About

Professor Benjamin Warinsie Kankpeyeng, An Associate Professor in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies studies at Syracuse University in the United States of America where he obtained an MA and PhD in Anthropology in 1996 and2003, respectively. He also holds a BA (honours) degree in History with Philosophy from the University of Ghana, awarded in 1981. He joined Faculty in the department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies in 2004. Prior to his appointment as Lecturer at the University of Ghana, he worked at the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board from 1983 to the 2004. The long years work at a heritage institution and training in anthropology with specialization in Historical Archaeology inspired his career in academia focusing on both archaeology and heritage studies. His research interests include culture contact studies, archaeology of rituals and religions, landscape archaeology, and public archaeology. His archaeological projects are linked to the sites of Kpaliworgu, Tongo-Tengzug, Komaland, and slavery. For almost a decade, 2004 to 2014 he collaborated with Professor Timothy Insoll and Dr Rachael MacLean on research at sites in northern Ghana, as well as with Dr Natalie Swanepoel of University of South Africa (UNISA). Other international scholars he has co-taught summer programs courses in Ghana with include Professor Emmanuel Akyeampong of Havard University (now at Oxford University), Gregory Breeding of Clemson University, and Gregory Cook of University of Florida (Gainsville). 

Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology   Syracuse University    USA   2003

Master  of Arts in Anthropology             Syracuse University     USA  1996

Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in History with Philosophy  University of Ghana Ghana 1981

Research Interest

My research focuses on aspects of the historical archaeology of Ghana associated with Culture Contact between migrant groups and the indigenous ethnolinguistic groups and how these interactions have shaped the archaeology of other areas of the world. In particular I have been involved in the archaeology of ritual and religion associated with the entangled religions in northern Ghana. The material legacies and intangibles of slavery and European colonialism are some of the concerns I have been researching. Due to my long involvement in museums and heritage management in Ghana prior to my academic career at the University of Ghana public archaeology is a key area of my research interest. My research projects include:

Archaeology of Kpaliworgu, Upper West Region, Ghana.  Since 1997.

Archaeology of Slave Trade Sites in Northern Ghana. Since 1998.

Cultural Landscape of Tongo-Tengzug, Ghana. Since 1998.

Koma Land Archaeological Research Project, Northern Ghana. Since 2006.

Archaeology of the Gambaga-Nakpanduri Escarpment. Since 2013.

Archaeology of Boabeng-Fiema, near Nkoranza, Brong Ahafo Region, Since 2013.

Courses:

Professor Benjamin Kankpeyeng have been teaching course related to Museums and Heritage Management, Curatorship, Collections Management, Public Policy and Archaeology, Archaeology of Ghana, Archaeology of Sub-Saharan Africa, Historical Archaeology, Theories of Culture, Archaeological Theory, Issues in Heritage Studies, and Archaeological and Ethnographic Research Methods and Techniques.

Publications

Kuto, Elikpim and Kankpeyeng, Benjamin W.  2022. A Preliminary Investigation of Granaries at Kpatritinga-Bofiat, North East Region of Ghana. Nyame Akuma 98: 38-42.

Musa, Fatima and Kankpeyeng, Benjamin W. 2021. A Preliminary Investigation of Jilik-Kambago Rock Shelter, North East Region, gahan. Nyame Akuma 96: 26-30.

Arthur, P. K., Amarh, V., Blessie, E. J. S., Kankpeyeng, B. W., Nkumbaan, S. N., and Tiburu, E. K. 2020. In vitro antibacterial activities of selected TB drugs in the presence of clay minerals against multi drug resistant strain of mycobacterium smegmatis. Cogent Engineering 7 (1): 1747853.

Tiburu, E. K., Kankpeyeng, B. W., Nkumbaan, Samuel N., Salifu, Ali A., and Zhuang, Jianqin (2017). Novel Nanocrystal Clay Materials with Potential Bone Cells Growth Enhancement or Inhibition Characteristics In Vitro. Journal of Biomimetics, Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering 30: 45-60.

Robinson, Heather A., Insoll, Timothy., Kankpeyeng, Benjamin W., Brown, Keri A., Brown, Terence A. (2017). Ancient DNA analysis of pre-colonial terracotta items from Northern Ghana supports ritual complexity in a past community. Journal of Archaeological Science 79:10-18.

Insoll, Timothy, Kankpeyeng, Benjamin. And Fraser, Sharon. (2016). Internal Meanings: Computed Tomography Scanning of Koma Figurines from Ghana. African Arts 49: 24-32.

Anquandah, J., Kankpeyeng, B. and Apoh. W. (eds.).  2014. “Current Perspectives in the Archaeology of Ghana”. University of Ghana Readers’, Social Science Series, Vol. 6. Accra: Sub- Saharan Publishers.

Insoll, Timothy and Kankpeyeng, B. W. 2014. Reconstructing the Archaeology of Movement in Northern Ghana. Insights into Past Ritual and Performance? In, Ogundiran and Saunders (eds.), Materialities, Meanings and Modernities ofRituals in Black Atlantic, pp. 28 – 46. Bloomington: Indiana University Press

Kankpeyeng, B., Eyifa, G. A. M., Insoll ,T., and MacLean, R. 2013. Heritage Management in Tengzug. Conceptions and Challenges. In, Insoll, T., MacLean, R., and Kankpeyeng, B. W. (eds.), Temporalising Anthropology. Archaeology in the Talensi Tong Hills, Northern Ghana, Journal of African Archaeology Monograph Series, Volume 10, pp. 209 – 216. Frankfurt: Africa Magna Verlag.

Kankpeyeng, B., Swanepoel, N., Insoll, T., Nkumbaan, S., Amartey, S., Saako, M. (2013). Insights into Past Ritual Practice at Yikpabongo, Northern Region, Ghana. African Archaeological Review 30: 475-499. 

Insoll, T., Kankpeyeng, B., Nkumbaan, S. and Saako, M. 2013. Fragmentary Ancestors. Figurines from Koma Land. Manchester: Manchester Museum

Insoll, T., Kankpeyeng, B and Nkumbaan, N., 2012. Fragmentary Ancestors? Representing Bodies and Persons in a Koma Mound. In, Rountree, K. E., Morris, C., and Peatfield, A. (eds.), The Archaeology of Spiritualites, One World Archaeology Series, pp. 25-45.. New York: Springer.

Kankpeyeng, Benjamin., Nkumbaan, Samuel. And Insoll, Timothy., (2011). Indigenous Cosmology, Art Forms and Past Medicinal Practices: Towards an Interpretation of Ancient Koma Land Sites in Northern Ghana. Anthropology and Medicine 18 (2):205-216.

Kankpeyeng, Benjamin W, Insoll, Timothy and MacLean Rachel (2010). Identities and Archaeological Heritage Preservation at the Crossroads: Understanding the Challenges of Economic Development at Tengzug, Upper East Region, Ghana. Ghana Social Science Journal 8: 90-105.

Kankpeyeng, Benjamin W. (2009). The Slave Trade in Northern Ghana: Landmarks, Legacies and Connections. Slavery and Abolition 30 (2), pp. 209-221.

Kankpeyeng, Benjamin W, Insoll, Timothy and MacLean Rachel, (2009). The Tension between Communities, Development and Archaeological Heritage Preservation. The Case Study of Tengzug Cultural Landscape, Ghana. Heritage Management 2 (2): 177-197.

Insoll, T., Kankpeyeng, B. and MacLean, R. 2009. The Archaeology of Shrines among the Tallensi of Northern Ghana: Materiality and Interpretive Relevance. In Dawson, Allan Charles (ed.), Shrines in Africa:History, Politics and Society, pp. 41-70. University of Calgary Press, Calgary. 

Kankpeyeng, Benjamin W. and Nkumbaan, Samuel, 2009. Ancient Shrines? New Insights on the Koma Mounds, Northern Ghana. In, S. Magnavita, L. Koté, P. Breunig, and O. A. Idé (eds.),Crossroads/Carrefour Sahel Cultural and Technological Developments in First Millennium BC/AD West Africa, Journal of African Archaeology Monograph Series Volume 2, pp. 193-202. Africa Magna Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Frankfurt.

Kankpeyeng, Benjamin W. and Nkumbaan, Samuel, 2008. Rethinking the Stone Circles  of Komaland. A Preliminary Report on the 2007/2008 Fieldwork at Yikpabongo, Northern Region, Ghana. In, Timothy Insoll, (ed.), Current Archaeological Research in Ghana, Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology, BAR International Series 1847, pp 95- 102. Archaeopress, Oxford, England. 

Insoll, T., Kankpeyeng, B. and MacLean R. (2007/2008). Shrines, Rituals and Archaeology: Archaeology of the Tallensi, Northern Ghana. Current World Archaeology 26:29-36.

Kankpeyeng,Benjamin Warinsie 2005. The Cultural Landscape of Tongo-Tengzuk: Traditional Conservation Practices. In Joffroy, Thiery (ed.), Traditional Conservation Practices in Africa. ICCROM Conservation Studies 2: 15-21.

Kankpeyeng, Benjamin W and DeCorse, Christopher R. 2004. Ghana’s Vanishing Past: Antiquities, Development and the Destruction of the Archaeological Record. African Archaeological Review 21 (2): 89-128

Kankpeyeng, Benjamin W. 2004. Fieldwork at Kpaliworgu, Northern Ghana: 1997 to 1999. Nyame Akuma: Bulletin of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists 62: 34-41.

Website: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=eo5dCOEAAAAJ&hl=en