LIMBA DEEP RURAL STRATEGIES

The Upper Guinea Coast of West Africa was incorporated within the Atla ntic economy at an early date. While the historical literature on this region tends to emphasize local entrepreneurship and adaptability, re cent studies on globalization/modernity have also cited cases where cr ises of trust and identity in global social systems engender a renewed search for local moral communities. This article considers whether th e Limba of northern Sierra Leone may represent such a case in the Uppe r Guinea Coast historical context. The Limba have often been considere d as one of the most deeply autochthonous 'peoples' of the region. The alternative interpretation put forward in this article is that the Li mba may represent a 'deep rural' society: an enclave found on the marg ins of metropolitan society, whose occupants, periodically replenished from outside, consciously seek to maintain their freedom from institu tional metropolitan cultural constraints. The article focuses on Biriw a, a pre-colonial Limba polity whose rulers, probably of Mandingo orig in, appear to have been instrumental in the creation of a 'Limba' encl ave from diverse human resources. The importance of rice production in the Limba economy, and its relation to historical Konte control over rituals concerning rainfall, is also considered.