Members of the 1989 archaeological excavation team at Makala Kataa. Team members included Banda men from Ahenkro and Makala. Left-right: Enoch Mensah, Yaw Frimpong, Kwasi Donkor, Obour Bartholomew, ___, Osei Kofi, Samuel Babatu, Yaw Francis, Mustapha, Donkor Johnson. Makala Kataa, July, 1989.
Banda Research Project team member Ann Stahl sorts pottery sherds recovered through excavations at Makala Kataa. Once sorted, she will prepare an inventory of sherd forms and decorations. A group of children have gathered and look on. Ahenkro, 1990.
Banda Research Project team member Mensah Listowell processes soil samples from Makala Kataa using a bucket flotation method. The large head pan is filled with water into which he lowers a wire mesh basket filled with soil. As he gently shakes the basket, the soil dissolves and passes through the basket mesh. He uses a small mesh ladle to skim the seeds and charcoal ("light fraction") that float to the top of the water inside the basket. The "heavy fraction" which remains in the basket after the soil has washed away will be set aside to dry. It will be sorted for small artifacts like beads that may have been missed during excavation. Ahenkro, 1994.
Banda Research Project team members Courtney Amos (left) and Molly Sugrue (right) process artifact bags containing pottery at the Banda Cultural Centre. Ahenkro, July, 2001.
Gathered around a table in the Banda Cultural Centre's exhibit hall during a workshop to gauge student interest in learning from heritage resources, University of Ghana Education PhD student Esther Attiogbe talks with a group of Junior High School girls about how women in the area made pottery from locally available clays. The photos of local pottery-making laid out on the table are ones included in the Banda Through Time repository. On shelves behind them are examples of pottery excavated from archaeological sites around the area. Banda Cultural Centre, Ahenkro, 25 June, 2019.
A group of Junior High School boys gather in front of posters on local archaeology in the courtyard of the Banda Cultural Centre as part of a week-long workshop exploring the potential of heritage resources to enrich school learning. Samuel Acquah of the Ghana National Museum's Education Division leads the boys in a conversation what archaeology reveals about local life during the 13th through 15th centuries. Banda Cultural Centre, Ahenkro, 26 June, 2019.
Gathered around a table in the Banda Cultural Centre's exhibit hall during a workshop to gauge interest in using local heritage resources to support classroom learning, several Banda area Junior High School teachers look at images included in the Banda Through Time digital repository. On shelves behind them are examples of pottery excavated from archaeological sites around the area. Banda Cultural Centre, Ahenkro, 26 June, 2019.
