IFE RECENT EXCAVATIONS

1 - Lagos, National museum Terracotta

At Igbo Obameri, several fragments of terracotta were excavated by Oliver Myers, who also worked at Oduduwa College site. Myers observed that his major finds at Igbo Obameri were near the surface and consisted of fragments of sculptures which he judged were dug up annually and reburied. He thought, like Fagg at Osangangan Obamakin, that the sculptures were brought to the shrine in fragments and that the shrine might have been built in the nineteenth century. However, at Oduduwa College site, Myers discovered two terracotta heads, one of which is illustrated here (Fig. 1), which he claimed to have found in situ.
The important site of Ita Yemoo was discovered by accident when fine terracotta and bronze sculptures were encountered during a building operation. Scientific excavations carried out later at the site by Frank Willett, on behalf of the Department of Antiquities, put the finds into context. Willett believes that Ita Yemoo was a shrine, and that unlike on previous occasions when sculptures were recovered from secondary contexts, here they were found in situ and had not been brought in at a comparatively recent date.
The finds consisted of:

2 - Ife museum. Bronze		3 - Ife museum. Bronze

• a complete bronze figure of an Oni (Fig. 2);
• a bronze royal pair with interlocking hands and feet (Fig. 3);
• a small bronze vessel mounted on a stool almost encircled by a queenly looking figure (Fig. 4);
• two bronze staffs with gagged human heads (Fig. 5) and
• terracotta heads, some with elaborate head-dresses or crowns,( for example (Fig. 6).

The next important site, Obalara’s Land, was excavated by Peter Garlake. It yielded a great quantity of terracotta sculptures and ritual pots. Some of the sculptures were purposely arranged in concentrations. Among these were six human torsos, six naturalistic heads, a conical head with naturalistic features and two conical heads with stylized lips and mouth.

4 - Lagos, National museum Bronze bowl

5 - Ife museum. Bronze

The ritual pots are comparable to the one which was discovered by the writer at Koyiwo Layout and illustrated here (Fig. 6). It incorporates applied reliefs of some cult objects: skulls, shrines, a pair of tongs, and a pair of Edan (brass) heads associated with the Ogboni cult. Altogether, five such pots are known; from Obalara’s Land, Koyiwo Layout, Osangangan Obamakin, and one known only from fargments illustrated in Willett’s book on Ife. Obalara’s Land is considered to have consisted of a number of compounds with impluvia and shrines. The sculptures are claimed to have been found in situ.
Finally, the writer has excavated two sites in Ife, namely, Odo Ogbe Street site and Lafogido. Odo Ogbe Street site was discovered by accident and its excavation revealed that a classical terracotta head (Fig. 7) having been found elsewhere, was re-used in a more recent ritual context.
Lafogido, on the other hand, is regarded as a primary organic site. It is said that a former Oni of that name was buried there, and there is some evidence to suggest that the site was a tomb, although most unlikely to be that of Lafogido who, according to the present Oni, reigned late in the nineteenth century. Excavation was not completed at the site because the present Oni believes it is improper to dig up royal remains. However, enough evidence was revealed to shed light on the use of Ife sculptures.
The excavation disclosed a rectangular pavement with a series of pots set inside the edges. In some cases, the rims of the pots were flush with the pavement, while in others the greater parts of the pots were above the pavement level. Some pots had sculpted terracotta animals placed over their mouths, as if they were pot lids. All the sculptures were placed facing the centre of the pavement. A cutting made through the pavement revealed a dark circular patch which indicates a pit or perhaps a tomb. If this supposition is right then, at least some of the Ife sculptures were used as tomb or shrine furniture.
From the sculptural viewpoint, the sensitively modelled animals representing a ram, a mythical animal, and -an elephant head, previously eroded out of the same site in 1963, are unique. They all have concentric designs normally found on terracotta human heads and interpreted as royal emblems. If indeed these are royal emblems, then Ife royalty was associated with the attributes of these animals - strength and agility, and the site may truly be a royal tomb.

6 - Ife Museum. Terracotta	7 - Lagos, National museum. Terracotta	8 -  Ife museum. Bronze

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