Wesler Kit W. (ed.) Historical Archaeology in Nigeria

Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1998. — xv, 356 p. — ISBN: 0-86543-609-6.Historical archaeology is experiencing a surge of interest in West Africa, after decades of relative obscurity. The papers in this volume represent the most recent findings by scholars who are committed to melding written history, oral tradition, and archaeological data into a dynamic understanding of the recent centuries in Nigeria. The case studies here range from the coast of Lagos State, through the Yoruba island once dominated by Oyo and Ibadan, to Benin City, seat of the great pre-colonial empire; north to Zungeru, seat of colonial administration under Lord Lugard, and the Jos Plateau, homeland of the Ron people; and south again to the Niger Delta, where the Nigerian people first began their historic interaction with Portuguese explorers.
Studies of modern houses among theTiv and modern ironworkers at Umundu link the present to the past, through continuity and change. A final chapter explores West African historical archaeology in comparative perspective, linking problems and findings in Nigeria to African American and Native American scholarship in the United States.
These papers demonstrate that historical archaeology will make a critical contribution to exploring the heritage of modern West Africa, from pre-colonial states and empires, through the years of European trade and colonization, into the modern era. Some of the contributors to this study are Phillip Allsworth-Jones, David A. Aremu, S. O. Ogundele and Nwanna Nzewunwa.Kit W. Wesler is the director of the Wickliffe Mounds Research Center and Associate Professor of Archaeology at Murray State University (Kentucky). He completed his Ph. D. in Anthropology/Archaeology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. In 1985-86 he held a Fulbright lectureship at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.Historical Archaeology in West Africa (Kit W. Wesler).
Salt Boiling on the Egun Coast: Excavation and Experiment in Lagos State (Philip Allsworth-Jones and Kit W. Wesler).
Early History of Metal Working among Northeast Yorubas in Kwara State (David A. Aremu).
Pottery making in Ilora and its relationship with Old Oyo pottery finds (Philip Gbadegesin Ajekigbe).
A Legacy in Earth—Ancient Benin and Ishan, Southern Nigeria (Patrick Darling).
An Archaeological Investigation of Ron Abandoned Settlements on the Jos Plateau: A Case of Historical Archaeology (Joseph Mangut).
An Archaeological Study of Ironworking at Umundu: The Decline and Continuity of an Indigenous Tradition (F. N. Anozie).
Aspects of Indigenous Tiv Architecture: Past and Present (S. O. Ogundele).
An Historical Archaeology of Zungeru Colonial Settlement, a Case Study (A. Yinka Ogedengbe).
Cross-cultural Archaeology: Nigerian Perspectives on North American Research Problems (Kit W. Wesler).