Processes of Change--A Longitudinal Ethno-Archaeological Study of a Ghanaian Village: Hani 1970–98
Most ethno-archaeological research involves the study of single communities over short time periods. As archaeology endeavors to appreciate the processes of change over extended periods of time it is important to obtain insights into the dynamics of past communities by studying comparable communities over periods long enough to delineate significant changes in site formation, uses of material culture and reactions to environmental, economic, and political stimuli. The study of the Ghanaian village of Hani, the successor community to the medieval town of Begho (ca. AD 1100–1800), is unique in that it provides a continuous study of a community over 28 years, during which time the village has been mapped on seven occasions, agricultural practices and collecting activities studied at different seasons, the changing material culture of the village recorded and the attitudes and reactions to environmental, economic, and political changes monitored through a continuous series of questionnaires. Conclusions are drawn as to the effect of these changes and archaeological implications evaluated.La plupart des études ethno-archéologiques sont basées sur des communautés uniques durant des périodes courtes. Etant donné que l'archéologie apprécie de plus en plus le processus de changement à long terme, c'est très important de connaître le fonctionnement des anciennes communautés en étudiants des communautés comparables durant des longues périodes pour pouvoir démarquer des changements pertinents; notamment dans le domaine de la formation des sites, l'utilisation de la culture matérielle, des réactions á l'environnement, et l'impact politique. L'étude du village ghanéen de Hani, successeur de l'ancienne ville médiévale de Begho (ca. AD 1100–1800) est unique parce que c'est le résultat d'une étude progressive de plus de 28 ans. Pendant cette période, la carte de la ville a été tracée sept fois, les activités d'agriculture et de collecte ont été étudiées pendant les saisons différents, et les changements de la culture matérielle ont été enregistrées. Les attitudes et réactions aux changements d'environnement, ainsi que les changements politiques et économiques, ont été documentés à l'aide d'une série continue des questionnaires. Des conclusions ont été tirées sur les effets de ces changements et les implications archéologiques sont évaluées.
Pottery-Making in Bonakire, Ghana
| african arts SPRING 2007 B onakire is a predominantly Mo-speaking village located approximately 17km (101⁄2 miles) northwest of the ancient archaeological site of Begho in the Brong-Ahafo region of north-central Ghana.1 In 1979 I conducted a brief ethnographic study of Bonakire’s pottery industry as part of a three-month archaeological fi eld school directed by Dr. Merrick Posnansky at the site of Begho B2.2 Th is study, along with others preceding it, was undertaken to explore how mid to late twentieth century pottery-making compared with the ceramic data collected at Begho (see Crossland 1973, 1989; Goody 1963; Wilks 1961). Th is brief research note does not off er such an analysis but rather describes the distinctive method of making pottery I observed in Bonakire as well as the role of women in the cash economy of this small rural village. Pottery production was the fulltime occupation of nearly all Bonakire women, and daughters typically learned from their mothers and grandmothers by observation and apprenticeship. Pottery-making was also taught in the village school (fig. 1). Every female past the age of about 15 was actively producing pottery during my visit, and each potter was responsible for the production and sale of her own wares. Other than basic household duties, such as fetching water, preparing food, washing utensils and clothing, and caring for children, women spent much of the day engaged in pottery-making and its associated tasks.3 Th ey worked in two, 3–4 hour sessions, one in the morning starting about 9:00–10:00 am and lasting until the preparation of the noon-time meal and a second longer session lasting all aft ernoon until the preparation of the evening meal. Th ree days in the six-day Mo temporal cycle (days 2, 5, and 6) were reserved for the collection of clay and the fi ring of vessels. Male relatives dug the clay from large pits located only about 60m (651⁄2 Pottery-Making in Bonakire, Ghana
The Human Rights Act and Parliamentary Democracy
The Human Rights Act 1998 is the culmination of an aggressive campaign for the incorporation into domestic law of the European Convention on Human Rights, a campaign in which the judges joined forces with other political activists. Variously described as 'brilliant';' 'a masterly exposition of the parliamentary draftsman's art';2 and even 'a thing of intellectual beauty',3 the Act has also been greeted as an 'ingenious compromise' between the 'maximalists' and 'minimalists', the former supporting a judicial power to invalidate legislation, as is the case in Canada.4 But although it is purported to reconcile in 'subtle' form the protection of human rights with the sovereignty of Parliament (a claim even more credible after an important but unsung Commons amendment), the Act also represents an unprecedented transfer of political power from the executive and legislature to the judiciary, and a fundamental re-structuring of our 'political constitution'.s As such it is unquestionably the most significant formal redistribution of political power in this country since 1911,6 and perhaps since 1688 when the Bill of Rights proclaimed loudly that proceedings in Parliament ought not to be questioned or impeached in any court or any other place. In the words of Baroness Williams of Crosby, we have crossed our 'constitutional Rubicon',7 at least to the extent that the courts may now declare a statute incompatible with Convention rights. The enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998 was marked by an unusually high quality of debate, particularly in the House of Lords, with powerful performances by the Lord Chancellor and Lord Lester of Herne Hill. The performance of the latter on one occasion was too much for Lord Campbell of Alloway, unaccustomed it seems to cerebral rather than ceremonial contributions in their Lordships' House. Lord Campbell was heard to protest (in a manner dubbed 'offensive' by Lord Ackner)8 about 'these escoteric lectures on law at this time of night', having 'never heard anything like this after dinner' in the 18 years he had been in the Lords.9 He had better get used to it: the law and the lawyers are about to dominate all the debates, at all times of the day and night, before and after every meal time. Indeed in the Second Reading Debate on this Bill in the House of Lords 'full of