UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI Maiduguri, Nigeria CENTRE

UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI

Maiduguri, Nigeria

CENTRE FOR DISTANCE LEARNING

ARTS

HIS 105: ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE NIGERIAN REGION UNIT: 3

HIS 105 –ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE NIGERIAN REGION UNIT: 3

CDL, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri

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Published 2007© All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any other means without prior permission in writing from the University of Maiduguri. This text forms part of the learning package for the academic programme of the Centre for Distance Learning, University of Maiduguri. Further enquiries should be directed to the: Coordinator Centre for Distance Learning University of Maiduguri P. M. B. 1069 Maiduguri, Nigeria. This text is being published by the authority of the Senate, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri – Nigeria.

ISBN: 978-8133-65-7



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P R E F A C E

This study unit has been prepared for learners so that they can do most of the

study on their own. The structure of the study unit is different from that of

conventional textbooks. The course writers have made efforts to make the study

material rich enough but learners need to do some extra reading for further

enrichment of the knowledge required.

The learners are expected to make best use of library facilities and where feasible,

use the Internet. References are provided to guide the selection of reading

materials required.

The University expresses its profound gratitude to our course writers and editors

for making this possible. Their efforts will no doubt help in improving access to

University education.

Professor J. D. Amin

Vice-Chancellor



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HOW TO STUDY THE UNIT

You are welcome to this study Unit. The unit is arranged to simplify your

study. In each topic of the unit, we have introduction, objectives, in-text,

summary and self-assessment exercise.

The study unit should take 6-8 hours to complete. Tutors will be available

at designated contact centers for tutorials. The center expects you to plan your

work well. Should you wish to read further you could supplement the study with

more information from the list of references and suggested readings available in

the study unit.

PRACTICE EXERCISES/TESTS

1. Self-Assessment Exercises (SAES)

This is provided at the end of each topic. The exercise can help you to

assess whether or not you have actually studied and understood the topic.

Solutions to the exercises are provided at the end of the study unit for you to

assess yourself.

2. Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMA)

This is provided at the end of the study Unit. It is a form of examination

type questions for you to answer and send to the center. You are expected to work

on your own in responding to the assignments. The TMA forms part of your

continuous assessment (C.A.) scores, which will be marked and returned to you.

In addition, you will also write an end of Semester Examination, which will be

added to your TMA scores.

Finally, the center wishes you success as you go through the different units

of your study.


CDL, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri 1

INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE

For the students of archaeology to have a proper grasp of the

prehistory of the Nigerian region, an in-depth study will have to be

undertaking on the Stone Age culture, the metal age and the beginning of

agriculture i.e. the domestication of plants and animals. This led to the

beginning of urban centres – chapter one identified the various

periodozation in prehistory, chapter two highlights the direct and indirect

evidence plants and animals. Chapter three delineated the three schools of

thoughts as regard the origin of African iron working. Chapter four

portrays the urbanization as a consequence to some of the earlier

developments in prehistory. Chapter five to nine is a specific study of some

prominent prehistoric sites in Nigeria.



HIS 105: ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE NIGERIAN REGION UNITS: 3

T A B L E O F C O N T E N TS

PAGES PREFACE - - - - - - - iii

HOW TO STUDY THE UNIT - - - - - iv

INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE - - 1

TOPIC:

1. THE PALAEOLITHIC PERIOD - - - - 3

2. AGRICULTURAL BEGINNING - - - - 8

3. IRON AGE - - - - - - - - 13

4. URBANISATION - - - - - - 20

5. NOK CULTURE IN PRE-HISTORY - - - 25

6. IGBO-UKWU CULTURE IN PRE-HISTORY - - 29

7. BENIN CULTURE IN PRE-HISTORY - - - 33

8. IFE CULTURE IN PRE-HISTORY - - - - 37

9. ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE CHAD BASIN - - - 40

SOLUTION TO EXERCISES



T O P I C 1:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES

1.0 TOPIC: THE PALAEOLITHIC PERIOD - - - 3

1.1 INTRODUCTION - - - - - - - 4

1.2 OBJECTIVES - - - - - - - 4

1.3 IN-TEXT - - - - - - - - 4

1.3.1 THE PALAEOLITHIC PERIOD - - 4

1.4 SUMMARY - - - - - - - 7

1.5 SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE - - - - 7

1.6 REFERENCES - - - - - - - 7

1.7 SUGGESTED READING - - - - - 7



1.0 TOPIC: THE PALEOLITHIC PERIOD

1.1 INTRODUCTION

This is the study of selected sites within the Nigerian region where adequate archaeological data are available to give experience in interpretation of Archaeological site reports, spectacular sites worth examining include Nok, Igbo-Ukwu, Benin, Ife and the Chad Basin. As a preamble, an in-depth study of the various prehistoric epochs are considered, such as the Paleolithic; Neolithic; Agricultural beginning; Iron Age and Urbanisation.

1.2 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this topic, you should be able to:

i. Arrive at a harmonized or integrated picture of the prehistory, proto-history and history of the Nigerian Region through a study of the archaeological work undertaken to date.

ii. Outline the aims, methods and achievements

iii. Throw into focus the main problems to which future workers would address themselves

iv. Discuss the questions of archaeology and prehistory in the educational systems (Museums teaching programmes etc).

v. Discuss the study of urban sites and human settlements with an orientation towards historical reconstruction

iv. Deal with the problems of applying archaeological method to historical questions.

1.3 IN-TEXT

1.3.1 THE PALEOLITHIC PERIOD

This is the period when man emerged about 2 ½ to 3 million years ago and lasted through most of the Pleistocene ice age (8300 BC). The oldest form of man had evolved by the early Pleistocene (Australopithecus). The Palaeolithic period is divided into three phases based on the development of man’s economy and the manufacture and use of tools. The three periods are as follows:



- Early Stone Age - Middle Stone Age - Late Stone Age

1.3.1.1 EARLY STONE AGE

Most tools during this period were made up of bones, wood and stones. Bones and wood are easily perishable materials, while stone tools can survive all the harshes of weather. The earliest stone tools consisted of pebbles which had a crude chopping and cutting edges, known as the oldowan type tools after Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. Such tools are found in most grasslands in Africa. Evidence of oldowan type tools has been found in Bali on River Taraba.

The Early Stone Age is divided into three phases as follows: - Oldowan - Acheulean Industrial Tradition - Sangoan

The Oldowan: It is named after a type site of Olduvai gorge in

Tanzania. The characteristics tool of the oldowan is the “pebble tool”, a hammer stone and a scraper. Homo Habilis and Australopithecus were the makers of this culture. The culture may have lasted from 2 million years to 500,000.

The Acheulian: It is named after a type site in Northern France, St. Acheul. The Characteristic tool is the handaxe, a cleaver and round stone balls. A number of Acheulian sites have been found in Nigeria around the Jos Plateau such as Mai Idon Toro and Nok. The culture must have started from 500,000 years ago with a terminal date of 55,000. Homo Erectus was the maker of this culture.

The Sangoan: It is named after a type site of Sango Bay on Lake Victoria. This culture has been questioned by Bassey Wai Ogosu. Bassey Wai Ogosu doubts whether there was a true Sangoan culture in the whole of West Africa. The culture is characterised by a heavier and cruder tools, typical is the pick. In Nigeria, the likely areas with evidence of the Sangoan culture is the old gravels around Jebba, Abuja, Keffi and Nassarawa areas to the south of the Jos plateau, along the Sokoto River, and Ibadan-Abeokuta Road. Homo Sapiens were probably the makers of this culture. The culture spans from 55,000 and 40,000 years ago. The Sangoan industrial



complex adapts more to a wooded area than the open savannah.

1.3.1.2 THE MIDDLE STONE AGE

This term evolved in Southern Africa where it was used to describe a group of industrial complexes with a span 35,000 - 12,000 BC. The industries here were located in wooded areas surrounding the equatorial forests. The characteristics of the tool is the point (Lanceolate) were hafted and used as spears. Other tools include core axes and chisels. The type-sites in Nigeria include Afikpo in Eastern Nigeria, and Jos Plateau. The maker of this culture was probably Homo sapien.

1.3.1.3 THE LATE STONE AGE

This period was remarkable for the production of tiny tools called “microliths,” usually slotted into arrow shafts to form points and barbs. Typical sites are Mejiro Cave, near old Oyo, Rock Shelter on the Jos Plateau, Iwo Eleru near Akure, Ukpa Rock shelter near Afikpo. In the North East region of Nigeria, the example of the Late Stone Age sites include Kursakata, Daima, Mege and Ndufu. The Late Stone Age population of the areas mentioned above were cattle keepers and growers of sorghum (guinea corn). They had pottery and they sourced their stones from areas afar for production of ground stone axes and grinding stones for food production. They were engaged in the produclton of small fired clay models of animals and sometimes human beings depicting prehistoric arts. They buried their dead in crouched position closed to the settlement. This civilisation has an antiquity of 3000 years.

1.4 SUMMARY

It highlighted the various phases of the Stone Age and the makers of the various cultures with the span of their antiquity.

1.5 SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

1. Identify the various industrial complexes of the Palaeolithic period.

1.6 REFERENCES

Balfour, H. (1934) Occurrence of Cleavers of Lower Palaeolithic in Northern Nigeria. Man. 25



Clark, J. D. (1982) Cultures of the Middle Palaeolithic/middle Stone Age. The Cambridge History of Africa Vol. I.

Jemkur, J. F. (188). The prehistory of Northern Nigeria Studies, in Nigerian Culture I. Zaria. Gaskiya Press.

Ogosui-wai, B. W. (1973) was there a sangoan Industry in West Africa. West African Journal of Archaeology 3:191-96.

Ozanne, P. (1964) Stone Axes. West African Archaeological Newsletter 1.

1.7 SUGGESTED READING

Rosenfeld, A. (1972) The Microlithic Industries of Rop Rock Shelter. West African Journal of Archaeology 2:17-28.

Shaw, T. (1978) Nigeria: its Archaeology and Early History, London: Thames and Hudson.

Soper, R. (1965) The Stone Age in Northern Nigeria. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 3(2): 1975-94.



T O P I C 2:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES

2.0 TOPIC: THE AGRICULTURAL BEGINNINGS - 8

2.1 INTRODUCTION - - - - - - - 9

2.2 OBJECTIVES - - - - - - - 9

2.3 IN-TEXT - - - - - - - - 9

2.3.1 THE AGRICULTURAL BEGINNINGS - 9

2.3.2 ANIMAL SOURCES OF FOOD - - 11

2.4 SUMMARY - - - - - - - 12


2.6 REFERENCES - - - - - - - 12




2.0 TOPIC: AGRICULTURAL BEGINNING

2.1 INTRODUCTION

This course examines the history of beginning of agriculture and the evidence available both for plants and animals which manifests themselves in archaeological record.

2.2 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this topic, you should be able to: i. Identify the various evidence for both plants and animals. ii. Identify some of the African cereals which are indigenous

to Africa.

2.3 IN-TEXT:

2.3.1 AGRICULTURAL BEGINNING

Many theories and speculations abound for the beginning and development of Agriculture in Africa. The lack of evidence in Africa about agricultural origins compared with other parts of the world resulted into a number of theoretical models. The concept of “Neolithic revolution” was introduced by Gordon Childe in terms of simple diffusion by movement of people and agricultural products. Some scholars are of the opinion that agriculture evolved once at a specific location and diffused to other areas; while some see agriculture evolving in different locations probably at the same time or at different times. Whatever the views expressed by the various school of thoughts, the change from dependence on hunting, fishing and gathering wild fruits/plants to crop raising and cattle rearing is a very significant revolution ever achieved by man in the last ten thousand years. Agricultural beginning radically changed man’s capacity in controlling his environment. It made sedentary life possible, and also the storage of food, the accumulation of wealth which led to the division of labour and social stratification. In considering the beginning and development of food production and domestication of animals, we have to consider the types of evidence available.

The Evidence: The different kinds of evidence both for food production and the domestication of animals are as follows:

a. Direct archaeological evidence: are the remains of domesticated

plants and animals in context. b. Indirect archaeological evidence: are all materials discovered in

archaeological context that suggests the presence of plants and animals eg. rock paintings and terracotta representation.



c. Evidence provided by botanical, stocks breeding ethnographic and linguistic studies.

2.3.1.1 DIRECT BOTANICAL EVIDENCE

Direct archaeological evidence for food of botanical origin includes the finding in datable context of actual remains of seed, fruit, root or tree crops, their pollen or impressions of them on pottery. These products are sometimes by accident preserved as a result of aridity, water logging, or they are preserved in human or animal coprolites. There is little direct evidence for the early cultivation of crops in Africa. Egypt and the Sahara recorded direct evidence for the cultivation of crops from 6000BC to 4000 of Pennisetum (pearl) millet, bulrush (millet) and Triticum (wheat). In Nigeria, direct evidence of sorghum bicolor was obtained at Daima (N.E. Nigeria) from 9/10 century A.D. The carbonised grains at Daima represent the oldest guinea corn yet found in West Africa. Charred remains of domesticated pennisetum grains was found in Kursakata.

2.3.1.2 INDIRECT BOTANICAL EVIDENCE

Indirect botanical evidence could be inferred from the presence of certain technological traits such as pottery and ground stone axes. The presence of grinding stones and quern fragments have been taken as demonstrating the practice of agriculture in some parts of Africa. In Nigeria, examples of indirect evidence of a teeth of the skeleton from Rop Rock shelter is said to be of an agriculturalist. The Kotoko, living south of Lake Chad, regard Pennisetum as their oldest kind of food grain. It is also assumed that the first known iron-users in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Nok people, were agriculturists because of the presence of two terracotta, which represent fluted pumpkins.

Yam cultivation may be ancient in West Africa. It has been suggested that the Sangoan Pick may have been a tool for grubbing up wild species, from which practice natural vegetative reproduction localised around living places, might have resulted. It is typical of yam to regenerate after the removal of the tuber if too much damage is not done to the vine and roots. Thus ancient hunter-gatherers would have accustomed to the idea of returning to the same spot for a source of food. In support for early domestication of yam. Coursey (1967), points to the prohibition in certain areas of the use of iron tools for digging of yams in new yam festivals, which strongly suggests that yam cultivation antedates the commencement of iron age. Posnansky (1969) suggested that the West African Yam began between 2500 and 1500BC.

Some of the African cereals (Crops) which are indigenous to Africa are: Sorghum, Pearl Millet, finger millet, African rice and fonio (Hungry rice).



2.3.2 ANIMAL SOURCES OF FOOD

Direct evidence of animal husbandry is often preserved in Archaeological record in the form of bones of domesticated animals or wild cattle.

2.3.2.1 DIRECT EVIDENCE

Gajiganna, a site in Borno proved to have evidence of flocks mainly of cattle and goats Gajiganna is one of the earliest sites with domesticated animals in West Africa, south of the Sahara. Excavation at the Rop rock shelter in Northern Nigeria have yielded a single equid tooth dated to over 2000bp. At Kariya Wuro, a rock shelter near Bauchi four equid teeth were found having the some age with that of Rop.

2.3.2.2 INDIRECT EVIDENCE

This is demonstrated in the form of rock arts (Paintings and engravings) or in the form of terracotta, or undatable skeletons. Rock paintings of cattle at Birnin Kudu depicted long and short horned humpless cattle not dated.

In Borno, at Gajiganna, animal figurines mostly incomplete figures represented cattle. The small clay figurines of Gajiganna represent the oldest prehistoric art of Borno, with an antiquity of between 2700 and 3100bp.



2.4 SUMMARY

It defined the concept of Neolithic revolution and the achievement man had made in the last ten thousand years. It portrayed the various evidences for both plants and animals.


1. What are the direct and indirect evidences of the beginning of Agriculture in West Africa?

2.6 REFERENCES

Harlan, JH. R. de wet J. M. J. and Stemler, A. (1976) (eds) Origins of African Plant Domestication

Morgan, W. B. (1962) The Forest and Agriculture in West Africa. Journal of African History 3(2): 235-39.

Porteres, R. (1976) African Cereals. In Harlan et al. Origins of African Plant Domestication. The Hague.


Porteres, R. and Barrare, J. (1981) Origins, Development and Expansion of Agricultural Technique, In. J. K Zerbo (ed) UNESCO General History of Africa. Vol. I Heinemann.

Posnansky, M. (1969) Yams and the Origins of West African Agriculture, ODU 1: 101-7.

Davies, O. (1968) The Origins of Agriculture in West Africa. Current Anthropology 9:479-82



T O P I C 3:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES

3.0 TOPIC: THE IRON AGE 13

3.1 INTRODUCTION- - 14

3.2 OBJECTIVES - - - - - - - 14

3.3 IN-TEXT - - - - - - - - 14

3.3.1 THE IRON AGE - - - - - 14

3.3.2 EARLY METAL USING COMMUNITIES- 15

3.3.3 METHODS OF COPPER WORKING - 16

3.3.4 METHODS OF IRON WORKING - - 17

3.3.5 SOCIO-POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

SIGNIFICANCE OF METAL WORKING - 17

3.3.6 DECLINE OF IRON SMELTING IN AFRICA 18

3.4 SUMMARY - - - - - - - 18


3.6 REFERENCES - - - - - - - 18




3.0 TOPIC: THE IRON AGE

3.1 INTRODUCTION

This course introduces the student to one of the epochs in prehistory which man had attained which led to successful agriculture and urbanization.

3.2 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this topic, you should be able to: i. The early metal using communities of West Africa.

ii. Determine the significance of iron working. 3.3 IN-TEXT:

3.3.1 THE IRON AGE

The Stone Age is carefully, delineated from the iron age because the appearance of iron in their assemblages of artefacts makes an obvious change in technology. As the knowledge of iron smelting became more widespread and iron cheaper, it had an effect in a greater capacity for bush and forest clearing for agriculture.

Presently there are three schools of thought as regards the origin of African iron working as follows:

1. The diffusionist 2. The indigenous 3. The cautious

This issue is debated by scholars like Andah (1979) and Phillipson (1985:148-186). To a certain extent both entertained the idea of independent development of African Iron working. They observed that more rigorous work still needs to be done. For this reason, Andah recorded that not enough is yet known about who? When? with whom iron working began in West Africa? For one to assert positively that the knowledge of the process was transmitted from outside, Phillipson (1985) on his part notes, that the first point is that the knowledge of iron working can no longer be assumed to have been brought to West Africa from the North.

Today because of the providence of TL dating more has been known about the origins of iron working in most parts of Africa. 3.3.2 EARLY METAL USING COMMUNITIES

Excavation of Rop Rock shelter on the Jos Plateau indicates that there was a continuity of occupation from Late Stone Age to early Iron Age. Daima is the only site where there is a clearly established continuity of



occupation from Late Stone Age to Early Iron Age. The first appearance of Iron at Daima is now placed between 5th or 6th Centuries AD. During this period the use of stone and bone tools seemed to have died out. The Iron using communities were agriculturalists as evidenced by the presence of carbonized sorghum. Making of clay figurines of cows and the construction of a near permanent habitation of huts of mud was their preoccupation. They also used objects of adornment like bronze ornaments, stone lip plugs, and beads.

One of the Earliest Iron Age culture yet known in West Africa is that of the Nok valley located to the west of Jos Plateau. It extended as far south as Katsina Ala, Ankiring and Kagara. It was characterised by terracotta figurines mostly heads of human beings - the classic example being the Jema’a head. Other Nok artefacts include iron axe blades, tin beads, pieces of iron smelting furnaces, iron slag and tuyeres.

There were also representations in terracotta of animals like elephants, monkeys and snake heads, some of which have ornamented the rims of pottery.

By the latter part of the 1st millennium B.C., there were settled agricultural communes at Samun Dukiya, in Central Nigeria, smelting their iron and producing works of art of terracotta. Materials recovered from this site include grinding stone, fragments of iron, stone bead and figurines.

Taruga is another Nok culture settlement site southeast of Abuja. The settlement possessed several smelting furnace and associated with it were iron slag, tuyeres charcoal, terracotta figurine fragments, a number of iron objects. A radio carbon for the site yielded 4th/5th centuries B.C - the oldest date for iron smelting so far known in West Africa.

Rescue excavation has revealed the existence of iron using communities or iron using communities at least before the end of the 1st millennium BC in the Kainji area (e.g. Kagoge, Baha, Barichi, Rs 63/32 near Yelwa). The people herded domestic animals and made glass and stone beads, pottery vessels and clay figurines. They also made great use of iron objects like knives, axes, fish hooks, spears and arrows for farming, fishing and hunting.

Copper working or bronze and brass casting is distributed in ancient times over a wide area of West Africa. The Igbo-Ukwu bronzes dating between 9th and 11th century AD are stylistically different from those of Ife and Benin. The Igbo Ukwu bronzes are a large collection of objects consisting of regalia of an important personality and objects from a shrine. The objects were manufactured using two techniques - cire Perdue technique (lost wax method) and by smithing. Spectrographic analysis indicates that the objects produced by casting were made from leaded



bronze with varying amount of tin and lead. The objects produced by smithing were made of pure copper.

Ife objects were made of copper alloyed with zinc with relatively high quantity of lead. Few objects were made of copper. The Ife brasses have been dated to around the 12th to 14th century A.D.

Benin Possessed a large number of objects numbering over 2000 mostly of brass dated to about 13th century AD.

Few bronze objects were found in the Middle Niger villages of Jebba, Tada and Giragi. The objects are of mixed artistic styles.

3.3.3 METHODS OF COPPER WORKING

Most West African bronze and brass objects were manufactured by casting (the pouring of molten metals into moulds). One method of casting is the open mould or bivalve. A bivalve consists of two halves of a stone, clay or metal mould pegged together.

The space between the two halves of the mould possesses the shape of the object being cast. After the metal has cooled, the mould is opened. Another technique of casting is the cire Perdue or lost wax. In this case a model of the object required is made in wax. The model is covered with clay and the whole is then heated to allow the wax to melt and run off.

This leaves a space in to which molten metal is poured. After it has cooled the outside clay is knocked off, the inner core may be removed and remaining is a metal version of the original wax model. Copper can also be worked by smithing and chasing, unalloyed copper can easily be shaped by hammering, bending, twisting and annealing either hot or cold.

3.3.4 METHODS OF IRON WORKING

In prehistoric times, the production of iron was done using the furnace. Iron was produced in many parts of West Africa, with the smelters using different types of furnaces. Shaft furnaces in the Taruga areas, the Dome furnace in the Idoma areas, the pit or bowl furnace in Lejja, near Nsukka. In these furnaces iron is in contact or mixed with charcoal. The charcoal which is carbon burns and combines with oxygen from the air to form the gas carbon monoxide. This hot gas passes up through the furnace and reacts with the iron oxide by removing or reducing deposited iron. The reduction of iron oxide to a spongy mass called bloom takes place at a temperature of 700c. This iron bloom consists of mass of iron particles and slag. The smith later consolidates this mass of iron particles by heating and hammering it together.



3.3.4.1 SMITHING

Smithing in West Africa is characterised by the following a forge, a fire point, an anvil, bellows and a mud wall constructed in front of the fire point and behind the tuyere. Fire making is important in the whole process. The effectiveness of forging will depend solely on the ability of the blacksmith to ensure adequate supply of heat. The controlling factor in fire making is the bellow. The anvil acts as a support upon which the red-hot iron is fashioned to the desired shape. Black smiths usually make use of two types of hammers; the sledge and flattening hammers. The sledge hammer is used to hammer the red hot iron to the desired shape and thickness, while the flattening hammers give smooth surface finish to the object produced. Forging of iron objects appear uniform among different groups of blacksmiths in West Africa.

3.3.5 SOCIO-POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF METAL WORKING

Metal objects had religious and ritual significance in West African societies. For example iron tools were used in the burial of chiefs in some areas. In Yorubaland there are temples or shrines for Ogun in the palaces of obas. The Ogun Ladi Shrine is still preserved at the Afin (palace) of the Oni of Ife. In Benin monumental heads and free standing figures were cast to take their place in shrines to royal ancestors. Some bronzes and iron objects fulfilled artistic and decorative purposes. Metal implements have also served political purposes. Implements such as swords, spears and matchets have been used by rulers of early West Africa states and kingdom to prosecute wars.

3.3.6 DECLINE OF IRON SMELTING IN AFRICA

The earliest explanation for the decline of African iron smelting centred around trade models whereby imported European metal goods were seen as superior and as such caused the decline of African iron working. Some scholars attributed the demise of the industry more to deforestation effects. The industry made huge demands on hardwoods, very difficult to regenerate.

In conclusion, it may be observed that the use of iron implement was basically an improvement on the age long use of wood, stone and bone implements. Iron implements were much stronger and more effective. The use of iron implements led to the improvements in the methods and techniques of farming, hunting and fishing.



3.4 SUMMARY

It potrays the importance of iron, how it evolved and the earlier societies where it made its impact.


1. What is the contrast between smelting and smithing? 3.6 REFERENCES

Ankell, A. J. (1953) Iron in Africa. South Africa Archaeological Bulletin 8: 52-57

Andah, B. W. (1979) Iron Age Beginnings in West Africa: Reflections and Suggestion, West African Journal of Archaeology Vol.9

Davies O. 1966 Comment on “The Iron Age in Sub-Saharan Africa” Current Anthropology 7:470-1.

_________ (1967) West Africa Before the Europeans. London Methuen.

Dixey, (1920) Primitive Iron Ore smelting Methods in West Africa. Mining Magazine 32:213-16.

Kense, F. J. (1983) Traditional African Iron working, African occasional Papers No.1 University of Calgary.


Oliver, R. and Fagan, The Appearance of Iron and its use in Protohistoric Africa. London.

Sassoon, H. (1963) Early Sources of Iron in Africa, South African Archaeological Bulletin. 3:210-24.

Shinnie, P. L. (1971) The African Iron Age. Oxford: Clarendon.

Sulton, J. E. G. (1976) Iron working around Zaria, Zaria Archaeology paper. Viii.

Triger, R. (1969) The Myth of Meroe and the African Iron Age. African Historical Studies.

Tylecote, R. F. (1975) The Origin of Iron smelting in Africa West African Journal of Archaeology 5.



Williams, D. (1969) African Iron and the Classical World.

Phillipson D. W. (1985) African Archaeology Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.



T O P I C 4:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES

4.0 TOPIC: URBANIZATION- 20

4.1 INTRODUCTION - 21

4.2 OBJECTIVES - - - - - - - 21

4.3 IN-TEXT - - - - - - - - 21

4.3.1 URBANIZATION - - - - 21

4.3.2 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE - 22

4.4 SUMMARY - - - - - - - 23


4.6 REFERENCES - - - - - - - 24




4.0 TOPIC: URBANIZATION

4.1 INTRODUCTION

This topic outlines the various definitions of urbanization, specifically identifying traits which made a place as urbanized.

4.2 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this topic, you should be able to: i. Identify the various traits of urbanization.

ii. Some of the archaeological evidence of urban sites. 4.3 IN-TEXT:

4.3.1 URBANIZATION

There has been a long debate among scholars as to what constitutes urbanisation. When does one label a settlement as urban? Why was only a particular settlement among many become urbanised? What is the distinction between a city and town? These are some of the questions which puzzled scholars for many years. The most popular definition in the first half of this century was that of Louis Wirth (1938) who defined a city as a relatively dense and permanent settlement of socially heterogeneous individuals. The British archaeologist, V. Gordon childe in his paper “ Urban Revolution” (1950) spelt out ten criteria which he used not only to define urban but also civilisation as a whole. He claimed that these criteria were deducible from archaeological record and that it was when all these were met that one could consider a settlement as truly urban. The traits include density of population, full time specialisation, surplus food, monumental architecture, political authority, writing, cylindrical and mathematical sciences, art, raw materials and regular foreign trade. It is significant that most of these criteria were based on Childe’s experience of the near east.

Unfortunately, until fairly recent scholars dealing with urban problems could not rid themselves of the Euro-American situation, largely from the results of industrialisation, which was seen by many as the only cause of urban development. Many carried this narrow view point to the extent that they concluded that Africa had no urban tradition. Recent archaeological, historical, and sociological evidences are clearly showing that Africa, like any other continent, had early urban centres which did not originate from industrialisation

One distinctive feature of the conceptualisation of towns and cities as units of settlement which perform specialised functions of an economic



nature in relation to a broader hinterland is the assumption that urban settlements were made possible with the emergence of farming and metal working or farming and trade. Connah (1987) argues that the West Africa environment as a whole and in particular the savannah provided condition conducive to the development of a complex network of trade. He thinks it quite likely that such trading activity was almost as old as West African food production and may date back to about 3000 years ago.

Mabogunje on the other hand, defined urbanisation simply as the process whereby human beings congregate in relatively large number at one particular spot of the earth surface. He rejected the ethnocentric notions that the presence of writing or the absence of agricultural workers can be used to distinguished between those communities that are urbanised and those that are not. By his definition we can see the origins of urbanisation in the Lake Chad area in the 12th century A.D. and some by the late 15th century. There were urban centres west of the lake. These included Birnin Gazargamu, Kazarma, Mintur, Yedi, Kule and Marte.

4.3.2 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

For many years it has been assumed that much of the impetus for the development of complex West African societies came from outside stimulation of the indigenous economy in the Lake Chad area. About the 8th century A.D Trans-North Africans initiated the trans-Saharan trade for gold and slaves from Sub-Saharan regions. During the past decade excavation and radiocarbon dating have revealed evidence of complex social stratification, long distance trade and even urbanisation in West Africa by the middle of the 1st millennium A.D.

Kanem-Bornu had its foundation in the first millennium A.D Around 12th century AD. In the course of time the empire expanded and by about 14th century A.D. it was weakened due mainly to dynastic problems and civil wars which led the removal of the capital from Njimi to Birnin Gazargamo. The most famous early urban centre in present North Eastern part of Nigeria was Birnin Gazargamo founded in 1470 AD and abandoned by 1803 AD after its destruction by the Jihadist.

The firki settlement site of Daima contains evidence of occupation which spans from the Late Stone Age to Iron Age. This evidence therefore suggests that the area was occupied for almost 1,700 years.

Kano has one of the largest concentration of iron smelting sites in Africa, associated with a wealth of walled settlements which represent different stages of urban development. One of the oldest known blacksmith



ward are of Kutumbawa origin whose ancestors were of the same groups with the Habe rulers of Kano before the Jihad. There were also a group of blacksmiths around Dala Hill where the first blacksmith settled.

Zaria an ancient city, is located among series of inselberg mostly favourable as a fertile agricultural land and it served some defensive advantages. Turuku was the seat of the ancient state of Zazzau.

Ancient Ife represents the first order of political centralisation over the area of Yorubaland dated between AD 900 and 1500. Ife was an excellent site for a major commercial and agricultural centre.

We can conclude from archaeological and historical data that the beginning of urbanisation and state formation cannot be attributed to a single factor but to various factors or combinations of factors such as geographical, economic, political social and military factors. 4.4 SUMMARY

The topic portrayed some of the early urban sites in West Africa.


1. Define Urbanization 2. Identify three traits which V. Gordon childe used in defining

urbanism and civilization



4.6 REFERENCE

Cannah, G. (1987) African Civilization, Pre-Colonial Cities And States In Tropical Africa: An Archaeological Perspective. Cambridge University Press. Childe, V.G. (1936) Man Makes Himself. London: C:A. Watts. Childe, V.G. (1942) What happened in History. London: Penguin Books.


Bassey W. Andah (1995) The Epistemology of West African Settlements. Special issue of West African Journal of Archaeology Vol. 25 No. 1.

Chang, K.C. (1968) Settlement Archaeology. Palo Alto Calif, National Press Books.

Clark, D. (1982) Urban Geography. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press.

Mabogunje, A.L. (1968) Urbanization in Nigeria. University of London Press, London.



T O P I C 5:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES

5.0 TOPIC: NOK CULTURE IN PREHISTORY- 25


5.2 OBJECTIVES - - - - - - - 26

5.3 IN-TEXT - - - - - - - - 26

5.3.1 NOK CULTURE IN PREHISTORY- - 26

5.3.2 SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION - - - 26

5.3.3 DESCRIPTION OF THE NOK FIGURINES- 27

5.3.4 FUNCTION OF THE TERRACOTTA - 27

5.3.5 RELATIONSHIP OF NOK ARTS AND OTHER

CULTURES - - - - - 28

5.4 SUMMARY - - - - - - - 28


5.6 REFERENCES - - - - - - - 28




5.0 TOPIC: NOK CULTURE IN PREHISTORY

5.1 INTRODUCTION

This is the study of a specific site in Northern Nigeria where terra cotta-figurines were revealed as a result of tin mining operations. It is with the prevalence of such finds that the culture is named “Nok Culture”.

5.2 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this topic you should be able to: i. Understand what is meant by Nok Culture. ii. It’s Characteristics. iii. It’s antiquity. iv. Its place in Nigerian History.

5.3 IN-TEXT:

5.3.1 NOK CULTURE IN PREHISTORY

The Nok culture was discovered in 1928 as a result of tin mining operation. The finds from the site revealed an early iron age population at a village called Nok where they were first found. The remains consist of terracotta figurines. The first terracotta figurine discovered was that of the head of a monkey which was deposited at the mines’ Museum in Jos by Col. J. D. Young. That discovery remained unique until 1943 when another terracotta head was discovered in Jema’a at Tsauni. Mr. Bernard Fagg, who was appointed Government Archaeologist, inspected the tin mining areas and a number of figurines and other archaeological objects were rescued and this formed the basis of the Jos Museum. Fagg made his first publication on the terracotta in 1945 where he categorised them into “The Nok series” and “the Jema’a series”. It was observed that the figurines were made of clay mixed with small grains of quartz and silica derived from the surrounding hills and the Jos plateau. From 1947 to 1951 several discoveries of the terracotta figurines were made at Nok proper, Wamba and Tsauni.

5.3.2 SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION

The terracotta figurines were found greatly concentrated around Nok and Jema’a. The distribution radiated to all directions. It reached Katsina Ala in the South East including Ankiring, Jema’a, Tare and Wamba. In the South is Udegi is directly south, while in the South-West, are Bwari, Kawu, Samban, Shere Koro and Taruga. In the West and North-West are



Kuchamfa, Kutofo and Kagara, while Kachia is on the Northernmost point and Amban and Maitumbi are in the East.

5.3.3 DESCRIPTION OF THE NOK FIGURINES

The figurines were all modelled in clay. The Nok figurines are hollow and coil-built and reworked from the outside. The fabric consists of clay with grain of mica, quartz or granite. The height of the Nok terracotta varies from 10cm to 120cm. The majority of the terracotta represent human heads and figures; and several representations of parts of animals such as elephant head, monkey head, and several snakes.

Other finds from the Nok culture include polished stone axes and adzes, probably meant for wood carving before the introduction of iron to the area. Grindstones were common suggestive of the use of vegetable food. Tin beads were found in the deposits of the Nok valley. Quartz beads and domestic pottery were also found in the deposits of the Nok Valley.

5.3.4 FUNCTIONS OF THE TERRACOTTA

At the moment scholars are not very sure about the functions of the terracottas. Since we do not have direct association with the prehistoric populations who made them, we can only speculate about their functions. It must be noted that their functions may differ from place to place.

It is possible that the figurines could have been used as thatch finials of round huts, those having circulars bases like an inverted pot would have been well suited for this purpose. This practice is still current with the Gbagyi and Ham ethnic groups within the Nok culture area. Investigation among the above ethnic groups indicate that they are used as thatch finials to indicate huts which are shrines to which women and uninitiated young men do not go close to. In some dwelling huts they are used for decorations on newly thatched huts.

The association of terracottas with iron smelting furnaces at Taruga would suggest a magico-religious link which certainly accompanies the technical procedure for a successful smelt. Iron smelting is hazardous job, and the terracotta could have served as a protection. The terracottas could also have been used as grave goods or personal offerings for the dead. This practice was common among the Dakarkari and Mumuye groups until recently.

5.3.5 RELATIONSHIP OF NOK ARTS AND OTHER CULTURES.

Most Archaeologists and Art historians are of the view that the Nok art may be ancestral to some of the former art traditions found in Central Nigeria. Many of the terracottas rest on upturned pots, a form which is still found in Thatch finials among the Jaba and other ethnic groups within the



Nok culture area today. The Nok terracotta and that of Ife are similar in that they were often adorned with elaborate beadwork; and what is most importantly about them that they are the only two ancient styles of terracotta sculpture known to date in Africa ever to attempt to represent human beings approaching life size.

5.4 SUMMARY

The chapter portrays the discovery of the Nok Culture and how they were delineated in the two series. It also examines its relationship with other cultures within the region.

5.5 SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISES

1. When was Nok culture discovered? 2. What were the characteristics trait of the Nok culture?

5.6 REFERENCES

J. F. Jemkur, (1992) Aspects of the Nok Culture A.B.U. Press Ltd. Zaria.

Fagg, A. (1970) Aspects of the Nok Culture West African Archaeological Newsletter 12:80-81


Fagg, B. E. B. (1959) The Nok Culture in Prehistory, Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 4:288-93.

________ (1969) Recent Work in West Africa, A new light on the Nok Culture. World Archaeology 1:41-49.



T O P I C 6:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES

6.0 TOPIC: IGBO-UKWU IN PRE-HISTORY- 29


6.2 OBJECTIVES - - - - - - - 30

6.3 IN-TEXT - - - - - - - - 30

6.3.1 IGBO-UKWU IN PREHISTORY - - 30

6.3.2 BRONZED - - - - - - 30

6.3.3 THE BURIAL CHAMBER - - - 31

6.3.4 ANTIQUITY OF IGBO FINDS - - 32

6.4 SUMMARY - - - - - - - 32


6.6 REFERENCES - - - - - - - 32




6.0 TOPIC: IGBO-UKWU IN PREHISTORY

6.1 INTRODUCTION

A specific accidental site discovered in South Eastern Nigeria was igbe Ukwu, revealed by someone trying to dig a cisten in his compound. The igbo – Ukwu finds consist of several materials in association which act like a preservative.

6.2 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this topic, you should be able to: i. Know source of this accidental discoveries in archeology. ii. Know that most sites have been discovered by laymen. iii. How materials are preserved.

6.3 IN-TEXT:

6.3.1 IGBO-UKWU IN PREHISTORY

In 1939 a man called Isaiah was digging a cistern in his compound on the outskirts of Igbo-Ukwu, 125 miles South East of Onitsha, when he struck on valuable archaeological objects mostly made up of bronzes. This is also an archaeological discovery made by a layman, a non-archaeologists.

The most interesting thing about the bronze was the nature of their style and decoration which was distinct from the bronze of Benin and Ife.

6.3.2 EXCAVATION

Between 1959 and 1966 Thurstan Shaw was invited to excavate the Igbo-Ukwu site, assisted by Liman Ciroma. The first site was Igbo Isaiah’ situated within the compound of Isaiah. In this compound, as a result of the excavation an iron blade highly decorated pot set on its own open work stand which was later recognised as the characteristics ancient Igbo Ukwu ware were later copied and repeated in a number of bronzes.

The second site is christened ‘Igbo Richard’ a neighbour and relative of Isaiah who also reported of strange things in his compound.



6.3.3 BRONZES

The contents from the excavation consisted of highly decorated bronzes such as large bowls, bronze shells, ornamental bosses, large pendant ornaments, three staff heads, spiral snake ornaments, scabbard support and other miscellaneous objects. A number of highly ornamented complete pots, characterised by deep channelling, were found together with a large number of beads, mostly of coloured glass, but some of carnelian. The nature of the bronzes was strongly suggestive of sacred vessels used for some ceremonial or ritual purpose and of ornaments and regalia for some important persons.

6.3.4 THE BURIAL CHAMBER

As a result of the excavation at Igbo-Ukwu, roughly about one meter, a number of pots were found on a pedestal, with their characteristic of deep grooving, decorated with snakes and some are of skeuomorphic of basket work. This irregularly pile of pots probably represented a shrine associated with offerings made to the spirit of the dignitary buried in the gives burial chamber. A peculiar feature of this shrine was that among the pots and broken pots-herds were a larger number of pieces of pottery which had been rubbed down to a special shape. There were some 1500 of these little pottery pegs in the shrine perhaps they represented votive offerings of some kind.

Royalty was depicted in some of the contents of the excavation. Three ivory tusks, possibly carved as horns in association with copper bosses, close to a human skull surrounded with beads was obtained. The skull was also associated with a decorated pectoral plate, a crown with several ornaments which concussively was a burial chamber of someone of great social importance. The chamber was lined up with traces of matting and textiles in contact with some of the copper objects. By noticing carefully the positions of the bones and all the other objects it was possible to conclude that the corpse had been buried in sitting positions upon a stool, the arms supported by the copper brackets and fan-holder and a fly switch set in its hands, richly dressed in beads surmounted by a crown and a pectoral plate on the chest. Close by were the remains of at least five individuals perhaps slaves buried to accompany their lord in the next world.

6.3.5 ANTIQUITY OF IGBO-UKWU FINDS



At one time it was said that the Igbo-Ukwa finds could not be very old because of the presence of textiles. But this is not necessarily true because textile in close association with copper objects inhibits termite and bacterial activity, which have acted as a preservative.

Some of the wood from the stool decoreated with copper bosses from the burial chamber in Igbo Richard was used for radio carbon dating and yielded a date of AD 850 + 120. Charcoal from Igbo Jonah yielded a date of AD 875 + 130. This mean the Igbo Ukwu finds were dated to around 9th century AD.

6.4 SUMMARY

The Igbo-Ukwu fonds have posed several questions, some remained unanswered. There were several combinations of materials, some modes in nature, albeit gave a date of 9th AD.


1. Was Igbo-Ukwu discovered through systematic means? Discuss this in the Light of its discovery.

6.6 REFERENCES

Thurstan Shaw, (1977) Unearthing Igbo Ukwu, Oxford University, Ibadan.


__________________ (1970) A Account of Archaeological Discoveries in Eastern Nigeria. London 2Vols.

Lawal, B. (1973) Dating Problems at Igbo Ukwu, Journal of African History, 14:1-8



T O P I C 7:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES

7.0 TOPIC: BENIN IN PREHISTORY- 33


7.2 OBJECTIVES - - - - - - - 34

7.3 IN-TEXT - - - - - - - - 34

7.3.1 BENIN IN PREHISTORY -- - - 34

7.3.2 THE CIRE PERDUE TECHNOLOGY - 35

7.3.3 THE BENIN CITY WALL - - - 35

7.3.4 IFE CLARKS QUARTERS EXCAVATION- 36

7.4 SUMMARY - - - - - - - 36


7.6 REFERENCES - - - - - - - 36




7.0 TOPIC: BENIN IN PREHISTORY

7.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter revealed the various sources for Benin History. It potrays the technique of cire pesdue technique of smelting metals.

7.2 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this topic, you should be able to: i. Know the Ife-Benin relationship. ii. Know the smelting technique. iii. The importance of the Benin city wall.

7.3 IN-TEXT:

7.3.1 BENIN IN PREHISTORY

The sources for the history of Benin is made up of travellers records, oral tradition, art history and archaeology. Little is known about the earliest history of Benin. Some historians indicate that its beginnings date from about 11th century AD. Some historians also ascribe development within Benin to be exotic. There are suggestions that the Bini absorbed some Sudanic elements. There are traditions of doubtful antiquity, which say that they came originally from Egypt via Sudan and Ife and arrived Benin and claimed that it had already been inhabited by people who came from the Sudan.

Historically, Benin is important because its development centred around a major urban unit ruled by a semi-divine king. It had an iron working technology and cire Perdue casting tradition second to none. From travellers’ records they had bronzes and horses used as status symbols. Benin architecture was also remarkable. Some scholars indicated that it had influence from the North.

In an attempt to comprehend the prehistory of Benin the following issues should be examined:

1. Ife - Benin Relationship 2. The Cire Perdue Technology 3. The Benin City wall 4. The Clarks Quarters Excavation As a result of British punitive expedition against Benin in 1897,

numerous art works were looted and sold off in London. European scholars and artists were impressed by the skilled artistic excellence and attributed the skilled craftsmanship to the Portuguese who traded along the west cost of Africa between the 15th and early 17thcentury AD. Later writers have rejected this view and emphasised the indigenous origin of the



art works. Scholars have now discovered that both the Oranmiyan dynasty and the art of cire Perdue casting have been said to have come to Benin from Ife. The evidence for this relationship consists of oral tradition recorded in Benin in modern times. It is also said that the traditions of both Ife and Benin record that the head of each Oba of Benin was sent to Ife for burial. The place where the burial took place is identified with Orun Oba Ado RC dated to the 9th or 10th century AD.

7.3.2 THE CIRE PERDUE TECHNOLOGY

Cire Perdue casting technology was extensively used in Benin. Excavation at Benin reveal items made up of leaded brass which is more suitable for casting. Its antiquity can be as late as 15th century for details on process of Cire Perdue casting refer to Igbo-Ukwu.

7.3.3 BENIN CITY WALL

Many cities and towns in Nigeria were at one time in the past enclosed by walls which reflect a great deal of the town’s past character, changing fortunes and military outlook. In most of the walls ditches were excavated to prevent enemies crossing over into the centre of the town. There is an earthen rampart. The standing walls belong to the North while dump ramparts are obtained in the south. Thus Kano, Zaria, Bida and Bauchi have built walls whereas Ife, Owu and Benin City have “dump ramparts.” The basic reason for the difference is likely climatically. There is plenty of rainfall in and around Benin City while Kano, Bida and Bauchi are in the Savannah with relatively little rainfall. Free standing mud walls in any form do not survive long in the south. At Birnin Gazargamu there is a dump ramparts probably because the loose sand of that site offered insufficient materials for the construction of such a large enclosure in mud brick. The Benin city walls have been known since 1500.



7.3.4 IFE CLARKS QUARTERS EXCAVATION

Excavation conducted in this site revealed a stratified sequence of 11 feet deep. The antiquity of the site is 13th century AD. At a shaft excused skeletons of 41 individuals through anatomical examination were mainly female of an age between 15 and 35 years. With them were bronze bracelets, fragments of clothing and few beads.

7.4 SUMMARY

Archaeological areas mapped in Benin were excavated and dated. 7.5 SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

1. What are the sources for Benin history? 7.6 REFERENCES

Balfour, H. (1903) “Thunder Bolts” Celts from Benin Man 103.


Connah, G.(1963) Archaeological Research in Benin City 1966-1964. Journal of Historical Society of Nigeria. Vol. 2 No.4 pp.465-477



T O P I C 8:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES

8.0 TOPIC: IFE IN PREHISTORY - 37


8.2 OBJECTIVES - - - - - - - 38

8.3 IN-TEXT - - - - - - - - 38

8.3.1 IFE IN PREHISTORY - - - - 38

8.4 SUMMARY - - - - - - - 39


8.6 REFERENCES - - - - - - - 39




8.0 TOPIC: IFE IN PREHISTORY

8.1 INTRODUCTION

Ife, traditionally is behaved by the Yoruba as the centre of the world, and the world was created there. It served as the religious centre of the Yoruba. Cire Perdue technology also formed part of the traditional technology obtained in that site.

8.2 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this topic, you should be able to: i. Identify the traits that have Ife and Benin. ii. Know that Ife serves as the traditional base of all Yorubas.

8.3 IN-TEXT:

8.3.1 IFE IN PREHISTORY

Yoruba traditions claim that Ife is the centre of the world and it was at Ife that the world was created. Since earliest times Ife has been the religious centre of the Yoruba and centre of origin of the Yoruba people. Due to some religious affiliations some Yoruba historians still doubt about Ife been the centre of origin . Some ascribed their origin to Arabia (Johnson).

Ife first attracted the attention of modern scholars in 1910 to1911 when the German Ethnographer, Leo Frobenius, discovered ancient artistic tradition in Terracotta and bronze which included life-size representations of human heads. He collected in Ife both by purchase and crude excavation. He thought that he had found traces of a Greek colony on the West African coast in the 13th century B.C. His discoveries were to trigger off years of speculation as to the cultural context of Ife art. Since 1956 archaeologists have been engaged in research in Ife. This has resulted not only in the collection of more objects but it was shown that Ife art was a genuine cultural expression of the early Yoruba people unassisted by outsiders.

Cire Perdue was the method employed in the production of Ife arts. An important feature revealed through excavation was the potsherd pavements either laid or edge on.

Similarly, Daima in Borno has similar architectural features. Some of the potshards have impressive decorations. The pavements are dated to 11th or 12th century AD.

One curious feature of the archaeology of Ife is the degree to which archaeological materials has been found closely associated with shrines. It



is suspected that some of these objects may indeed have remained in these shrines from time immemorial.

Around Ife are the remains of town walls in the form of earthen banks and ditches which are concentric defensive system.

It has been suggested that the Ife heads were actual portraits of rulers of Ife and members of their families, based on ethnographic evidence drawn from Owo (Willet 1967).

The style used in the production of Ife art was argued among scholars that it was derived from Nok art. It has been claimed that at least from the point of view of cire Perdue casting techniques, it was Ife that taught Benin to produce its master pieces. 8.4 SUMMARY

Ife is the centre of world according to the Yorubas; thus the centre of tradition and religion.

8.5 SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISES

1. Was there any relationship between Ife and Benin in prehistory?

2. What was the general conception of the Yoruba as regard Ife history?

8.6 REFERENCES

Willet, F. (1967) Ife in the history of West African Sculpture, London

__________ (1971) African Art: an Introduction New York: Frederick Praeger.


Tompson, L. and Ferguson (eds) Africa in Classical Antiquity, Ibadan.



T O P I C 9:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES

9.0 TOPIC: ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE CHAD BASIN- 40


9.2 OBJECTIVES - - - - - - - 41

9.3 IN-TEXT - - - - - - - - 41

9.3.1 ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE CHAD BASIN- 41

9.4 SUMMARY - - - - - - - 43


9.6 REFERENCES - - - - - - - 43




9.0 TOPIC: ARCHEOLOGY OF THE CHAD BASIN

9.1 INTRODUCTION

Significant archaeological breau through have been made in the chad basin, since the Daima excavation by Graham Connah in 1965-66. the Daima excavation with an antiquity of 3000 years has now being surpassed by a more aged find the Dufuna Canoa dating 8,500 years and the date of a pottery on a sand pit at Konduga dating over 6000 years, as one of the oldest settlement in West Africa.

9.2 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this topic, you should be able to: i. Have an idea of the general prehistory of the Chad basin.

ii. Identify spectacular finds with a much higher antiquity.

9.3 IN-TEXT:

9.3.1 ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE CHAD BASIN

The Chad Basin with its huge landmass, served as a “crossroad” in the centre of Africa with focal points of savannah routes from east and west together with the Chari Logone route reaching deep into the Equatorial and Trans-Saharan routes from the North” (Connah 1975). A number of dynasties and empires thrived in this region. They maintained close links, which served political, social and economic purposes. The unearthing of this vast landmass with the archaeological spade has yielded important fossilized materials that have assisted in the reconstruction of the history of the region. Lake Chad is a surviving remnant of a much larger lake, which at various times in the past occupied a far greater portion of the internal drainage basin known as the Chad basin. The Chad basin extends from the Tibesti mountains in the North to the Mandara Mountains in the South, from Air in the West to the Ennedi in the East.

Pioneering Archaeological Work began in the Chad basin in 1857 by the German explorer, a German named Dr. Herinrich Barth, who recorded the various mounds at Ndufu. He reported of massive “Sao pots”, described by R. Cohen as a “spurious tribal group”. A detailed archaeological observation was conducted in the Chad region by Boyd Alexander in 1909 when he described the giant Sao pots at Ngala. In 1921, A. J. Latham, then a British District Officer at Dikwa, reported of the various mounds in the vicinity of Dikwa. The archaeological importance of the Chad basin was brought to limelight in 1957 when A. Rosman and R. Cohen Excavated at Birnin Ngazargamo. The work was never published but the materials were deposited at the Jos Museum. In 1959 A. D. H. Bivar and P. L. Shinnie



conducted an archaeological survey which resulted in the publication of “Old Kanuri Capitals” (JAH 62).

The most exhaustive archaeological work so far conducted in the Chad basin which today remains a monumental reference work, is that of Graham Connah at Daima between 1961 and 1965. The Daima materials have an antiquity of 3000 years which resulted in the publication of Three thousand years in Africa: Man and his environment in the Lake Chad region of Nigeria.

Under the Joint Research Project of the University of Frankfurt and the University of Maiduguri SFB 268, a number of sites were surveyed, identified, excavated and dated. This project, which commenced in 1990 was spearheaded by Prof. Dr. Peter Breunig of the University of Frankfurt and Abubakar Garba of the University of Maiduguri and monitored by Musa O. Hambolu of the National Commission of Monuments and Museums. One of the sites excavated include Gajiganna. Gajiganna was identified in 1990. As a result of reconnaissance survey two remarkable mounds were identified; and the finds include numerous stone artefacts such as ground stone axes, grinding stones, axes, pounders and bifacial arrow heads made of basalt as well as figurines. The most significant aspect of this sites is that it depicts one of the earliest site with domestic animas in West Africa South of the Sahara, dating to 2,500 years. The small clay figurines from the site represent the earliest art in Borno. Some depict animals such as cattle and anthropomorphic objects.

The Bama Ridge is an old shoreline of the Paleo Lake Chad. At a sandpit on top of the ridge close to Konduga, a settlement site was dated to over 6000 years.

The Dufuna canoe discovered in 1987, is so far the oldest canoe in Africa and the third oldest in the world, with an antiquity of over 8000 years.



9.4 SUMMARY

That the 3000 years barrier has expanded by the discovery at Konduga and Dufuna.


1. Identify two archeological sites best known to you in the Chad basin establishing their general characteristics

9.6 REFERENCE

Cannah, G. (1987) African Civilization, Pre-Colonial Cities And States In Tropical Africa: An Archaeological Perspective. Cambridge University Press. Childe, V.G. (1936) Man Makes Himself. London: C:A. Watts. Childe, V.G. (1942) What happened in History. London: Penguin Books.


Bassey W. Andah (1995) The Epistemology of West African Settlements. Special issue of West African Journal of Archaeology Vol. 25 No. 1.

Chang, K.C. (1968) Settlement Archaeology. Palo Alto Calif, National Press Books.

Clark, D. (1982) Urban Geography. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press.

Mabogunje, A.L. (1968) Urbanization in Nigeria. University of London Press, London.



SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISES

TOPIC 1: 1. Identify the various industrial complexes of the

Paleolithic period. Answer – They are early stone age, middle stone age and late stone age.

TOPIC 2: 1. What are the direct and indirect evidences of the

beginning of Agriculture in West Africa? Answer – The direct evidence are the remains of domesticated plants and animal in context. The indirect evidence are all materials discovered in archaeological context that suggests the presence of plants and animals e.g. rock paintings and terracotta representation.

TOPIC 3: 1. What is the contrast between smelting and smithing? Answer – Smelting is an archaic way of melting icon ores while smiting is the modern way of smelting using bellows.

TOPIC 4: 1. Define urbanization

Answer – Urbanization simply is a process whereby human beings congregate in relatively large number at one particular spot of the earth surface.

2. Identify three traits which V. Gordon childe used in defining urbanism and civilization. Answer – The three traits include density of population surplus food and political authority.



TOPIC 5:

1. When was wok culture discovered? Answer – In 1928

2. What were the characteristic traits of the wok culture? Answer – They were modeled in clay with hollow and coil – built reworked from the outside. The fabric consists of day with grain of mica, quartz or granite. The terracotta represents human heads and figures and some parts of animals and reptiles.

TOPIC 6: 1. Was Igbo – Ukwu discovered through systematic means?

Discuss this in the light of its discovery. Answer – Ibgo – Ukwu was discovered accidentally when Isaiah was digging a cistern in his compound.

TOPIC 7: 1. What are the sources for Benin history?

Answer – The sources are made up of travelers records, oral tradition, art history and archaeology.

TOPIC 8:

1. Was there any relationship between Ife and Benin in prehistory? Answer – The relationship is in the technology of cire perdue, that it was Ife that taught Benin to produce its master pieces.



2. What was the general conception of the Yoruba as regard

Ife history? Answer – Ife is regarded as the centre of the world and it was at Ife that the wall was created.

TOPIC 9: 1. Identify two archaeological sites best known to you in the

Chad Basin establishing their general characteristics. Answer – Gajiganna produced several artifacts such as ground stone axes, grinding stones, axes, pounders, bifacial arrow heads, while Dufuna produces a single artifact, the canoe dating over 8000 years.



TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENTS

INSTRUCTION: ANSWER FOUR QUESTIONS ONLY

1. Comment on the evidence of early agriculture in Nigeria

2. Outline the history and development of metallurgy in Nigeria.

3. What are the problems and prospects of archaeological research

in the Chad region of North-East Nigeria.

4. Evaluate the state of Archaeological excavation at any site known

to you.

5. Write on two of the following:-

a. Igbo-Ukwu

b. Iwo-Eleru

c. Nok Culture

6. Evaluate the evidence for the existence of stone age populations

in the Nigerian region.

7. Discuss the significance of Daima to the study of the prehistory of

the Chad Basin.

8. “The Discoveries at Igbo-Ukwu have raised more problems than

they have solved.” Discuss this statement with reference to the

history and archaeology of the region of study.

9. Outline the history and development of Archaeology in Nigeria.

10. Argue for or against the domestication of Plants and animal

husbandry in Nigeria.

Documents

UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI Maiduguri, Nigeria CENTRE