An Archaeology of Predation. Capitalism and the Coloniality of Power in Equatorial Guinea (Central Africa)

Abstract

In this chapter, I explore the long-term effects of global capitalism in a small region of Central Africa from an archaeological point of view. The region in question is the Muni Estuary, in Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish colony, where a multidisciplinary research project has been carried out between 2009 and 2012 by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Our project documented the history of the area between the beginnings of the Iron Age and the present post-colonial times. One of our main goals was to explore through material culture the consequences of several centuries of capitalist exploitation in the area. The archaeological record shows the development of a regime of coloniality throughout the nineteenth century that impoverished and eventually dispossessed the local communities—the same communities who had originally enjoyed a prominent position in the capitalist system of predation.