Members of the archaeological excavation team during the last days of the 1995 season at Kuulo Kataa. Team members included Banda men from Ahenkro and Dompofie along with visiting American graduate students and Ann Stahl. Back row (L-R): __, Kwame Bio, __, __, __, __, Amos Bediako, Obour Bartholomew, __, Alex Ababio, Daniel, __, Kwasi Peter. Middle row (L-R): Yaw Francis, Kwasi Ali, Anane, __, Kofi "Photo" Manu, Donkor Johnson, Yaw Frimpong, Osei Kofi, Obimpeh Blorpor, Enoch Mensah, Kwame Anane, __, __. Front row (L-R): Ann Stahl, Andrew Black. Also included in the photo are Alex Donkor, Alfred Nkrumah, Anane Peter, Asamoa Martin, John Preprah, Kwadwo Masoate, Kwadwo Nkrumah, Moses Nsiah, Peter Bile, and Stephen Okrah. Kuulo Kataa, July, 1995.
Members of the archaeological excavation team joined by the Dompofie chief and teachers during the last days of the 1995 season at Kuulo Kataa. Team members included Banda men from Ahenkro and Dompofie along with visiting American graduate students and Ann Stahl. Back row (L-R): __, __, __, __, __, __, Amos Bediako, __, Alex Ababio, Daniel, __, Kwasi Peter, __. Middle row (L-R): Nana Emmanuel Dwiru, Yaw Francis, Kwasi Ali, Anane, __, Kofi "Photo" Manu, Donkor Johnson, Yaw Frimpong, Osei Kofi, Obimpeh Blorpor, Enoch Mensah, Kwame Anane, __, __. Front row (L-R): Kwame Bio, Alex Caton, Leith Smith, Ann Stahl, Obour Bartholomew. Also included in the photo are Alex Donkor, Alfred Nkrumah, Anane Peter, Asamoa Martin, John Preprah, Kwadwo Masoate, Kwadwo Nkrumah, Moses Nsiah, Peter Bile, and Stephen Okrah. Kuulo Kataa, July, 1995
Banda Research Project excavation team members at work on Mound 118 at Kuulo Kataa. Wooden stakes mark the corners of 2x2 meter excavation units, several of which are in progress. North American students Leith Smith (white hat and shirt) and Alex Caton (far right) are pictured along with men from Dompofie and Ahenkro. View looking northward. Kuulo Kataa, 1995.
A man in Dompofie makes a basketry tray (gbrewa in Nafaanra). He uses a (metal?) tube as a frame. First the warp slats are placed at intervals on the frame. Then the weft slats are interwoven with the weft, starting from the center and working outward to the edges. Trays like this could be used in crop processing or for temporarily storing foodstuffs. A finished, well-worn basketry tray is visible, upper left, leaning against a pole. Dompofie, 1995.
Banda Research Project team member Enoch Mensah stands at the base of a deep excavation unit (2W 2S) in Mound 101 at Kuulo Kataa. The 2 x 2 meter excavation unit at surface was narrowed to a 1 x 2 area in lower levels of the unit. He lifts up the ladder used to access the base of the unit. The stratified layers of the deep midden mound are visible in the unit's side walls. Kuulo Kataa, 1995.
Banda Research Project team members wrap up work for the day on Mound 118 at Kuulo Kataa. Mound 118 is a low ovoid-shaped mound covering roughly 300 m2 and rising about one meter above the surrounding ground surface. The units under excavation here revealed architectural features and primary (in situ) household remains. Several 2 x 2 meter units have been opened. Wooden pegs mark grid points at the corners of units. Kuulo Kataa, 1995.
Photo of a reconstructed carinate globular pottery jar, with profile depicted (left). The jar was found in an upright position beneath a lens of hardened clay, its rim at 211 cm below datum and its base at 224 cm bd. The jar's mouth is small. Below its lip is a ridge marked with vertical impressions. The surface above the carinated shoulder is decorated with alternating horizontal lines of dentate (comb) impression and grooving. Below the carination, the base and lower portions of the jar are decorated with a carved roulette impression. The interior surface of the jar is heavily eroded, perhaps an indication that the jar was used to store a fermented liquid like millet or sorghum beer. An INAA sample (NA "KK 95-61") from this jar was assigned to the "K1" group of ceramic fabrics. The jar was therefore likely made east of the Banda hills. A jar of similar form, decoration, and interior wear (KK 95-693) was found one meter away and at a slightly lower level in the east profile wall of the excavation unit. Rim diameter: 8 cm. Photo scale in cm. Kuulo Kataa. 13 June, 1995.
Photo of a patially reconstructed carinate globular pottery jar, with profile depicted (left). The jar was partially exposed, sitting upright in the east profile wall of the unit. The jar broke insitu and half of the vessel was removed and reconstructed. The jar has a narrow mouth. Alternating horizontal bands of shallow grooving and dentate (comb) impression decorate the area below the lip. A horizontal grooved line and a line of dentate (comb) impression applied above the carinated shoulder meet at small circular punctate impressions. The base and lower portions of the jar are decorated with a carved roulette impression. The interior surface of the jar is heavily eroded, perhaps an indication that the jar was used to store a fermented liquid like millet or sorghum beer. A jar of similar form, decoration and interior wear was found one meter away and at a slightly higher level in the same unit (KK 95-350). Rim diameter: 10 cm. 50% of vessel reconstructed. Photo scale in cm. Kuulo Kataa. 10 July, 1995.
Photo (interior) of a reconstructed carinate globular pottery jar, with profile depicted (left). The jar was partially exposed, sitting upright in the east profile wall of the unit. The jar broke insitu and half of the vessel was removed and reconstructed. The jar has a narrow mouth. The interior surface of the jar is heavily eroded, perhaps an indication that the jar was used to store a fermented liquid like millet or sorghum beer. A jar of similar form, decoration and interior wear was found one meter away and at a slightly higher level in the same unit (KK 95-350). Rim diameter: 10 cm. 50% of vessel reconstructed. Photo scale in cm. Kuulo Kataa. 10 July, 1995.
Photo of an inward-curving (recurved) jar rim sherd, with profile depicted (left). A zone of diagonally oriented dentate (comb) impressions is bounded on upper and lower edges by a shallow horizontal groove. A mica paint/slip was applied over top of the dentate impressions. The ceramic fabric was tempered with angular quartz grit. An INAA sample ("KK NA-29") was unassigned to a specific group of ceramic fabrics, lending no insight into where the jar was made. Interior neck diameter: 18 cm. Sherd represents an 12% of the jar's circumference. Scale in cm. Kuulo Kataa. 25 June, 1995.