The Akan Drum is an old drum originally produced in Ghana. It made its way across the Atlantic Ocean and was found in Virginia, having been covered with the skin of a local deer. The drum was produced sometime between 1730-1745. An Apentema drum, it is the oldest African-American object currently housed at the British Museum and was part of the museum's founding collection. It is made of of two different types of wood that are both native to Africa, Baphia and Cordia africana. It was initially collected on behalf of Sir Hans Sloane, and is included with other objects at the museum as part of the Sloan collection. It was assumed for several centuries to have been made by Native Americans but its African provenance was fully established in the 1970s. Who it originally belonged to, as well as what was the reasoning to bring it across the Atlantic is unknown. The identity of its owners in colonial Virginia was not recorded and as such is unknown.It is assumed to have made its way via a slave ship, though which ship if indeed so remains unverified. British Museum link: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am-SLMisc-1368?fbclid=IwAR1xrzha4ek5fnsIU4LbflFWxivFpJPeBazy1-sWV50UBAnQKXGI8bAFLx0 #bhm #blackhistory #blackhistorymonth #akandrum #africanamerican