Asantemanso

Asantemanso

Shown within Ghana
Alternative name	Asante Manso
Location	Amansie South District, Ashanti Region, Ghana
Region	Akan forest zone
Coordinates	6°17′24″N1°39′00″W / 6.290°N 1.650°W / 6.290; -1.650
Type	Urban settlement
Part of	Amansie area
History
Builder	Early Akan peoples
Material	Earth, clay, iron
Founded	9th century
Periods	Early Akan period
Cultures	Akan
Events	Gradual abandonment and migration toward Kumasi and Bekwai
Site notes
Excavation dates	1980s–1990s
Archaeologists	Brian C. Vivian, Peter Shinnie, Ama Shinnie
Condition	Ruins and mounds
Ownership	Government of Ghana
Management	Ghana Museums and Monuments Board
Public access	Limited
Considered one of the five original towns of the Akan people; long occupied site showing early iron-working, pottery traditions, and ritual terracotta remains.

Asantemanso is a historic settlement and sacred forest in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is traditionally regarded as the place of origin for the Aduana and other Akan groups. Archaeological excavations have shown that the site was inhabited from at least the 9th century CE, making it one of the earliest known settlements in the central Ghanaian forest zone. ^[1]

History

Historical background

Further information: Asante people and Asante Empire

The Asante state emerged in the late 17th century under the leadership of Osei Tutu and the priest Okomfo Anokye. From its foundation around 1700, the Asante kingdom developed a sophisticated political system and engaged in trade and diplomatic contact with European powers on the coast of modern Ghana. ^[2] The first recorded European reference to Asantemanso came in 1832 from the Dutch envoy Simons, followed by a more detailed account by the British missionary T. B. Freeman in 1841. ^[3]

Oral traditions

Local traditions describe Asantemanso as the place where members of the Aduana clan, accompanied by a leopard, frog, and dog, emerged from the ground on a Monday night (Nkyidwo). They built the first settlement at nearby Essumeja, and the animals symbolically provided essential resources such as fire, water, and food. ^[4] Some versions place the origins further south in Adansi, with Asantemanso as the location where the Asante coalesced into a distinct political group. ^[5]

Cultural significance

The site remains a major ritual centre, containing the "sacred forest" where the origin hole is located. Seven pots in the grove represent the seven abusua (clans) of the Akan. Regular ceremonies involve libation and prayers, and certain chiefs, including the Asantehene and Kokofuhene, are required to cover their eyes when passing by. ^[6]

Archaeology

Discoveries

Archaeological work began in 1986 as part of the Asante Archaeological Project. Excavations identified a settlement area of approximately 1,300 square metres, with evidence of continuous occupation from at least the 9th–10th centuries CE until the present day. ^[7] Pottery finds show two main phases: an earlier "earthworks" tradition with elaborate impressed decoration, and a later "Akan ware" style similar to modern ceramics. ^[8] Radiocarbon dates suggest a peak in occupation between 1200 and 1700 CE, followed by a decline. The settlement's size and material culture indicate an agricultural economy, although specific crops remain uncertain. ^[9]

Comparative sites

Nearby sites excavated for comparison include:

Anyinam, the birthplace of Osei Tutu, which showed European imports such as ceramics, glass bottles, and kaolin tobacco pipes from the early 18th century onwards. ^[10]

Esiease, linked to Osei Tutu’s grandfather, with occupation dating from the 16th to 19th centuries. ^[11]

Adansemanso, a former capital of Adanse, with evidence of iron smelting and domestic architecture, occupied as early as the 9th century, peaking in the 13th to 15th centuries, largely abandoned before the end of the 16th century. ^[12]

References

1. Shinnie 2005, pp. 28–30.
2. Wilks 2005, pp. 22–24.
3. Shinnie 2005, p. 31.
4. Konadu & Campbell 2016, pp. 42–43.
5. Wilks 2005, pp. 25–26.
6. Konadu & Campbell 2016, p. 45.
7. Shinnie 2005, pp. 34–35.
8. Shinnie 2005, pp. 36–37.
9. Shinnie 2005, p. 38.
10. Shinnie 2005, pp. 39–40.
11. Shinnie 2005, p. 41.
12. Vivian 1996, pp. 37–38.

Source

• Konadu, Kwasi; Campbell, Clifford C. (2016). The Ghana Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Duke University Press. ISBN   9780822359845 . Retrieved 14 August 2025.

• Shinnie, Peter (2005). "Early Asante and European Contacts" . Journal des Africanistes. 75 (2): 25–42. doi:10.4000/africanistes.113.

• Wilks, Ivor (2005). "The Forest and the Twis" . Journal des africanistes. 75 (1): 19–75. doi:10.4000/africanistes.188 . Retrieved 14 August 2025.

• Vivian, Brian C. (December 1996). "Recent Excavations of Adansemanso" (PDF). Nyame Akuma (46): 37–39. Retrieved 14 August 2025.