Кинтампо: ранняя западноафриканская культура неолита.

Early West African complex

The Kintampo complex, also known as the Kintampo culture, Kintampo Neolithic, and Kintampo Tradition, was established by Saharan agropastoralists, who may have been Niger Congo or Nilo Saharan speakers and were distinct from the earlier residing Punpun foragers, The Kintampo complex was a part of a transitory period in the prehistory of West Africa, from pastoralism to sedentism in West Africa, specifically in the Bono East region of Ghana,

Numerous types of tools have been excavated at Kintampo, including polished axes crafted from calc chlorite schist, many types and sizes of grinding stones, small, quartz microlith projectile points of various shapes and styles, and stone celts. A few harpoons have been found, but these are rare. The knapping technique they used is well understood by lithics experts. The stone core was placed on a hard level surface such as a large rock, log, or trunk, then struck from above, forcing flakes to separate from the material from underneath. This use of a makeshift anvil is typical of bipolar percussion. There is some confusion about the purpose of a number of small stone and ceramic objects that are cigar shaped and rasp like. They are thought to be tools for creating pottery, of which bowls and jars seem to be the most common. The jars ranged from 12–44 cm in diameter. The bowls were slightly smaller on average, ranging from 10–30 cm. Many times these pots were decorated with a comb like or rake pattern. These were likely used not only for the storage of food and water, but also for boiling and crafting sauces. Stone arm bands that would have been worn as decoration have been found at several Kintampo sites. At the sites of Boyase hill and Ntersero, clay figurines of animals like dogs, lizards and cows were found, though it is not well understood what their meaning might be. This is all very important to those who study the humanities, as the emergence of art and the depiction of life through art is of great interest to both art historians and archaeologists alike. Another important staple to the people who settled at Kintampo was the oil palm. The oil palm was used at Kintampo starting at least 4000 years ago. A very useful plant in many ways, it serves as a source of drink, food, and construction material. It was allowed to flourish in the region due to its preference for a constant warm climate and high rainfall. As a food, the oil can be extracted from the mesocarp which covers the plant, and the kernel which is also edible by itself. It is an excellent source of vitamin A, which would have helped to support a growing population. It is speculated that ceramic techniques were improved so that the nut of the oil palm could be further cooked. The cowpea, incense tree, hackberry, yams, and sorghum, are also known to have been grown. Grasses were most likely not harvested as often, as the climate makes it difficult for grasses to grow. Kintampo people also kept livestock; goats, sheep, and cattle remains have been found. Other wild animals such as monitor lizards, snails, guineafowl, vervet monkey, baboon, turtles and tortoises royal and duiker antelopes, giant pouched and cane rats were hunted as game.

Archaeologists have identified studied at least three dozen sites relating to the Kintampo complex in three different types of environments within and near Ghana.

The rockshelters of Kintampo appear to be abandoned by the second century BCE, and then in the early first millennium CE, iron metallurgy became the dominant technology of the region. The area was the home to the Bono people, who founded the Bono State in the 11th century. It was a large kingdom that used firearms traded to them by Europeans to effectively conquer neighboring territories. The Bono enslaved their enemies and prisoners of war from the north and to the Coast, and made a profit by selling them in the transatlantic slave trade. Merchants from Western Sudan who were mainly into gold trading also contributed to the growth of the Bono State.