Christiansborg Archaeological Heritage Project
EXCAVATIONS

In 2014, the Christiansborg Archaeological Heritage Project was given permission to begin archaeological investigations at the site.  To date, we have excavated an extensive pre-colonial settlement.  This includes the foundations of houses and what is tentatively thought to be a kitchen since it contains three stones (for balancing a cooking pot) and charcoal, in keeping with local cooking area design.  We have also retrieved a large collection of local and foreign manufactured objects obtained through the transatlantic trade.  We have identified what are commonly known as “African trade beads” that were produced in other parts of Africa, as well as Europe, including Italy and Holland.  Ceramics include Chinese and European ceramics (Wedgewood and Royal Doulton), alongside local pottery.  An African smoking pipe and numerous Dutch, English, German and Danish clay smoking pipes were recovered from the site.  European glassware ranges from every day usage to refined, luxury ware.  There are a number of other small finds including a slate fragment, typically used for writing, as well as faunal remains, seeds, metals, stone, daub, cowrie and other shells.  With the assistance of local fishermen, we even excavated a canon immersed in sand that had fallen from the castle above down on to the beach below!  Under the castle, we also discovered the entrance to an underground tunnel that led to the nearby Richter House, formerly owned by a successful ‘mulatto’ Danish-Ga trader. The excavated artefact collection will contribute to the plans to develop the castle into a museum.

For almost 10 years, the CAHP has provided employment and training for the excavation team, recruited primarily from the Osu community. The team members may now be justifiably called ‘archaeologists’ in their own right. Many of them are directly descended from relationships between local Ga women and the Danes engaged in the former slave trade. Community members have been further involved in the collection of oral histories, thereby developing a greater awareness and sense of pride in their historical legacies, traditions and culture.

Since 2014 the CAHP’s team  of Ghanaian researchers, including Osu community members, professors and students, has worked together to excavate a substantial area of land inside the Castle grounds. Our objective has been to learn more about the history and legacies of the Castle, particularly the people who lived and worked there, and to share that knowledge more widely.

The CAHP’s Community Education Outreach seeks to complement the excavation work by involving more members of the community in collecting oral histories, and very importantly, providing a Community Centre. The Centre offers a library  with more than 2,000 books, a unique Archaeological Art Club , and a Mural Project. It is situated just outside the Castle walls.