The project Eotilé Islands
Surveys carried out in the National Park of the Eotilé Islands, belonging historically to the Assinie region, aim to establish in Ivory Coast a new research component of the international and multidisciplinary program “Human population and palaeoenvironment in Africa”. It will be coordinated by the University of Geneva (UniGE) and the University Félix Houphouët Boigny of Abidjan (UFHB). Research will focus on something very new in the history of African archaeology : study the evolution of an African capital before, during and after contact with the first Europeans. The impact on the environment as well as the socio-economic development in the Gulf of Guinea will also be investigated.
This new component of the program will give the opportunity to develop a field archaeology school to accommodate students in African archaeology of the whole sub-region, who currently don’t have much opportunities to practice and learn how to carry archaeological excavations.