Investigating the Archaeological Context of Calabar Slave Trade Relics, Cross River State

The transatlantic slave trade left enduring material and spatial traces in the commercial towns of the Niger Delta and Cross River estuary, yet the archaeological dimensions of this history remain significantly underexplored in Nigerian research. This study investigates the archaeological context of slave trade-related relics in Calabar, Cross River State, focusing on material culture associated with the Duke Town and Creek Town trading houses of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Field documentation combined architectural survey of surviving compound structures with the examination of artefacts in the Calabar Museum's Slave History Gallery, including manillas, shackles, trade gin bottles, and trade cloth weights. The study employs a historical archaeology framework attentive to the entangled agency of Efik middlemen, European traders, and enslaved individuals in the production of the material record. Analysis of spatial patterning within documented trading compounds suggests distinct zones of European-facing commercial activity and internally directed domestic and ritual life, a duality consistent with the dual economic and social roles described in historical accounts of Efik society. The research situates Calabar within the broader Atlantic World archaeology literature and considers how slave trade relics can be responsibly interpreted and presented in museum contexts without reproducing colonial-era dehumanizing narratives. Community consultation findings indicate strong local support for a dedicated slave history trail linked to the existing Calabar tourism infrastructure. Keywords: slave trade, Calabar, historical archaeology, Efik, Cross River State.