Still digging

After some delay due to a cut cable line off the coast of West Africa, the internet is now working more regularly and I can report on the recent weeks of fieldwork.

We have spent the last two weeks testing archaeological village sites located in the outskirts of Cana, a precolonial town on the Abomey Plateau and the focus of my research since 2000. Most of these sites are small and relatively ephemeral, marked by a few ditches and/or sacred trees. Excavations provided little evidence for European trade goods in the era of the slave trade, confirming some ideas about the extent to which Dahomean kings monopolized access to such goods in the past.

We were also graced with visits by Kenneth Kelly, Chris DeCorse, and Merrick Posnanky over
last few weeks. Merrick has stayed on with us and has been a wealth of knowledge, giving lectures
on African Archaeology and providing guidance in the field.

After testing four sites in the southern region around Cana, we were met with the opportunity to do some salvage archaeology in the palace of a late-19th century king named Glele. The current kin of Cana is in the process of rebuilding a section of the structure and has allowed
us permission to excqate around the impacted area. So far we have found evidence for the 1894
invasion of General Dodds in the way of burned building remains and artifacts.
The local TV crew is even coming out tomorrow to observe the work.

Everyone is healthy and in good spirits. Photos will follow soon.

J. Cameron Monroe
Bohicon, Benin