EXCAVATION AT DAWU by THURSTAN SHAW HB 1961 Ghana, Archaeology

Description: Shaw, Thurstan. 1961. Excavations at Dawu: Report on an Excavation in a Mound at Dawu, Akuapim, Ghana. London: Thomas Nelson & Sons. Charles Thurstan Shaw was a prominent British archaeologist known for his significant contributions to the field of African archaeology. Born on June 27, 1914, in Plymouth, England, Shaw was the first trained specialist to work in British West Africa. He is best known for his excavations at Igbo-Ukwu in Nigeria, where he uncovered sophisticated bronze artifacts dating back to the 9th century. Shaw played a crucial role in establishing academic institutions in Ghana and Nigeria, including the Ghana National Museum and the archaeology department at the University of Ghana. He also founded the West African Archaeological Newsletter and the West African Journal of Archaeology. Shaw was known for his meticulous publication of his excavation reports. This is a full report of his excavation at Dwau in Ghana. Thurstan Shaw's excavation at Dawu, located in Akuapim, Ghana, was a significant archaeological endeavor. The excavation, conducted in the early 1960s, focused on a mound at Dawu and uncovered a wealth of artifacts that provided valuable insights into the region's history and culture. Shaw's detailed report on the excavation was published in 1961 and remains an important resource for understanding the ancient history of the area. [from the book's flap] This book is an important contribution to the archaeology of Ghana and to the unravelling of the history of the country. No-one seriously interested in that history can afford to be without it. It is the detailed report of the scientific excavation of a 24-ft. high midden mound in Akwapim which appears to have been in use for about four hundred years from a date in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. There is important evidence concerning the introduction of smoking into Ghana, and about early trade beads. The report contains what is believed to be the first archaeological proof in West Africa that brass-casting was known and practised to a high level of skill before the advent of Europeans on the coast; in fact there is remarkable evidence of the activities of craftsmen in brass of a very high order. The corpus of carefully classified and illustrated pottery should be invaluable for future archaeologists working in the area. The archaeological evidence has been related to oral traditions concerning the movements of the Guan and Akwamu peoples. The author, M r Thurstan Shaw, pioneered scientific archaeology in Ghana, having begun his researches in 1937. Trained at Cambridge under Professor Grahame Clark and Mr M. C. Burkitt, he was for a number of years Curator of the Achimota College Anthropology Museum, and it was in this capacity that he carried out the excavation described in this book. He has published a number of papers and articles about West African archaeology and has broadcast on the subject. Last year he was invited by the Federal Government of Nigeria to excavate the important site of Igbo, which he did with conspicuous success and made a number of spectacular finds. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Check out my other listings of African, Oceanic, Native American archaeology, art and art history, and other regions of world art and cultures for additional rare finds.

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