Legend has it that these beads were first made by Olokun, a female deity and member of the Yoruba founding family. The original materials likely came from gravesites in and around Ife, such as the famous Olokun Grove. Later, as the original sources became exhausted, newly imported glass bottles and beads were substituted. "Kori" stones are an intermediate step in the process, but these "stones" were also objects of veneration and worship, known locally as aje ileke and aje Olokun, "wealth of beads" and "wealth of Olokun", respectively.

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.

aloy/emeka:

1. How are you very sure that Yoruba women are bashed by Igbo men?. As far as I'm concerned, there are many Yoruba men who are very quick to throw Yoruba women under the bus when it comes to Igbo women. Hasn't tpia opened a thread here sometime early this year to address the issue?. Didn't you see the remark I made about Wale who used Igbo women as symbolism for beauty in his song[my sweetie]?. Is Wale Igbo again?. As a matter of fact, Wale grew up in America and for him to use that symbolism means he hears it from fellow Yoruba men who are more conversant with his culture and Nigeria. It is obvious he is brain washed and I am 90% sure it wasn't by an Igbo person. Sjeezy/Sbeezy/Sbuzzy/Smugu is another Yoruba boy who can quickly throw Yoruba women under the bus over an Igbo woman. Now ask yourself how many Igbo men do that to their women?.
However, I do believe in saying the truth no matter the cost to me personally but why I am against the ugly stereotyping of Yoruba women is because it is not factual as well as Igbo women being muscular and hairy.

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.

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.

tpia@:

back to the ife sculptures, i think its quite strange so little information is available about them, even though they give a glimpse into yoruba life of centuries ago.


how did leo frobenius first hear about ife? How and why did he go there?



http://www.historywiz.com/galleries/artofbenin.htm




the sculptures do have a greek feel to them, shown by the attention to detail, the calm expressions and highly naturalized form.

seems to me like the yoruba artists who made them, had seen or been exposed to that type of art previously, and had developed it to astonishing detail.

mauretania maybe?

and how did they do all this without a coded writing system and no formal math symbols that we know of?