Early history of Ghana

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Ghana was initially referred to as the Gold Coast. After attaining independence, the country's first sovereign government named the state after the Ghana Empire in modern Mauritania and Mali. Gold Coast was initially inhabited by different states, empires and ethnic groups before its colonization by the British Empire. The earliest known physical remains of the earliest man in Ghana were first discovered by archaeologists in a rock shelter at Kintampo during the 1960s. The remains were dated to be 5000 years old^[1][2] and it marked the period of transition to sedentism in Ghana.^[3] Early Ghanaians used Acheulean stone tools as hunter gatherers during the Early stone age. These stone tools evolved throughout the Middle and Late Stone Ages, during which some early Ghanaians inhabited caves.

Sedentism was first established between 2000 and 500 BC, where crops such as Sorghum and millet were farmed. The earliest towns and cities generally arose by the 11th century. Some of these towns were located at strategic trade locations such as Begho on the Trans-Saharan trade route and Elmina, a source of trade during the Atlantic slave trade. States were formed beginning in the 11th century, with some of the earliest being the Kingdom of Dagbon and Bono. European contact with the Gold Coast begun in the 15th century with the Portuguese landing on the Coast. Several European states established colonies on portions of the Gold Coast. By the 20th century, the British Empire had colonized the entire region after annexing the Ashanti Empire in the War of the Golden Stool.