Built Environment and Architecture Abstracts

Farrar, Vincent Kenneth. (1988). Traditional Akan architecture and building construction: A technological and  
           historical study. (Doctoral dissertation, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY)

Abstract: The indigenous architecture and building construction of the Akan peoples of southern Ghana is firmly rooted in a local building tradition some 3,500 to 4,000 years old. This ancient tradition included two separate building technologies: Coursed clay, sometimes called pise or rammed earth; and wood and clay, sometimes called frame and plaster. Architectural forms were based on rectangular and square structures, and possibly, circular forms, although the evidence for the latter is not conclusive. Both building technologies continue to be practiced in rural areas today, and traditional Akan architecture is based on rectangular and square forms, also inherited from this early period. Much of the record of the growth of this tradition has yet to be uncovered, but the evidence we have suggests an essentially local evolution leading to the impressive architecture of the early 19th century Asante, known to us through written description and illustration, and the less well known but also sophisticated architecture and building construction of the old Bono states of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Prior to the 19th century, Akan architecture and building construction absorbed minor elements from alien sources, such as larger windows and solid doors, which were integrated into the native building tradition.

Gabrilopoulos, Nick. (1995). Ethnoarchaeology of the Tallensi compound (Upper East Region,
Ghana). (Master’s thesis, University of Calgary, Canada).

Abstract: Archaeologists frequently excavate houses, but the underlying dynamics of house form and domestic organization are little understood in traditional societies. To address this, ethnoarchaeological fieldwork was conducted among the Tallensi of the Upper East Region of Ghana, focusing on compounds and their spatial organization. The goal is to identify factors pertaining to the built environment, be they physical, social or ideological. Interviews ascertained Tallensi conceptions of the built environment, and direct observations of compound design, social structure, variability and the use of space were made. Comparative observations of compounds of neighboring ethnic groups served to identify features unique to the Tallensi. A model of occupant vigilance and surveillance is proposed to account for Tallensi compound form and layout. This and other identified processes governing the spatial logic of compound design and use will inform archaeologists on the interpretation of similarly constituted settlements.