Kpando, Ghana. Investigating Townscapes and Soundscapes of the German Colonial Period: Building Archaeology, (Oral) Histories and Sound Studies in the Volta Region. Research in 2024

Résumé

The »Volta-German Shared Colonial Heritage Project« focuses on the archaeology and ›shared heritage‹ of German colonialism in the former Togo/Togoland colony. Following up on initial (field) research in 2022 and 2023, the Ghanaian and German project partners successfully ran an extended field season at Kpando in early 2024. Four lines of investigation were developed. The first involved detailed building archaeological studies of the Palace of the Paramount Chief as well as the so-called Sisters Convent in preparation for rehabilitation planning. The second study expanded research into the urban fabric of Kpando. Historic buildings were described and mapped with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the evolution of the town during the German colonial period. Intercultural building practices were of particular interest. A third line of research supplemented the above studies with investigations of historical sources as well as the documentation of local knowledge of the history of Kpando in the form of personal and family histories. As family histories are manifested in the built fabric of the town, this study adds an important local perspective to our investigations of building cultures during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The fourth study initiated systematic research on colonial-period soundscapes in the Volta Region and beyond. Numerous church bells were documented, adding a new facet to the study of the ›shared heritage‹ of German colonialism in Africa.