What's Archaeology?
We rely on multiple sources of evidence to study the past in Upper Gambia—together these help us to understand the long-term development of this complex cultural landscape.
History makes use of documents penned by literate Africans and Europeans and oral traditions shared by local elders to provide us with an outline of the regional events and global forces that most strongly impacted people living in this region over the past thousand years or so.
Archaeology uses the study of artifacts, sites, and landscapes to learn how societies change or endure over time, particularly in relation to events and processes described in historical sources. The following sections—Reconnaissance, Mapping, Excavation, Dating, and Artifacts—explain how archaeologists with BRAP employ these methods to interpret the past cultural landscape of Upper Gambia.
Local guide Karinkan Keita and BRAP archaeologist Matt Kroot discuss the history and archaeology of the ruined fort at Yoro Moussou.