ANCESTRAL LEGACIES IN OSUN GROVE:

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXHIBITION OF
EARLY OSOGBO HISTORY

ThiscatalogispublishedbyTheAfricanaStudiesDepartment,UniversityofNorthCarolinaatCharlo e
fortheexhibi on
ANCESTRAL LEGACIES IN OSUN GROVE: ARCHAEOLOGICAL
EXHIBITION OF EARLY OSOGBO HISTORY
August19-25,2011

EXHIBITION STAFF

Exhibi on Curator
AkinOgundiran

Consul ng Curator

AjaniAdigun

Charlo e Papers in Africana Studies, No. 4 (2012)

Osun Grove Site Manager

OlakunleMakinde

Catalog Author & Designer

AkinOgundiran2012

Exhibi on Logis cs Manager

FataiAdekunle

ISBN 9780984344949

Allrightsreserved

Exhibi on Assistants

Nopartofthispublica onmaybereproduced,u lized,or

storedinanyformwithoutthepermissioninwri ngfromthe
authorwhobearsthesolecopyrightforthepublica on.

ShehuAdewale

The Exhibi on is Jointly Presented by

AfricanaStudiesDepartment
UniversityofNorthCarolinaatCharlo e,USA
and
Na onalCommissionforMuseumsandMonuments
(Na onalMuseumOsogbo)
FederalRepublicofNigeria

MukailaAyorinde
IsraelBabawale
OwolabiOdeniyi
ToluOyeniyi
IsaacOtun
SaheedQuadri

Curators Remark
These past field seasons have been well spent traversing the
Osun-Osogbogrove,diggingintothedeepwellsofOsogbohistory,andseekingsa sfactoryanswerstomynumerousques ons.I
am pleased that the pioneering archaeological study in this
UNESCOsworldheritagesitehasyieldedfrui ulresults.Sincewe
begantheresearchprojectin2003,wehaveexcavatedmorethan
120-square meter area and archaeologically surveyed about 20
hectares within the Osun Grove. Our archaeological teams have
madeveryexci ngdiscoveriesofsomeoftheancientremainsofthefoundersofOsogbo,da ngto
theearlyseventeenthcentury.
Thisexhibi onrepresentsaveryhumblea empttopresenttheresultsofourarchaeologicalinves ga onstomembersofthepublic.Youwillencounterinthisexhibi onfewofthe20,000+ar facts
thatweexcavated.Eachar facttellsacompellingstoryaboutthehistoryofOsogbo.Ourresearch
findingsshowthatrightfromitsincep onabout400yearsago,Osogbowasacosmopolitancommunityoftraders,ar sans,farmers,andhunters.ThesepeopleoriginatedfromdiverseplacesinYorubaland.Theylaidthefounda onforapeaceful,interdependent,spiritual,andworldlycommunity,even
if some mes with contested interests. Their accomplishments foretold a peaceful and prosperous
presentandfuture.
I hope this exhibi on of Ancestral Legacies inspires us to redouble our eorts for the recovery,
preserva on,andstudyofourpast,forthebenefitofourcommonhumanity.Iamdeeplygratefulto
theins tu onsandindividualswhohavesupportedthisproject.

AkinOgundiran,Ph.D.
DirectoroftheUpperOsunArchaeological&HistoricalResearchProject
Osogbo,August2011

In the Beginning

Accordingtotradi ons,thehistoryofOsogbobeganinIpole-OmuwiththeadventuresofTimehin
andLarooye.

Manyyearsago,sothestorygoes,thesetwomenledthemigra onsthatledtothese lementof

peopleindierentplaceswithinthepresentOsun-Osogbogrove.

Ar s cRepresenta onofTimehinridingan
elephant,Idi-Ogun,Osogbo

Ar s cImpressionofLarooye,
AtaojasPalace,Osogbo

Archaeology of OsunOsogbo Grove

A ermorethansevenyearsofresearch:involvingarchaeologicalsurveyandexcava ons,wehave
iden fiedoneofthefirstsitesofancientOsogbose lementintheOsunGrove.Thisearlyse lement
wasatOhuntoto,theprecursortothepresent-dayOsogboTown.Thisexhibi onisabouttheancient
Osogbose lementthatwasfoundedinOhuntotointhenorthwestsec onoftheOsunGrove.

Area of Archaeological Excava ons

Area of Archaeological Survey

What is Archaeology?
Archaeologyistherecoveryandstudyofthematerialremainsofpastculturesandsocie es.Archaeologistsaretrainedintheuniversityformanyyears.Theirjobistosystema callysearchfor,recover,
document,andstudyancientobjects,landscapes,andcontextsinordertoeducatethepublicand
thescien ficcommunityaboutthepastlifewaysandtheimplica onsforthepresentandfuture.

Archaeologyisoneofthebestwaystostudythepastbecauseitgivesusdirectaccesstotheremains
ofpastculturesandsocie es.Itisbystudyingthesepastremainsthatwenowhavearicherunderstandingofthewaysoflifeofthepioneeringse lersinOsogbo.Thestudyofthesear factswilltellus
agreatdealabouttheeconomy,cra s,beliefs,sociopoli calorganiza on,foodways,andfashion
styles,etc.ofthoseancestors.Bysodoing,wewillhaveabe erunderstandingofourselves,asindividualsandasacommunity.

Le. Membersofthe2011
Excava onTeam,including
theNa onalMuseum
OsogboStaandfieldlaboratoryassistants.

Se lement Phases in Early Osogbo

Thereweretwophasesofse lementinOhuntoto.ThefirstandtheearlierphasewastheTIMEHIN
period.Thisperiodwascharacterizedbyhun ngac vi es.Itisnameda eroneofthehuntersofthe
period:Timehin.Themaniss llreveredinthelocalloreasoneofthegreatesthuntersofhis me.

Wehavefoundtheremainsofanimalbonesle behindbythesehuntersinthe80sq.m.excavated
unitN25E59,locatedonLat.N74545.449'andLong.E432.922'at339.2mabovesealevel.

Thepictureaboveshowstheoldestlevelintheunit.Thiswaswherethepioneeringhuntersbutcheredtheanimalsthattheykilled.Thebonesofbushpig,gazelle,deer,monkey,andotherlargeand
smallanimalswerefoundatthespotswherethesehunterscamped.Theyo enle theheadandthe
vertebraeoftheseanimalsinsitu,takingtherestofthecarcasstotheircampstocooka eralong
dayornightofhun ng.

Se lement Phases (conts.)

Thesecondoccupa onphasewastheLAROOYEperiod.Thisistheupperlevel(B)asshowninthe
stra graphybelow.Duringthisphase,theEarlyOsogbocommunitywasfullyformed,andcomprised
ofadiverserangeofpeoplespursuingmul pleoccupa onsandac vi es.

DuringtheLAROOYEperiod,thehun ngcampsite(oftheTIMEHINperiod)wasconvertedintoamul-purposesite.Asyouwillno ceinthesubsequentsec ons,partofthesitewasusedasarefuse

dump,whileanothersec onwasusedforprocessingdyestu,andyetanothersec onforthemanufactureofglassbeads.TheLAROOYEdepositsconsistofawiderangeofar factsshowninthisexhibion.

Thousandsofar factsrecoveredfromthismul purposesitearelikejigsawpuzzles.Fi ngthemtogetherwillgiveusexcellentpicturesofthelivingcondi onsoftheEarlyOsogboancestors.

Totherightisthe
profileofthesoil
sedimentsthat
characterizeseach
period.Theclaysoil
(C)representsthe
TIMEHINphase,
andtheashdeposits(B)referstotheLAROOYEphase.Thetopsoil(A)denotestheperiodwhenthe
sitewasabandonedduringtheearlyeighteenthcentury.TheTIMEHINphasehasbeendated,using
standardradiocarbonda ngtechniques,totheperiodbetween1590and1620AD.Approximately,
thismeansthatEarlyOsogbose lementatOhuntotodatestotheearlyseventeenthcentury.

Regional Geography and Network

Bythelate17thcentury,EarlyOsogbowasathrivingcommercialandcra scenterinYorubaland.Its
loca ononthesavannaandrainforestboundarywasanadvantage,makingEarlyOsogboanac ve
mee ngpointforpeoplesfromseveralsmallandlarge-scalesocie es,eachwithdiversecommodiesandtradi ons.Thepoli calstabilityofthenascentcommunitymusthaveencouragedupstart
youngmenandwomentose leinEarlyOsogbo.

ArchaeologybearswitnessthatEarlyOsogboatOhuntotowasanentrepotfortradersasfarasOld
Oyointhenorth,andIjesaland,Ife,Ijebuland,andOwuinthesouth.

Cra s and Technology

Afragmentofglass bead crucible andmanypiecesofglass cullet (glasswastesandblanks)havebeen
foundinOhuntoto.Thesecons tuteevidenceofglassbeadproduc on,makingOsogbothesecond
siteinYorubaland(andindeed,WestAfrica)wherewehaveevidenceoflikelyprimaryglassbead
produc on.Un lnow,suchevidencehascomeonlyfromIle-Ife.

Glassbeadproduc onisaverycomplicatedprocess.Itrequiresaveryhighlevelofskillsinpyrotechnologythatis,thecontroloffireandunderstandingofthechemistryofthesoilinhightemperatures.Manufactureofglassbeadsisates monytothetechnologicaladvancementoftheEarlyOsogbocommunity.Itshowsthatatleastafamilyofbead-makerswaslivinginthese lement.

Itislikelythatthesebead-makersmadeuseofmainlylocalmaterialsfortheirproducts.
Glassbeads(segi)werehighlyprizedastheul mateemblemofstatusandwealthwithintheYoruba
GlassBeadCrucible cultural,socioeconomic,andpoli calmatricesofpower,authority,andvalua on.Itisaformofsocialwealth
andpoli calcapitalthatishighlydesiredbytheelite
kingsandchiefs.Osogbomusthaveenjoyedaprideof
placeasasourceofsuchobjectsofimmensevalue.

Right. PiecesoftheExcavatedBeadCullet

10

Mostofthearchaeologicalar factsfromOsunGroveareobjectsof
everydaylifesuchastheseornatecomb(upper right),brassbangle
(middle right),pedestaloil-lamp(lower right),aswellasarrowsfor
hun ngandwarfare(lower le),domes cknife(lower middle),and
shavingknife(lower right).Alloftheseobjectswereusedindailyacvi es.

Itislikelythatsomeoftheseobjectsweretradedinfromothertowns.
TheironobjectslikelycamefromtheareasofEjigbo,Kuta,andIsundunrin,famousforlarge-scaleironproduc on.

ThebrassbanglewaspossiblyaEuropeanorArabtradegood,and
wouldhavecomefromeitheracrosstheAtlan cortheSahararespecvely.

AlltheseshowthatEarlyOsogbowasconnectedtofar-flungcommercialcentersinthe17thandearly18thcenturies.

2cm

5cm

2cm

4cm
11

Thediscoveryofthisashpit(le)wasone
oftheexci ngmomentsofthe2011excava onsinthegrove.Pureashdeposits
filledthe60cm-deeppit.Asheswerecommonlyusedasalkalineindyestuandglass
beadproduc on.Thisdepositisindica ve
thatthissitemayhavebeenusedfordyeor
glassbeadmanufacture.
ThedyestumadeinOsogbowasanimportantexportgoodtradedtotheIjebu
tradersonthecoast,whothenresoldthe
dyestutotheEuropeans.Osogboisfamousforitsindigomanufacture.Hence,the
appellate:Osogbo Ilu Aro (Osogbo,the
townofindigodye).

RightAcontemporarydyercon nuingthecra tradi onofherforebears.

12

Panorama:Excava on-in-ProgressandOsunGrove

THE AFRICANA STUDIES DEPARTMENT AT UNC CHARLOTTE ISANINTERDISCIPLINARYACADEMICUNIT.ITOFFERSBACCALAUREATTEDEGREES,INCLUDINGTHEB.A.WITHCONCENTRATIONINHEALTHANDENVIRONMENT.ITALSOOFFERSAGRADUATECERTIFICATEPROGRAM.THEDEPARTMENTSACADEMIC,RESEARCH,ANDOUTREACHPROGRAMSEMPHASIZECULTURE,HISTORY,SOCIALPOLICYANDENTREPRENEURSHIP.www.africana.uncc.edu.

13

Cowry shells areamongthefrequently-encounteredarfactsinEarlyOsogbo.Twospeciesarerepresented

monetaandannulusbutthemonetaspecies(right)is
themostcommon.

Monetacowriesarena vetotheMaldiveIslandsinthe
IndianOceanfromwheretheywereimportedtothe
WestAfricancoastbyEuropeantradersbeginninginthe
earlysixteenthcentury.TheEuropeansusedthesecowriestopayformostoftheexportedAfricanproducts,
especiallypepper,dyestu,ivory,andlaterhumancap ves.Bythe meEarlyOsogbowasestablished
intheearlyseventeenthcentury,cowrieshadbecomethestandardlocalcurrencyacrossYorubaland.

Theuseofcowryascurrencyfacilitatedeasiermarket
transac onasopposedtotradingbybarter.Soon,cowrywasusedasameansofstoringwealth.

Thepottothele wasexcavatedin situ.Itwasburied

beneaththefloorofahouse.Morethan100cowries
werefoundinsidethepot.Theowner(s)ofthepotused
ittostoremoneysincetherewasnoformalbankinthe
oldendays.Thepotanditscontentsareabout300
yearsold.

14

Tobacco Pipes arealsoamongtheubiquitousar factsin

EarlyOsogbo.Theycameinawidevarietyofforms.

Thesepipeswereusedtosmoketobacco,aNewWorld
plantproductusedbytheNa veAmericansforspiritual,
medicinal,andrecrea onalpurposes.

TobaccowasintroducedintotheYorubaregionduring
thesixteenthcenturybyEuropeantraders.ManyresidentsinEarlyOsogbo,nodoubt,engagedinthenovelty
oftobaccosmoking.

MostofthetobaccopipesinEarlyOsogboweretraded
infromacrosstheregion,likelyfromIlorinandthesavannaarea.DocumentaryevidenceindicatesthattobaccoitselfwaslargelyimportedfromBraziltoWestAfrica.

Withtradedpipesandimportedtobacco,tobaccosmokingmusthavebeenarela velyexpensiverecrea onal

ac vitythatonlytheelitecouldaord.Theprac ceof
smokingtobaccowasthereforeasortofstatussymbol
inthepast.Weshouldalsonotethattobacco-smokingis
addic veandhasthepoten altotemporarilyalterthe
stateofconsciousness.

15

Domes c Po ery
Themostcommonar factsthatarchaeologistsusuallycomeacrossarebrokenpiecesofpotsandbowls.
EarlyOsogboisnotanexcep on.

Wehaverecordedmorethan15,000fragmentsof
po eryinthecourseofourexcava onsinthegrove.
Peopleusedavarietyofpotsandbowlsfordomes c
andcommercialac vi es.Thesetendtobreakmore
frequentlythananyotherdomes cproducts.Thisis
whypo erydominatethearchaeologicaldepositsof
thesite.

Domes cpo eryareexcellentsourcesofinforma on

onfoodways(thesocial,func onal,andaesthe csof
foodprepara on,service,consump on,anddiscard),
ceramictechnology,regionalinterac ons,andtrading
networks,amongothers.

Wehavefoundthegrovepo erythatoriginatedfrom
theIle-Ife(a,b)andOyo-Ile(c,d),onceagainshowing
thefar-flungtradingnetworksofOsogboancestors.
Wehavealsodiscoveredceramicformsthatare
uniquetoOsogbo(e-h).Theseareusuallywellfired,
burnishedea ngbowlscoatedwithredslip(e,f);and
puedlight-weightspecializedbowls(g-h).

16

17

Exhibi onSetUp,2011

Fewotherar factsfeaturedin
theexhibi on:from the top,
tobaccopipe,servingbowl,
mandibleofalargebovid,and
oillamp.

18

KingofOsogbo,declaringopentheAncestralLegacyExhibi on,AtaojasPalace,Osogbo.August19,2011

APPRECIATION
Theexhibi oncuratorgratefullyacknowledgesthecontribu onsand/orlogis calsupportofthefollowingins tuonsandindividualswhomadethe2011archaeologicalfieldworkandtheexhibi onpossible.
HOST
His Royal Majesty, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji, Larooye II, The Ataoja of Osogbo

COHOST
Na onal Commission for Museums and Monuments
MallamYusufAbdallaUsman,Director-General
Dr.MusaHambolu,DirectorofResearch,PlanningandPublica ons
Mr.OluremiAdedayo,DirectorofMonuments,HeritageandSites

SPONSORS
Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC, USA (2011)
Na onal Endowment for the Humani es (20045)
WennerGren Founda on for Anthropological Research (2004)
University of North Carolina, Charlo e, USA

COSPONSORS
Council for the Advancement of Yoruba Studies
Professor Babatunde AgbajeWilliams, Ibadan
Lea Koonce, USA
Akinbukola Ogundiran, Lagos