Slave Trade Expedition to Africa
Conclusion: Flag Expedition Report

Our expedition to Farenya, Guinea, in January 2006 was an official flag expedition of The Explorers Club. Carrying the Explorers Club flag on an expedition is intended to further the cause of exploration and field science. Club flags have been carried on hundreds of expeditions since 1918: to both poles, to the highest peaks of the greatest mountain ranges, to the depths of the ocean, and to outer space. What follows is an abbreviated report to the Explorers Club.

Expedition team

+ Warner M. Montgomery, Ph.D., publisher of The Columbia Star

+ Jim Fisher, Ed.D, president of ERA/USA

+ Ken Kelly, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, USC

+ Andrew Hoose, graduate student, USC

+ Bah Oury, country director, ERA/GUINEA

+ Naby Camara, M.D., historian, University of Conakry

Members of the expedition team display the Explorers Club flag in Farenya.

+ Mamadou Balde, Ph.D., professor, Department of Social Sciences, Lansana Conté University of Sonfonia

Expedition Background

Between the American Revolution and the American Civil War a sophisticated slave trade developed between West Africa and South Carolina. Though outlawed in 1808, the importation of slaves continued at a rapid pace until slavery was abolished in 1865.

Capt. Stiles Lightbourn sailed to West Africa, married the daughter of a chief, and together the captain and his queen, Niara Bely, established a slave factory at Farenya on the Rio Pongo in 1809.

Capt. Stiles Lightbourn's ship was lost at sea in 1932. During the 1850s and 1860s, Queen Niara Bely and her son, Stiles Lightbourn Jr.,became chiefs and controlled the slave trade on the Rio Pongo.

In 1866, Chief Stiles Lightbourn and two other chiefs from the Rio Pongo signed a treaty with the French. The Rio Pongo was placed under the protection and suzerainty of France.

Dr. Ken Kelly washes and sorts artifacts gathered in Farenya.

On April 14, 1879, Queen Niara Bely died and was buried under the banyan tree in Farenya. Her son, Chief Stiles Lightbourn, continued to live in Farenya. He reported the population of the village to be 2,000 in 1885. Twenty years later, he was still a wealthy man. He owned hundreds of slaves and vacationed in Paris.

Expedition Purpose

The purpose of the expedition was to conduct an archaeological survey of Farenya and nearby villages, especially the remains of Lightbourn's homes and slave factories.

Specific goals were to

+ Identify whether any archaeological remains relating to the slave trade between 1809 and1879 were present and identifiable;

+ Record the variety of site types (whether homes, factories, trading lodges, fortifications, churches, cemeteries, etc.) present;

+ Conduct surface surveys of the sites to identify artifacts and features that may indicate chronology and function;

+ Photograph all houses, buildings, grave, ruins, and sacred sites in the area;

+ Establish the coordinates of all major structures and layout the major features in the area so that a map may be drawn; and

+ Evaluate local and national receptivity toward the possibility of initiating long-term archaeological projects on one or more of the sites identified.

Expedition results

The results of the work at Farenya included the creation of a sketch map and an evaluation of the archaeological potential of the ruins of Niara Bely's "palace," and other 19th century concentrations within the bounds of Farenya village as well as the ruins of a defensive battery, complete with cannon, and an archaeological assessment of the Balandougou area where slaves are said to have been kept awaiting shipment.

All structures in the village were photographed. The head of every household was identified and the number of adults and children in each house was established. This unofficial census of the village should prove useful in the future.

The coordinates of all major features of the village were determined by GPS. These coordinates along with a sketch of the village will provide the basis for the first map of the village.