Sociopolitical Transformations and the Atlantic Trade in the Shama Hinterland

Abstract

Supomu Island and Wawase are two abandoned settlements in the Shama hinterland that have been the focus of small-scale archaeological investigations between 2016 and 2018. The archaeological data are summarized below, and their implications for long-term social and political developments are examined in light of the transformative phases of the Atlantic trade (c. 1400–1960s). Changes in artifact assemblages and classes and settlements organization and patterns were stimulated by the vicissitudes of the Atlantic trade beginning in the 15^th century. The foundation of these transformative processes was laid during the 1^st millennium BCE, as indicated by two radiocarbon dates from Wawase. Supomu was founded in the 17^th century in response to the emerging Atlantic trade. This island community would, in the centuries, commandeer the sociopolitical developments in the Shama hinterland during the Atlantic slave trade until it was abandoned at the end of the 19^th century. This paper outlines the sociopolitical dynamics of Supomu from its foundation and demise at the end of the 19^th century.