Archaeologists use song to herald findings in Guinea-Bissau dig

Kansala, Guinea-Bissau —  For centuries, the history of the West African kingdom of Kaabu has been told mainly by word of mouth. Kaabu existed from the mid-1500s to the 1800s. At its peak, it encompassed Guinea-Bissau and reached into what are now Senegal and Gambia. Sometimes Kaabu’s story passed from father to son. Often it was passed by griots — or West African oral historians — who sang about the kingdom’s rulers. “The griots have already sung it, but now we know it’s real,” is what Nino Galissa recounts in a recent song commissioned by archaeologists from their recent dig

Read Full Article