IGBO UKWU DISCOVERY

If Nok art provides us with the first evidence of a culture that made use of iron, the bronzes found in the small village of Igbo Ukwu, near Awka in Onitsha Province, east of the River Niger, provide us with the first evidence of the artistic use of capper allays in the whale of Black Africa. The town of Awka is today famous far its blacksmithing and carved wooden door panels and stools. Like most spectacular archaeological finds in the world, the discovery of the bronzes of Igbo Ukwu was accidental. In 1938, Isaiah Anozie, had set out to dig a water cistern in his compound when he encountered a number of bronze objects. It is thought that similar finds were made at this site as early as 1922. Some of the pieces recovered were deposited with the Nigerian Government, but some found their way to the British Museum in London. It was not until 1959 that the site was scientifically excavated by Thurstan Shaw on the invitation of the Federal Department of Antiquities of Nigeria, and by the same archaeologist in 1964 on behalf of the University of Ibadan.
As a result of these excavations, Igbo Ukwu bronzes can be seen in five places: the Nigerian Museum, Lagos; the Nigerian Museum, Jos; the Nigerian Museum, Kaduna; the University of Ibadan Museum; and the Museum of Mankind in London.

IGBO UKWU Culture