# Adansemanso > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Adansemanso > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Adansemanso.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansemanso > Source revision: 1356582403 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Ancient settlement in the Ashanti Region, Ghana}} {{Short description|Archaeological and historical city in Ghana (9th–16th century)}} {{Infobox historic site | name = Adansemanso | native_name = | alternate_name = Adanse Manso | image = | alt = | caption = | map_type = Ghana | map_alt = | location = [Adansi South District](/source/Adansi_South_District), [Ashanti Region](/source/Ashanti_Region), Ghana | region = Akan forest zone | coordinates = {{coord|6.091| -1.401|display=inline}} | type = Urban settlement | part_of = [Adansi](/source/Adansi) state | length = | width = | area = | height = | builder = Early Akan peoples | material = Earth, clay, iron | built = 9th century | abandoned = late 16th century | epochs = Early Akan period | cultures = Akan | dependency_of = | occupants = | event = Abandonment and migration to Ahinsan and Dompoase | excavations = 1991–1995 | archaeologists = Brian C. Vivian, Peter Shinnie, Ama Shinnie | condition = Ruins and mounds | ownership = Government of Ghana | management = [Ghana Museums and Monuments Board](/source/Ghana_Museums_and_Monuments_Board) | public_access = | website = | notes = Considered one of the five original towns of the Akan people; site of early iron smelting and urban development in forest Ghana. }} '''Adansemanso''' or '''Adansimanso''' was a historic [Akan](/source/Akan_people) settlement located in the Adanse area of present-day [Ashanti Region](/source/Ashanti_Region), Ghana. It is frequently cited in Akan oral traditions and historical records as one of the early urban centres of the Akan world, alongside towns such as [Bono Manso](/source/Bono_Manso) and [Begho](/source/Begho).{{sfn|Wilks|2005|pp=28–29}} The site served as the first political and ritual capital of the [Adanse state](/source/Adanse) in the Adanse–Amansie region and is associated with the formation of early Akan states.{{sfn|Wilks|2005|p=29}} Archaeological investigations in the 1990s confirmed it was a large, complex town, first occupied as early as the 9th to 10th century [CE](/source/Common_Era) and reaching its peak in size, architectural development, and complexity between the 13th and 15th centuries [CE](/source/Common_Era).{{sfn|Shinnie|2005|pp=34–36}}{{sfn|Vivian|1996|pp=38–39}} ==History== === Oral traditions and origins=== Oral traditions recorded in the [Adanse](/source/Adanse) area describe Adansemanso as the first settlement "made" by [Odumankoma](/source/Akan_religion) after his departure from [Akrokerri](/source/Akrokerri), and the foremost among the Akanman piesie nnum ("five elder children of Akanman").{{sfn|Wilks|2005|p=28}} The site lies approximately 1 kilometre west of Old Edubiase and about 8 kilometres east of Akrokerri.{{sfn|Wilks|2005|p=28}} Tradition holds that Ewuarde Basa, the town's founder, emerged from a hole in the ground accompanied by his spokesperson, Ōkyɛame Ōkwame Nfrafo, and bore the sacred sword known as [Afena Kwa](/source/Akrafena).{{sfn|Wilks|2005|p=28}} From Adansemanso, Basa ruled over Adanse until his unpopular rule, marked by tyranny and heavy-handedness, led subjects to criticize him indirectly.{{sfn|Wilks|2005|pp=28–29}} The saying "Yekasa Nfrafo, nso yene Awirade" ("we reproach Nfrafo, but we mean Awirade") refers to this period.{{sfn|Wilks|2005|p=29}} One version of the oral tradition places the centralization in the 16th century, when Awurade Basa sought to unite the [Adanse](/source/Adanse) clans through the creation of the Afenakwa, a mystical sword conferring wartime leadership but no peacetime privileges.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|pp=52–53}} Another account, drawn from the same broader tradition but differing in date, situates the process in the first half of the 17th century, portraying [Adanse](/source/Adanse) as the most important state within a loose Akan confederation led by the [Asenee](/source/Abusua) clan, whose authority was reinforced by the shared worship of the deity Bona.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|p=55}} A further version emphasizes that after Awurade Basa's death, Adansemanso's authority fragmented into smaller autonomous states, including [Ayaase](/source/Ayaase), [Dompoase](/source/Dompoase), [Edubiase](/source/Edubiase), and [Fomena](/source/Fomena).{{sfn|Wilks|2005|p=29}} === Decline and conquest === During the seventeenth century, the expanding [Denkyira state](/source/Denkyira) exerted growing pressure on [Adanse](/source/Adanse), eventually defeating it in the latter part of the century.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|p=55}} In the aftermath, political cohesion collapsed and the former [Adanse](/source/Adanse) territories were incorporated into the [Denkyira](/source/Kingdom_of_Denkyira) realm. Segments of [Adanse](/source/Adanse) clans migrated to establish or strengthen other Akan polities, taking with them elements of Adansemanso's political structures and religious practices.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|pp=55–56}} == Society == {{Further | Adanse}} Adansemanso was the political and ritual centre of the Adanse state during periods of centralization.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|pp=52–55}} Governance was [clan-based](/source/Abusua). The [afenakwa](/source/Akrafena) and the worship of the deity Bona at Patakoro was the main unifying institution.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|p=55}} The Bona priesthood oversaw annual festivals, including a yam festival in August or September and a year-end dance, during which sacred water (''Bonasuo'') from the Bona cave was distributed for purification.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|pp=53–54}} == Archaeology == === Discoveries === Adansemanso was investigated in the early 1990s as part of the Asante Archaeological Research Project.{{sfn|Vivian|1996|pp=37–38}} Located about 30 kilometres south of [Kumasi](/source/Kumasi) in the Adanse–Amansie area, the site is identified in oral tradition as one of the Akanman piesie nnum ("five elder children" of Akanman).{{sfn|Vivian|1996|p=37}} Test excavations in 1991 revealed red-burnished [ceramic](/source/ceramic)s, [iron-working](/source/Iron_metallurgy_in_Africa) debris, and other evidence of a large settlement. Radiocarbon analysis of multiple samples placed the main occupation between the 13th and 15th centuries [CE](/source/Common_Era).{{sfn|Vivian|1996|p=39}} The finds confirm long-term occupation predating the 16th century, with no clear evidence of substantial later occupation.{{sfn|Vivian|1996|pp=38–39}}The lack of imported material, only three local pipes, one imported kaolin pipe, and two small imported sherds, supports this dating and matches with nearby 18th and 19th century sites where the artefacts are common.{{sfn|Vivian|1996|pp=38–39}} Excavations also identified asensie sites, ceremonial areas linked to the commemoration of the dead, which contained pottery vessels, unidentified objects, and terracotta heads similar to those found at [Ahinsan](/source/Ahensan) and [Twifo Heman](/source/Twifo).{{sfn|Shinnie|2005|pp=41–42}} Once sacred, many of these sites have lost their ritual significance, with some built over by modern structures.{{sfn|Shinnie|2005|p=42}} === Conclusion === Excavations at Adansemanso uncovered a large, well-organised settlement, with its central area covering more than 11 hectares and marked by distinctive long earthen mounds identified as substantial architectural remains.{{sfn|Vivian|1996|pp=37–38}} Finds included iron slag, gold weights, crucibles, and a possible fragment of molten glass, pointing to a community engaged in both metallurgical production and trade.{{sfn|Vivian|1996|pp=38–39}}Radiocarbon dates show that complex political and economic systems in the central forest region emerged several centuries earlier than historians suggested with developing at the same time as northern forest fringe centres such as [Begho](/source/Begho) and [Bono Manso](/source/Bono_Manso). These findings challenged older models of Akan state formation and emphasize the central forest's importance. {{sfn|Vivian|1996|pp=38–39}} == See also == * [Adanse](/source/Adanse) * [Asante Empire](/source/Asante_Empire) * [Asante People](/source/Asante_people) * [Ashanti Region](/source/Ashanti_Region) == References== {{reflist}} ==Source== * {{cite book |last1=Konadu |first1=Kwasi |last2=Campbell |first2=Clifford C. |title=The Ghana Reader: History, Culture, Politics |publisher=Duke University Press |year=2016 |isbn=9780822359845 |url=https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-ghana-reader |access-date=14 August 2025}} * {{cite journal |last=Shinnie |first=Peter |title=Early Asante and European Contacts |journal=Journal des Africanistes |volume=75 |issue=2 |year=2005 |pages=25–42 |url=https://journals.openedition.org/africanistes/113?lang=en |doi=10.4000/africanistes.113|url-access=subscription }} * {{cite journal |last=Wilks |first=Ivor |year=2005 |title=The Forest and the Twis |journal=Journal des africanistes |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=19–75 |doi=10.4000/africanistes.188 |url=https://journals.openedition.org/africanistes/188?lang=en |access-date=14 August 2025|url-access=subscription }} * {{cite journal |last=Vivian |first=Brian C. |date=December 1996 |title=Recent Excavations of Adansemanso |journal=Nyame Akuma |issue=46 |pages=37–39 |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bd0e66f8d97400eb0099556/t/5bdaf47d03ce64828d6f62d4/1541076093661/Nyame+Akuma+Issue+046-Article+09.pdf |access-date=14 August 2025}} Category:Populated places in the Ashanti Region Category:Villages in Ghana Category:History of Ghana Category:Ashanti people Category:Akan Category:Archaeology of West Africa Category:Archaeological sites in Ghana Category:Former populated places in Ghana --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Adansemanso](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansemanso) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansemanso?action=history)). 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