New facts about - Africana Studies

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SATURDAY CHAMPION
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.PAGE 21
JULY 23,2011
O sogb o : New facts
about
•Archaeologists make new discoveries YETUNDE OLADEJO, Osogbo
SOGBO is a city in· Nigeria
and is the capital of Osun
State which consists of
two local government
area s with a population
of over 3 50,00 0 people, located in
the heart of South western Nigeria's
Yoruba speaking people.
Investigation conducted by olir
correspon dent has it that the present
Osogbo was discovered about 400
years by a hunter called "Olutimehin"
who told "Laroye" the first king to
oversee the ancient town at Ipole near
Desa that he had discovered a place
where there was w ater. Then, Laroye
and his child ren we re facing the
problem of water scarcity 1n Ipo-TIe
and did not waste time to relocate t o ·
p resent Osogbo to b egin a n ew lease
of life.
But archaeological investigation
into the sacred Osun grove recently
led by Professor Akin Ogundiran,
Director Upper Osun Archaeological
Project, said his research was carried
out t o investigate the early his tory
of Osogbo through archaeological
research, a dding that he had
conducted archaeological survey
within and in the outskirt of the
grove.
Ogundiran who is a professor of
Africana Studies, Anthropology and
History, stated that he had been able
to identify places of a rchaeological
interest and paid attention to the
areas that oral informants suggest
are the starting point of the ancient
town in the grove. He said h is team
concentrated their archaeological
efforts at the place called "Ohuntoto"
area of the Osun Osogbo sacred grove
where the oral informants told them
where a market site, palace and the
town of Os ogbo were first established .
The archaeological team said they
excavated more than 120 square
meter area in different parts of the
grove where they discovered the
ancient remains of the founders
of Osogbo dating back to the early
O
-Animal bones
seventeenth century. The excavation
unit accQrding to Ogundiran is 80
square meters in size which make it
the largest single unit of excavation
ever conducted in ilie shore of
Yorubaland .
Ogundiran who ·is also the
chairman, Africana Studies
Department, University of North
Carolina said that h is team
excavated the sites whfke some of the
pioneering immigrant hunters first
settled before other settlers who were
farmers , traders.and artisans later
joined them, addirlg that some of the
pioneering hunters butchered and
shared killed animals which included
large antelopes and warthogs in the
southeast COIner of th e grove.
He also disclosed that the team
uncovered a dye pit where the
ancient residents llVing in the grove
manufactuFed dyes and poss ibly
dyed clothes about 400 years ago
and gla~s bead production in form
of bead making crucible and bead
wastes (cullet) which h e said it would
help the archaeologist to re-write
the history of craft production in the
south western Nigeria.
He noted th at outside lle-Ife,
Osogbo is now the only place in
.
Yorubaland where there was evidence
of glass bead production that dated
back to about 300 years a~:o, and
that the discovery of dye Pit i n
the grove also confirmed the oral
traditions that called Osogbo "TIu Aro"
(home of dyeing) .
Among the artifacts discovered by
the archaeologists were cowry shells,
or:nate tobacco pipes. oil larnps
among others . The domestic objects
. that have also been discovered
include arrow points , knives, needle,
s pindle whorls and brass bangle.
S peaking with Saturday Champion
after the public viewing ofthe
archaeological sitein Osun osogbo
sacred group, Ogundiran s tated
the team began the archaeological
investigation into the s acreclgrove
sinc~ 2003. He.saic1_their ·scoveries
have shown that It was in the
-Akin Dgt,tndiran
OSlin grove tha t the early Osogbo
settlement started m ore than 400
years ago and tha t the early settlers
were active e ntrepreneurs which were
involved in market economy , trading
far and wide across Yorubaland and
beyond.
"The ceramic pots that have been
excavated provide evidence that the
early settlers in Osogbo traded with
Oyo, Ife and Ijesa. Tbey used cowry
as currency and they smoked tobacco
pipes for recreation. The presence of
beads and brass among the artefacts
also tell u s something about the
worldliness and fashion style of the
ancient people of Osogbo,» Ogundiran
expla ined.
. Ogundiran further stated that
his team will conduct preliminary
analysis of the LOOO pounds
of artefacts found in the grove,
adding that "the analysis. will takeo
time but I assure you that we will
do due diligence to complete the
analysis. Every single artifact will
be d escribed and recorded . Plans
are also underway to use some of
the excavated artefacts to establish
an exhibition of the archaeological
,resources of the grove."
-Cer!lmic pot with cowry s hells
Also speaking, the curator,
National Commission for Museum
and Monument, Osogbo, Mr.
M$kinde Olakunle s aid the res earch
will further boost the relevance of
the history of Osogbo to the modem
world.
.
Olakunle also said the research
which proved evidence of oral
tradition has an ins pirational value
saying that the artefacts discovered
will be used as part of public
education.
He a dded that the artefacts
will form part of the nucleus of
the archaeological materials to be
exhibited in the National Museum
when it is established in the state .
It Would be recalled that during ­
the im.mediate past adriiinistration of
Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlela, Unit ed
Nations Edutation, Scientific and
Cultural prganis ation (UNESCO)
enlisted the OSUTI Osogbo sacred
grove as World hentage site of
international standard s. Also, Centre
for Black Culture and International
Understanding was approved by
UNESCO to house t he artefacts
works of Uill Beier (Susan Wenger's
first husband) in Osogbo.