The 'Big Bang' theory reconsidered: Some thoughts on the fabric of early Ghanaian history

Résumé En

The 'big bang' theory - best articulated by Ivor Wilks in the late 1970s and recently revisited - is a complex heuristic monument that must be carefully deconstructed. Its claim that before the integration of forested West Africa into the European bullion market and the opening of the Atlantic trade, the forest dwellers of Ghana were hunters and gatherers has been convincingly disproved by archaeological findings during the last 15 years. Indeed, history as a discipline contains limitations that were too often underestimated in reconstructing fragments of the early history of forested Ghana, especially with regards to the 'origins' of an agrarian order. However, we also observe that large-scale, deep change definitely took place before and during the Atlantic era, which echoes significantly with sections of Wilks' theory. Some parts of the 'Big Bang' paradigm are therefore still useful as encapsulating genuine historical information and thought-provoking hypotheses, which, if adequately recontextualized, may help to open a new page of early African history.