Cosso Walls Construction cracks
The zigzag pattern of a great vertical crack in a wall fragment may provide a clue as to how the wall sections were inter-locked laterally. Stone and sherd fragments are included in the building material; and when this wall collapses it will add to the confusing 'sandwich effect' experienced by archaeological excavators trying to stratify deposits.

Round holes pierce the wall fragments in many locations. In most cases, these are two high for use as loopholes for those standing on the ground; so it is more probable that they were used for scaffolding during construction and, possibly, to support later parapets for those shooting over the wall. More research is needed to clarify this point.

lakal:

[img]http://images.nypl.org/index.php?id=1106720&t=r[/img]

Entrance to the " Afin " or residence of the Alafin of Oyo, showing typical Yoruba thatching. (1911)

tpia@:

the nigerian govt should really look into establishing a history village somewhere in nigeria like the ones in the US showcasing ancient ways of life.

lakal:
Yorubaland stretches further than Nigeria! 

Booshman:

I've been saying this for years! Devote certain locations to recreate past villages like that of Oyo and Benin, with employees/tour guides dressed in the regalia of the past and even demonstrating how things were done.

@Lakal

There was that "Afin" photo from? It's a little tiny, and I would love to see a larger version of it to see the details.

lakal:

Here is the link:

[url]http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=351083&imageID=1106720&parent_id=292496&word=&snum=&s=¬word=&d=&c=&f=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&total=35&num=12&imgs=12&pNum=&pos=13[/url]

Richard Lander, the Cornish explorer, acquired something very much like this at Old Oyo in 1830, which was said to have come from "Iffie" (Ife)

the consensus is that the Yoruba reworked imported glasses exclusively.

Legend has it that these beads were first made by Olokun, a female deity and member of the Yoruba founding family.


Later, as the original sources became exhausted, newly imported glass bottles and beads were substituted

It is apparent that there are two generations of Yoruba powder glass beads. The later group, for which evidence was found in Nigeria, is of coarser powder, showing little evidence of finishing. The earlier group, specimens of which Jamey Allen found in the British Museum, is much higher quality. In the above picture, the long yellow bead, the greenish one below it, the green and coral on either side of it, the pair of light blues, the fat blue to the lower left, and two or three of the navy blues are all part of this earlier group. These earlier powder glass beads, as were the beads in the British Museum, made of crushed old beads, not bottle glass. The difference in density is sensible to the touch, with the older beads noticeably heavier. Furthermore, the texture of the older models is much finer and they show evidence of lapidary finishing.

The wealth of Ife was due to a bead making tradition. They exported their glass beads to the north of Africa and made this area very prosperous," she said.