These ceremonial headdresses are from the Konkomba people in Ghana, and date from the early 20th century. Cowrie shells, imported from the Indian Ocean, were widely used throughout Africa to demonstrate wealth and status and became a form of currency. Europeans imported vast quantities of cowrie shells to trade for slaves in Africa.
© The British Empire & Commonwealth Museum
Accession reference: The British Empire & Commonwealth Museum, 1995/032/007 and 008
Themes
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Trade and Commerce
Understand how the demand for luxury goods and the Industrial Revolution fuelled the transatlantic slave trade, and how the British…
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Africa before Transatlantic Enslavement
The history of Africa and African people does not begin nor end with transatlantic slavery. Understand what Africa was like and what the continent lost as a result of the trade.
Background Reading
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The Lost Libraries Of Timbuktu
Until recently, many commentators on Africa claimed that African societies had no tradition of writing. With the rediscovery of ancient manuscript collections, some dating back to the 8th century AD, this perception is changing.
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Introduction To Various African Kingdoms