore invited Archaeologists
from the University of Ghana, Department of Archaeology and Heritage
Studies, to undertake the exercise that would help salvage and
protect community heritage sites and material culture that are
usually destroyed by such large- scale construction activities.
In the latter part of
2009 and early 2010, the archaeologists undertook field
investigations to document archaeological, historical and
ethnographic data within three communities to be inundated; Bui
Village, Bator Akanyakrom and Dokokyina.
This archaeological
research was geared towards;
 identifying
and mapping of archaeological and other heritage sites
collecting
vital ethnographic objects and surface archaeological materials
excavating
archaeological sites
collecting
relevant oral accounts, including migration and settlement
histories; and
gathering
of other data that informed on settlement history, subsistence,
craft production, and ceremonies
A reconnaissance
survey of the project site was undertaken to enable the
identification of sites and features that required excavation. Areas
associated with craft production e.g., iron working and pottery
making contexts were excavated.
All archaeological
and ethnographic materials collected during fieldwork will be
processed at the conservation laboratory of the Department of
Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Ghana. The
processing consisted of the cleaning, classification, analysis,
cataloguing, and conservation of the materials. Archaeo-botanical
and zoo-archaeological finds will be subjected to specialist
identification and analyses with the assistance of botanists and
zoologists of the University of Ghana.
A full and final
report was to be submitted in June 2010. The report included major
findings of all activities undertaken during fieldwork, and
recommendation on how to curate the recovered artifacts and how
value can be added to the relocated heritage features for tourism
promotion and general socio-economic development in the project
affected communities. |
