Social Identities and Material Culture: Oral History, Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology in the Upper Basin of the White Volta (NE Ghana)

Abstract

This article presents an update of the overall results from ethnoarchaeological field seasons carried out between 2009 and 2013 in the frame of the project 'Oral history, archaeology and ethnoarchaeology in the upper basin of the White Volta (NE Ghana)', a joint research by the University of the Balearic Islands (Spain) and the University of Ghana. The project aims to develop multidisciplinary research by combining different strategies -archaeology, ethnoarchaeology and oral history - in the study of the diverse social identities that define daily life of the communities of people inhabiting the upper basin of the White Volta river. Specifically, this multidisciplinary approach intends to broaden our knowledge of how these social identities are constructed and continuously modified, as well as to understand the role material culture has played in this process.