Archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 15:32, 12 December 2014
 Intricate bronze ceremonial pot, 9th century, Igbo-Ukwu | |
  Shown within Nigeria | |
| Location | Igbo-Ukwu, Anambra State, Nigeria |
|---|---|
| History | |
| Builder | Kingdom of Nri |
| Founded | Unknown, but prior to 1000 AD |
| Cultures | Igbo culture |
| Associated with | Igbo people |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1959, 1964 |
| Archaeologists | Thurstan Shaw |
The archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu revealed bronze artifacts dated to the 9th century A.D. which were initially discovered by Isiah Anozie in 1939 while digging a well in his compound in Igbo-Ukwu, an Igbo town in Anambra State, Nigeria. As a result of these finds, three archaeological sites were excavated in 1959 and 1964 by Thurstan Shaw which revealed more than 700 high quality artifacts of copper, bronze and iron, as well as about 165000 glass, carnelian and stone beads, pottery, textiles and ivory. They are the oldest bronze artifacts known in West African and were manufactured centuries before the emergence of other known bronze producing centers such as those of Ife and Benin. The Igbo-Ukwu bronzes amazed the world with a very high level of technical and artistic proficiency and sophistication which was at this time distinctly more advanced than bronze casting in Europe.[1] Peter Garlake compares the Igbo-Ukwu bronzes to the finest jewelry of rococo Europe or of Carl Faberge.[2], and William Buller Fagg states they were created with a strange rococo almost Faberge type virtuosity.[3] Frank Willet states that the Igbo-Ukwu bronzes portray a standard that is comparable to that established by Benvenuto Cellini five hundred years later in Europe.[4]
The high technical proficiency and lack of known prototypes of the Igbo-Ukwu bronzes led to initial speculation in the academic community that they must have been created after European contact and phantom voyagers were postulated. However research has established that the source of the metals was of local origin and radio carbon dating has confirmed a 9th century date, long before the earliest contact with Europe. Some of the glass and carnelian beads have found to be produced in Old Cairo at the workshops of Fustat thus establishing the existence of trade contacts between Igbo-Ukwu and ancient Egypt.[5][6][7][8]
References
- ^ Honour, Hugh; Fleming, John (2005). A world history of art (7th ed. ed.). London: Laurence King. ISBN 9781856694513.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - ^ Garlake, Peter (2002). Early art and architecture of Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 66. ISBN 9780192842619.
- ^ Herbert, Eugenia W. (1984). Red gold of Africa : copper in precolonial history and culture. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 89. ISBN 9780299096045.
- ^ Willet, Frank (14 April 1983). "Who taught the smiths of Igbo Ukwu?" (PDF). New Scientist. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^ CHIKWENDU, V. E.; CRADDOCK, P. T.; FARQUHAR, R. M.; SHAW, THURSTAN; UMEJI, A. C. (February 1989). "NIGERIAN SOURCES OF COPPER, LEAD AND TIN FOR THE IGBO-UKWU BRONZES". Archaeometry. 31 (1): 27–36. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1989.tb01053.x.
- ^ Insoll, Timothy; Shaw, Thurstan (March 1997). "Gao and Igbo-Ukwu: Beads, interregional trade, and beyond". African Archaeological Review. 14 (1): 9–23. doi:10.1007/BF02968364.
- ^ Sutton, J. E. G. (1991). "The international factor at Igbo-Ukwu". The African Archaeological Review. 9 (1): 145–160. doi:10.1007/BF01117219.
- ^ Sutton, J. E. G. (2001). African Archaeological Review. 18 (1): 49–62. doi:10.1023/A:1006792806737.
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