Many thanks to the Archaeological Institute of the University Frankfurt for their very informative day out at the excavation sites
Surveying
Excavation of a furnace of the Nok Culture
The Nok Culture of Central Nigeria represents the earliest sculptural art of sub saharan Africa as well as the beginnings of iron metallurgy. Since 2005 a joint research project of the University of Frankfurt, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments and the University of Jos are dedicated to the Nok Culture.
The sites of the Nok Culture are spread over an area of approximately 1500 sq kms west of the Jos plateau region central Nigeria. Most ancient cultures discovered copper and bronze before iron, but the Nok apparently moved from the stone age to the iron age. Did the Nok teach themselves these skills, or did they discover the secrets of iron from other cultures? That question remains a mystery that archaeologists may someday understand.
A series of accidental finds of fine terracotta figurines by tin miners on the Jos Plateau revealed an ancient culture named for the village of Nok, where some of them were found. Initially Neolithic, the Nok culture made the transition to the Iron Age.
Distinctive features of Nok art include naturalism; stylized treatment of the mouth and eyes; relative proportions of the human head, body, and feet; distortions of the human facial features; and the treatment of animal forms. The spread of Nok-type figures in a wide area south of the Jos Plateau, covering southern Kaduna state southeastward to Katsina Ala, south of the Benue River, suggests a well-established culture that left traces still identifiable in the lives of the Numan and other peoples of the area today. Many of the distinctive features of Nok art can also be traced in later developments of Nigerian art produced in such places as Igbo Ukwu, Ife, Esie, and Benin City.
The sites of the Nok Culture are spread over an area of approximately 1500 sq kms west of the Jos plateau region central Nigeria. Most ancient cultures discovered copper and bronze before iron, but the Nok apparently moved from the stone age to the iron age. Did the Nok teach themselves these skills, or did they discover the secrets of iron from other cultures? That question remains a mystery that archaeologists may someday understand.
A series of accidental finds of fine terracotta figurines by tin miners on the Jos Plateau revealed an ancient culture named for the village of Nok, where some of them were found. Initially Neolithic, the Nok culture made the transition to the Iron Age.
Distinctive features of Nok art include naturalism; stylized treatment of the mouth and eyes; relative proportions of the human head, body, and feet; distortions of the human facial features; and the treatment of animal forms. The spread of Nok-type figures in a wide area south of the Jos Plateau, covering southern Kaduna state southeastward to Katsina Ala, south of the Benue River, suggests a well-established culture that left traces still identifiable in the lives of the Numan and other peoples of the area today. Many of the distinctive features of Nok art can also be traced in later developments of Nigerian art produced in such places as Igbo Ukwu, Ife, Esie, and Benin City.
Wonderful photos and interesting info with it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Terrry
Anke