Igbo-Ukwu

In 1938 a man digging a cistern at Igbo-Ukwu struck bronze objects, and excavations by Thurstan Shaw in 1959 and 1964 uncovered three sites: a burial chamber of a high-status figure, a storehouse of regalia and a disposal pit, containing hundreds of copper alloy and bronze works of remarkable delicacy, made by lost-wax casting with surfaces of granulation and fine wirework, along with tens of thousands of glass and carnelian beads indicating long-distance trade. Radiocarbon dates placed them in the ninth century, far earlier than expected and older than Ife or Benin, which reset the chronology of West African metalworking. Most finds are in museums elsewhere; a small local display and the excavation sites remain.

History

Igbo-Ukwu was the capital of the Kingdom of Nri from the 8th or 9th century, at the centre of a trade network reaching Gao on the Niger bend and, through it, Egypt and North Africa. In 1938 the villager Isaiah Anozie found bronzes while digging beside his home, the archaeologist Thurstan Shaw's excavations from 1959 found two more sites, and radiocarbon dating places them around 850 AD, the earliest known bronze casting in the region (Wikipedia, Igbo-Ukwu).

Highlights

• The excavation sites - the marked locations of the three finds.
• The local museum - the small display in the village.
• The village setting - the ordinary settlement the finds came from.
• The context - the story of the 1938 discovery and the 1959 excavation.

When to go

November to March in the dry season for the roads. Weekday mornings are best for finding the museum open, since hours are irregular. The National Museum in Lagos holds more of the material.

Practical notes

Almost all the major finds are held elsewhere and the local display is very small. Opening hours are unreliable. There is little to see at the excavation sites themselves. Interpretation is minimal.

Nearby

Awka lies north; Agulu lake is northwest.