Sankofa - Ghana Journal of Archaeology and Heritage Studies

Editorial Note

2026-07-17T13:11:13+00:00

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Pawnship or Debt Bondage in the Gold Coast (Modern Ghana): Reknitting its Interstices

2026-07-17T13:11:13+00:00

This study, based on a variety of eclectic sources, deals with the institution of pawnship or debt-bondage in the Gold Coast, operationalized as the Eastern, Central, and Western Provinces. The topic spans the mid-nineteenth century and the early-twentieth century. It looks at pawnship in the centripetal conduits of continuity and change, shaped by the transformations in the Gold Coast economy as well as social change and social formations in flux. In sum, it reknits compendium modules of sources on pawnship in the Gold Coast into a concise and restorative tome. Overall, the study’s foci are complementary themes, though with concentric forces, that drive the hands of continuity and change in shaping the political economy of pawnshi

The Need for a Sports Museum in Africa - The Case of Ghana.

2026-07-17T13:11:14+00:00

The establishment of a sports museum is vital for preserving the rich history and heritage of sports, providing educational resources, celebrating achievements, fostering cultural unity, boosting the economy through tourism, promoting physical activity, supporting research and innovation, and engaging the community. Such a museum not only honours past and present sports heroes but also inspires future generations, contributing to the overall development and cohesion of society. This paper will explore the importance of establishing a dedicated sports museum in Africa, specifically Ghana. The study will delve into the reason for sports museum in the world, the need for sports museum in Ghana, the current state of sports heritage preservation in Ghana, and further make some recommendation. This study provides a comprehensive argument for the establishment of a sports museum in Ghana, emphasizing its multifaceted benefits and the rich sports heritage that deserves to be celebrated and preserved.

Reimagining indigenous African ontological entanglement and resilience adaptation in the Anthropocene

2026-07-17T13:11:14+00:00

Thinking about and with indigenous African community has become crucially important in discussion regarding modern ontologies in the dominant tropes on resilience and the Anthropocene. Indigenous African community today is seen by many as perhaps the most paradigmatic figure in generating alternative ways of being about climate resilience/environmental adaptation in debates in the Anthropocene. I examine how indigenous more-than-human hybrid ontologies as more disruptive space have facilitated thinking within dominant tropes on resilience and the Anthropocene. This paper argues that reductionist modern ontology, fails to fully acknowledge how indigenous African community is being productively grasped and for more recent resilience discourses in thinking within contemporary Anthropocene. This is important for enabling futural alternatives and understandings in an avowedly critical interdisciplinary thought that is applicable to the heterogeneity of African contexts.

Vernacular architecture of the Ahanta: Perspectives from Ethnoarchaeological and historical Investigations at Dixcove, Western Region, Ghana

2026-07-17T13:11:15+00:00

This paper investigated the consequences of the English presence at Dixcove (Effiema), specifically the impact of European architectural styles and imported European construction accoutrements on vernacular architecture from the precolonial era to 1874 when the Gold Coast officially became an English colony. Data for the study was derived from archaeological, historical and ethnographic investigations undertaken at the Daazikessie and Ntwarkro, the original quarters settled by progenitors of the current Dixcove population. Results of the study indicated that prior to the arrival of the English, the indigenes utilized only local building materials, notably flat top and bottom granitic stone blocks, bamboo poles, rammed earth and straight tree branches, all procured from the immediate precincts of the settlement to build their houses. However, significant changes occurred in local architectural styles during the era of the trans-Atlantic trade, primarily as a result of the introduction of novel European construction materials such as glass window panes, asbestos roofing slates, metal door locks and yellow bricks among many others. Other notable features adopted included multi-storied European architectural styles by wealthy indigenous merchants some of who benefitted immensely ,from the coastal trade there.

Mending Bone Fractures using Indigenous Medical Epistemology: An Ethno-History of Bone Setting among the Ewe of Ghana

2026-07-17T13:11:16+00:00

Bone Setting is an indigenous medical epistemology found in many societies across Sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana, ethnic groups such as the Akan, Ewe, Dagomba, Gonja, Nawuri, and Konkomba among others mend broken bones using indigenous knowledge systems. Among the Ewe of Ghana, there are community-based healers who have deep knowledge in the management and treatment of bone fractures using local epistemology. Bone setting is therefore a cultural practice and heritage handed down from generation to generation. This study chronicles the ethno-medical history of bone setting among the Ewe people of Ghana. The study discusses the origins of the practice of traditional bone setting, the institutionalization of the practice, and the geographical and spatial distribution of bone setters in Eweland. In addition, the study elucidates the nature of the practice of bone setting, the significance of bone setters, and the influence of social change on the practice in contemporary times. The study contends that traditional bone setting is a cultural heritage and an important medical practice of the Ewe people which responds to the primary healthcare needs of the local communities regarding fracture management and treatment. The study concludes that traditional bone setters provide complementary healthcare services to fracture patients who are not economically endowed to access the services of orthopedists at the hospital. Traditional bone setting is therefore a panacea for fracture treatment in Eweland.

#FixTheCountry and Political Activism in Ghana: Inscriptions of A Priori Failure?

2026-07-18T10:41:31+00:00

What explains the meteoric rise of the #FixTheCountry Movement, and why did it so abruptly descend into a comatose state? Existing scholarship has examined the emergence and decline of youth political activism in Ghana and across Africa. However, this article intervenes by asking a different set of questions: How do the complexity of the modern state, the dynamics of power and trust, and the human pursuit of pleasure help illuminate the collapse of the #FixTheCountry Movement? Drawing on these questions, and through an analysis of the Movement’s inscriptions, this article argues that youth-led revolutionary movements in Ghana in particular, and Africa more broadly, have repeatedly faltered due to a failure to fully appreciate the intricate nexus between the modern state as a social construct and the anthropology of human beings as pleasure-seeking actors. The absence of a rigorously articulated ideology capable of sustaining passion, discipline, and enduring hope—beyond the immediate gratification of the self—constitutes a critical fault line in youth revolutionary politics in Ghana. Consequently, the article situates the #FixTheCountry Movement within the historical and philosophical traditions of the modern state and citizenship, demonstrating that the Movement’s overwhelming emphasis on how resources are distributed, rather than why they are structured in particular ways, ultimately contributed to its collapse