The AAP’s current project is situated in the twin towns of Amedeka-Akuse, a multi-ethnic community of Ewe and Dangme-speaking people approximately 55 miles northeast of the Atlantic coast and Ghana’s capital, Accra. Amedeka-Akuse lies along the Volta River, a trade route linking hinterland agricultural economies to the European slave-trading forts and castles on the Atlantic Coast. This National Geographic Society-funded project employs ethnoarchaeological data and community-based practices to document the variations in the indigenous practices of tastes in West Africa and how these practices have shaped socioeconomic relationships and commodity production across the Atlantic world and Asia in the last 300 years. Over the span of this project, Dr. Kuma will collaborate with co-PI, Professor Kodzo Gavua, local stakeholders and partners, student researchers, and community members of Amedeka-Akuse to envision this project in five phases of 1) community engagement and participation, 2) Local employment and training in Archaeological field methods and community conservation, 3) archaeological survey and excavation, 4) Material & specialty analyses, 5) website development and K-12 curriculum development
