Graves from Dahomey: beliefs, ritual and society in ancient Bénin

Abstract

A series of excavated graves and grave inventories from the area around Abomey-Bohicon in Bénin, dating to the days of the Dahomean kingdom, are presented by the BDArch team, Bénin-Denmark Archaeology Project. They are among the very few documented burials from this region of the world and have yielded unprecedented insight into social performance and ritual behaviour at death, in addition to their unique archaeological documentation.