An elder dances to the rhythms of fɔntɔmfrɔm and atumpan (in Twi) drums at a funeral celebration held the day after an elderly woman died. The funeral is celebrated beneath the shade of the large kapok tree on the south side of Ahenkro at the market site. Two photos. Ahenkro, 15 October, 1982.
Two young boys tend to a pretend tobacco drying barn that they have built on the south side of Ahenkro, near to where tobacco is being processed. A functional drying barn is visible in the background (center) alongside large piles of wood that will be used to fuel it. Two photos. Ahenkro, 1995.
A variety of charitable funding organizations sponsored the drilling of boreholes in villages across the Banda area from the late 1980s. Prior to this, families depended on local streams and rivers for water. Here a woman fills a headpan using a pump on the south side of Ahenkro. The thatched roofs of surrounding compounds are visible in the background. Ahenkro, June-July, 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.
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.
