Enoch Mensah climbs down the steep slope below the Banda rockshelter, headed southward. He moves towards what elders described as the water source used by people who took refuge in the cave when Asante attacked Banda. Oral histories describe hardships in getting food and water while people hid in the cave. This attack may relate to Asantehene Osei Kwadwo's campaign against Banda during the dry season of 1773-74 when many Banda people were taken captive and sold by Asante to the Dutch at Elmina Castle. Banda hills, 30 July, 1994.
Interior of the Banda rockshelter (sdekpͻͻ in Nafaanra). Its floor is covered with large boulders which sheared from the shelter's roof over time. Enoch Mensah and Doris Millah sit in the foreground. Banda oral histories refer to this as the cave in which people hid during Asante's attacks on Banda in the 1700s. These stories may relate to Asantehene Osei Kwadwo's campaign against Banda during the dry season of 1773-74. After this, in February 1774, Dutch officials at Elmina Castle reported purchasing captives from Asante's war against "Benda." Banda hills, 30 July, 1994.
The cliff face of the of the Banda rockshelter (upper right) gives way to a rocky slope below which is partially covered in low-growing grass. View to the north. Banda hills, 30 July, 1994.
Interior of the Banda rockshelter (sdekpͻͻ in Nafaanra). Its floor is covered with large boulders which sheared from the shelter's roof over time. Banda oral histories refer to this as the cave in which people hid during Asante's attacks on Banda in the 1700s. These stories may relate to Asantehene Osei Kwadwo's campaign against Banda during the dry season of 1773-74. After this, in February 1774, Dutch officials at Elmina Castle reported purchasing captives from Asante's war against "Benda." Banda hills, 30 July, 1994.
The steep rocky slope below the Banda rockshelter is covered in short grass. The dense cover of trees at the base of the mountain is visible below. Banda hills, 30 July, 1994.
A view across a compound courtyard toward the courtyard of a neighboring house. Several hearths have clay pots resting on their hearth stones (gbunu in Nafaanra). Two wooden mortars are nearby. The house in the distance is made of sun-dried blocks, with one side of the house roofed with metal and the other side thatch. The ground is clear of plants and clean swept. Adadiem, 1994.
A woman stacks clay grinding bowls on top of wood in preparation for a bonfire firing. The bowls are placed to ensure even exposure to the heat of the bonfire. She will place additional fuel on top of the bowls before lighting the fire. Adadiem, 1994.
A man transports a clay pot, carefully strapped to the back of his bicycle and cushioned beneath by coiled grass leaves. He is returning from one of the potting villages where hs has purchased the clay jar from a potter. More often, pottery was taken to markets by headloading, sometimes sold by potters, but also by women who traded in clay pots. Banda area, 1994.
Though potters work individually when they make clay pots, they help each other when they fire their pots. In the foreground are the ashes left by earlier fires, and in the background women tend to ongoing bonfires. Stacks of firewood are visible in the background. Adadiem, 1994.
