Identifying The Gambia’s Atlantic past.

The Gambia River basin was among the first regions of West Africa incorporated into the Atlantic world beginning in the mid-15th century. The early arrival of Portuguese explorers in the mid-15th century was soon followed by Dutch, Courlanders, English, and French merchants. By the close of the 16th century the British had asserted their control of the river trade from a Western vantage point, and a number of Luso-African communities were in place serving as commercial intermediaries. Initiated in 2004, a survey of The Gambia’s Atlantic trade sites was initiated by the author. Since then, over a dozen former settlements tied to British, French, Luso-African, and local communities have been identified, though only a small portion have undergone intensive archaeological investigation. This paper provides an overview of these sites, the current state of archaeological preservation and maintenance of these resources, and the potential for future research along the river.