₦airaland Forum

Hellraiser77:
You are obviously don't know the Eze Aro of Arochukwu ancient kingdom

When was this arochukwu formed? The throne is not more than 500 years. We are talking of over 2000years King. In the 15th century Oyo has already had her 8th king

Cc legendhero, Sammy07, ThatFairGuy, Etinosa1234, obalatule, babaramota1980

MinorityOpinion:
read what he said, he said they migrated from Ife, that is Ife was their home, then they went to South East to teach the people there Yoruba civilization and the ifa system. Check the complexity of ifa with that nonsense you call afa. Ifa is superior anyway. You shot yourself in the foot.

IFA is superior to what? , stop using words unless you understand the meaning, Ifa is a joke to Igbo divinition of AFA....yoruba just started glorifying and worshiping it cos it was foreign to them, Igbo culture sees AFA as simply a tool, yoruba uses palm kernel in their IFA divinition

MinorityOpinion:
When was this arochukwu formed? The throne is not more than 500 years. We are talking of over 2000years King. In the 15th century Oyo has already had her 8th king

Cc legendhero, Sammy07, ThatFairGuy, Etinosa1234, obalatule, babaramota1980

I thought you said lord lugard introduced EZE kings to igboland, Are you about to shift goal post again?

Hellraiser77:
You are not citing any historian, you simply modified facts to suit your narrative, All you posited where balderdash that holds no water, Igbo ukwu artifacts precedes Ife by half a millennia #Fact

Lol, I literally quoted the words of the archaeologist (Professor Thurstan Shaw) who worked on the Igbo-Ukwu artifacts. Also, I literally attached a screenshot summary (from Adam Knobler’s 2016 work) of historical scholarship’s identification of the Ogane as none other than the Ooni of Ife. I think you should re-read that comment again, but this time slowly.

Anyways, you failed to inform me on why you should be taking seriously with your approach of imagining history rather than citing scholars like I did throughout the comment. I will give you one more chance on this. Please convince me.

In sum, repeating your ignorance multiple times (even a quadrillion times) does absolutely nothing to alter scholarship. Did you know this??

I am not trying to mArGiNaLiZe you though.

Hellraiser77:
Baby kingdoms of yesterday, They are no match for a civilization from 3000bc....Igbos have already passed the peak of their influence by atleast 1000 yrs before the Europeans came

I hate liars legendhero, Sammy07, ThatFairGuy, Etinosa1234, obalatule, babaramota1980 should we reasersch igbo history for them? The Igbo were referred to as cannibals and ugly tree dwellers by the British, even the riverine tribe don't consider them humans, if you press further I will find the article and put it here.

TAO11:
Lol, I was literally quoting the archaeologist who worked on the Igbo-Ukwu artifacts. Also, I literally attached a screenshot summary of scholars’ identification of the Ogane as the Ooni of Ife. You should re-read the comment again, this time slowly.

Anyways, you failed to inform me on why you should be taking seriously with your approach of imagining history rather than citing scholars like I did throughout my comment.

In sum, repeating your ignorance multiple times (even a quadrillion times) does absolutely nothing to alter scholarship. Did you know this??

I am not trying to mArGiNaLiZe you though.

You can dig up and modify any revisionist account of history to suit you, Doesn't change a well and rigorously established fact, Igbo ukwu was a grandpa to anything IFE, the burial chambers of Igbo ukwu was for a long from the Line of the Oganes, the second picture is a reconstruction of the burial

MinorityOpinion:
I hate liars legendhero, Sammy07, ThatFairGuy, Etinosa1234, obalatule, babaramota1980 should we reasersch igbo history for them? The Igbo are referred to as cannibals and ugly tree dwellers by the British, even the riverine tribe don't consider them humans, if you press further I will find the article and put it here.

You have started crying again, Next is insults....Igbos are too ancient for your comprehension, So ancient that Igbos themselves believes they stemmed from the ground itself

Hellraiser77:
IFA is superior to what? , stop using words unless you understand the meaning, Ifa is a joke to Igbo divinition of AFA....yoruba just started glorifying and worshiping it cos it was foreign to them, Igbo culture sees AFA as simply a tool, yoruba uses palm kernel in their IFA divinition

With the image and your comment, now I know you know nothing about ifa, it pain me I'm wasting time with someone that knows nothing about what he is badmouthing. Bye go online and read material on ifa.

Hellraiser77:
I thought you said lord lugard introduced EZE kings to igboland, Are you about to shift goal post again?

Kingship was introduced to igbo land by lord lugard, go search am, although maybe after aro or Obi(Benin influence) , no worthy king again. Igbo were decentralised tribe with no sense of belonging, you know it, I don't under your beating about the Bush.

TAO11:
Lol, I literally quoted the words of the archaeologist (Professor Thurstan Shaw) who worked on the Igbo-Ukwu artifacts. Also, I literally attached a screenshot summary (from Adam Knobler’s 2016 work) of historical scholarship’s identification of the Ogane as none other than the Ooni of Ife. I think you should re-read that comment again, but this time slowly.

Anyways, you failed to inform me on why you should be taking seriously with your approach of imagining history rather than citing scholars like I did throughout the comment. I will give you one more chance on this. Please convince me.

In sum, repeating your ignorance multiple times (even a quadrillion times) does absolutely nothing to alter scholarship. Did you know this??

I am not trying to mArGiNaLiZe you though.

IFE is not the east of Bini ....The east of Bini is littered with Igbo clans of present day delta, remnants of a time when Nri high priests journeyed to Bini for coronations, ritual cleansings and military fortifications

TAO11:
Even Igbos too?? Hehehe! God is wonderful.

Everyone somehow need Oduduwa to validate their culture. Who no like better thing?

Lots and lots of ignorance being pumped in here. Touching on only two of the misinformation here, viz. (1)Igbo-Ukwu bronzes and (2)The Ogane who resides in the “east”:

(1) The archaeologist who worked on the Igbo-Ukwu ‘bronzes’ was Professor Thurstan Shaw.

Due to his work in the years 1959-60, the Igbo-Ukwu ‘bronzes’ is still thought, among common folks, to pre-date the Ife ‘bronzes’. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Such assumptions among common folks are terribly mistaken because the early dates initially associated with the Igbo-Ukwu 'bronzes' are now regarding as misleading by experts — including Professor Thurstan Shaw himself.

At the minimum, the radio-carbon dates initially attributed to the Igbo-Ukwu ‘bronzes’ are now noted to be due to erroneous exaggeration, and are therefore not absolute, not final, and not conclusive.

To quote the words of Professor Thurstan Shaw himself in a later publication in relation to the Igbo-Ukwu artefacts, he sums up and concludes as follows:

“SUMMARY: In the discussion of the reliance which should be placed on the Igbo-Ukwu radiocarbon dates, it is necessary to make certain that what evidence we have is correctly used. The precise locations of the samples used for dating are recalled and possible sources of error discussed. Consideration is given to the arguments for a date later than that suggested by the radiocarbon dates, stemming from the state of preservation of the textiles, the character of the beads, the pottery evidence, analogies with the presumed dating of Ife and Benin, the quantity and the source of the copper, and what is known of pre-European trading patterns in West Africa. The latter is probably the most serious objection to a very early date, but the question will only be settled with the acquisition of more archaeological evidence.”

Reference: Thurstan Shaw, “Those Igbo-Ukwu Radiocarbon Dates: Facts, Fictions and Probabilities”, The Journal of African History, Vol. 16, No. 4, (1975), p.517.

Furthermore and in relation to the foregoing, I should clarify and caution that the phrase: the earliest date obtained from the dated Ife ‘bronzes‘ is not one and the same thing as the phrase: the earliest date possibly obtainable from any of the not-yet-dated Ife ‘bronzes’.

This foregoing clarification is of utmost relevance here because “much of the bronze/brass art of Ife has not been dated.” — S.A. Akintoye, “A History of the Yoruba People”, 2010, p.52.

Moreover, the bronze casting tradition of the Yorubas is not isolated or restricted to the Ife subgroup. Later finds in the course of the 1900s came to prove that the ancient bronze casting art also existed in other parts of Yorubaland such as: Owo, Obo-Aiyegunle (in Northern Ekiti), Ijebu-Ode, etc.
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(2) Talking about the Ogané of the early Portuguese account who is noted to be “the most powerful monarch” in our part of the world, and who lived in the “east”.

Despite the description of “east” in this account, I am still unaware of any historian (past or present) who identified this monarch as an Igbo king.

From the beginning of the twentieth century, scholars had no reason to doubt that this Ogane of the Portuguese account is none other than the Ooni of Ife.

(see e.g. Stoll 1902:161-166; Roth 1903:6n1; Marquart 1913:52; Talbot 1926:1:155-156, 281-282, 3:573; Schurhammer 1928:28-30; Bradbury 1964:151, Paula Marti 1960:63, Mauny 1961:182; Akinjogbin 1967:41-43; Law 1973:17-19; Willett 1973:137-138; Obayemi 1976:247; Horton 1979: ; Akintoye 2010:141-142; among others).

Historians have maintained for, well valid and factual reasons, that the description of “east” in the account is — rather than literal — of a religious significance.

The justification for this comes from the fact that every received detail about the Ogane in the account lines up perfectly only with the Ooni of Ife among all monarchs throughout the Gulf of Guinea.

Moreover, Ife is well-known among the ancient cultures of our region (at least west of the Niger River) by the religious epithet of: “the place from where the sun rises” — Ife Oodaiye, ibi ojumo tii mo wa.

(i) This ancient religious epithet of Ife as, the place of the rising sun remains well-known even till date by every typical Yoruba person.

(ii) This ancient religious epithet of Ife was also well-known in Benin Kingdom at least up to the 1920s.

This comes from the fact that Oba Eweka(II) informed visiting H.L. Ward-Price that every morning at dawn, he faces the rising sun while observing certain supplications to his great lord (Oghene) who lives in Ife.

(iv) This religious epithet of Ife is also found to be well-known in today’s Republic of Benin as Robin Horton’s citation of Maupoil, B’s “La Geomancie” 1943 publication shows below:

“Maupoil in his classic account of Dahomean religion, tells once more of a strong association of Ife with dawn and the east. He adds that although in this area the association is one that actually corresponds with geographical reality, in the minds of the people it is not so much a summary of geographical observation as a highly appropriate piece of symbolism. For Dahomeans, dawn and the east are in this context first and foremost symbols of certain admired attributes of Ife.”

(iv) This religious epithet of Ife was also recorded in by David Hinderer during his missionary visit to Ife in the 1850s. He wrote:

“Ife is famous as being the seat of idolatory; all the multiple idols of this part of the country are said to emanate from the town; from there the sun and moon rises where they are buried in the ground, and all people of this country and even white men sprung from this town”.
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In summary: Scholars have from the beginning identified this Ogane (Oghene) as the Ooni of Ife. The only notable exception to this identification used to be A.F.C. Ryder who in 1965 hypothesized the geographical north-eastern direction, rather than the geographical western direction of Ife.

Although as Elizabeth A. Isichei has confirmed, Ryder later abandoned this solitary and radical idea in his 1969 work entitled “Benin and the Europeans”.

In sum, every redoubtable scholar and historian of precolonial Nigeria today has no iota of doubt in identifying the Ogane of the Portuguese account as the Ooni of Ife.

See the attached screenshot from page 47 of Adam Knobler’s (2016) work for a very recent apt summary of this identification.

cc: LegendHero, Sammy07, winer900

Lecture time!!!
The bosses are angry.

Hellraiser77:
You can dig up and modify any revisionist account of history to suit you, Doesn't change a well and rigorously established fact, Igbo ukwu was a grandpa to anything IFE, the burial chambers of Igbo ukwu was for a long from the Line of the Oganes, the second picture is a reconstruction of the burial

Quoting Wikipedia, okay we have heard you, the sophistication of Ife art is second to none, art predating other arts doesn't mean their civilization superseded. Maybe the old Ife art were not carbon dated.

Hellraiser77:
IFE is not the east of Bini ....The east of Bini is littered with Igbo clans of present day delta, remnants of a time when Nri high priests journeyed to Bini for coronations, ritual cleansings and military fortifications

Compare the east of Benin, its still a Yoruba town

MinorityOpinion:
Kingship was introduced to igbo land by lord lugard, go search am, although maybe after aro or Obi(Benin influence) , no worthy king again. Igbo were decentralised tribe with no sense of belonging, you know it, I don't under your beating about the Bush.

What a dull person ..... you are Contradicting yourself without remorse.....Now lemme clear you on you misconceptions about Igbo kingship;

1: Rulers in ancient igboland where regarded as priests rather than kings, They were revered and feared for their mystical powers, but their authority was not absolute like in other cultures.

2:All Clans had this priest kings but the EZE NRI was the supreme, he is regarded as the embodiment of spirit and the connection of the physical to the spiritual.

3: Decisions are taken after consultation with the OZO and NZE title holders

4: The British simply came and turned this Ezes into their subordinates, even installing new Ezes in place of republican leadership found in some clans.

Igbos always had rulers, just not in the sense you are used to in yorubaland

Hellraiser77:
IFE is not the east of Bini ....The east of Bini is littered with Igbo clans of present day delta, remnants of a time when Nri high priests journeyed to Bini for coronations, ritual cleansings and military fortifications

Yes, the scholars knew the bold, yet historical scholarship identifies the Ogane as the Ooni of Ife. And interestingly, not a single historian or scholar identified the Ogane as an Igbo king (only on Nairaland).

All scholars noted that the “east” in the document is of a religious non-literal significance. And Ife is well attested (among cultures throughout the Gulf of Guinea) by the religious epithet of “east” — the place from where the sun rises.

Moreover, every received detail of that account matches none other than the Ooni of Ife.

Name me one scholar (not Nairalander) who identified the Ogane as an Igbo king. None!

Hellraiser77:
You can dig up and modify any revisionist account of history to suit you, Doesn't change a well and rigorously established fact, Igbo ukwu was a grandpa to anything IFE, the burial chambers of Igbo ukwu was for a long from the Line of the Oganes, the second picture is a reconstruction of the burial

You are proving my point that we are light years apart.

I am quoting the very words of the archaeologist who did the work (Thurstan Shaw); while you on the other hand are attaching wIkIpEdIa screenshots. Interesting. Lol.

Did you already notice the gap between us, or do I have to break it down further?? Lol.

MinorityOpinion:
Compare the east of Benin, its still a Yoruba town

You are too ignorant , East of Bini is the NRI kingdom across the Niger, from where the Igbos currently in delta were coming from, Ife is far west of bini, where did Ketu come in again?

TAO11:
Yes, the scholars knew the bold, yet historical scholarship identifies the Ogane as the Ooni of Ife. And interestingly, not a single historian or scholar identified the Ogane as an Igbo king (only on Nairaland).

All scholars noted that the “east” in the document is of a religious non-literal significance. And Ife is well attested (among cultures throughout the Gulf of Guinea) by the religious epithet of “east” — the place from where the sun rises.

Moreover, every received detail of that account matches none other than the Ooni of Ife.

Name me one scholar (not Nairalander) who identified the Ogane as an Igbo king. None!

Not only is this screenshot unreliable, you have gone ahead and added a twist that east is now of a religious influence and not literal to match your narrative ....IFE never held dominance over Bini(Iduland), The Bini had Little regard for anything west of them, whereas they never attempted to venture east with their military, Anybody fleeing Bini always ventured east cos they knew they would be safe, Bini soldiers pillaged Yorubaland all the way to Eko not once did they look east, Ogane was towards that direction and He reigned supreme

LegendHero:
Welcome TA011, I trust you.

Ofoigbo now you have to learn history from the mighty TAO11.

He will tutor you in such a way that you will denounce every lies your Ezes ever told you.

Typical Yoruba revisionism.

Some years ago, out of jealousy, a Yoruba intellectual even claimed that Olaudah Equiano was not Igbo, in spite of the various Igbo words that Olaudah added to his biography, and the fact that Olaudah made it quite clear that he was from the EBOE country.

Now out of jealousy, they are claiming that Igbo-Nkwo bronze work is not older than Ife bronze work.
In which book did Thurstan Shaw claim that Ife bronze work is older than Igbo-ukwu bronze work? Please tell us which book he claimed that, and the page where this assertion can be found.

They are also claiming that EAST means WEST. So all of a sudden, EXPLORERs that sailed their ships, all the way to the Bight of Benin, no longer knew their EAST from WEST. The day that Yorubas can claim that Ife is to the East of Benin, is the day that this revisionism will start sounding a bit plausible.

Tomorrow, Yorubas will now claim that the 4 Nri market days that Benin people use, are Yoruba market days, in spite of the fact that they mirror the Nri market days. You can try harder.

Chaiii!!! Who did this thing to Yorubas.

TAO11:
You are proving my point that we are light years apart.

I am quoting the very words of the archaeologist who did the work (Thurstan Shaw); while you on the other hand are attaching wIkIpEdIa screenshots. Interesting. Lol.

Did you already notice the gap between us, or do I have to break it down further?? Lol.

What you dug up is dwarfed by established evidence of Igbo ukwu and it's seniority to anything in the west

OfoIgbo:
Typical Yoruba revisionism.

Some years ago, out of jealousy, a Yoruba intellectual even claimed that Olaudah Equiano was not Igbo, in spite of the various Igbo words that Olaudah added to his biography, and the fact that Olaudah made it quite clear that he was from the EBOE country.

Now out of jealousy, they are claiming that Igbo-Nkwo bronze work is not older than Ife bronze work.
In which book did Thurstan Shaw claim that Ife bronze work is older than Igbo-ukwu bronze work? Please tell us which book he claimed that, and the page where this assertion can be found.

They are also claiming that EAST means WEST. So all of a sudden, EXPLORERs that sailed their ships, all the way to the Bight of Benin, no longer knew their EAST from WEST. The day that Yorubas can claim that Ife is to the East of Benin, is the day that this revisionism will start sounding a bit plausible.

Tomorrow, Yorubas will now claim that the 4 Nri market days that Benin people use, are Yoruba market days, in spite of the fact that they mirror the Nri market days. You can try harder.

Chaiii!!! Who did this thing to Yorubas.

I tire for this people , Explorers don't know their east from west again cos they came to Africa

OfoIgbo:
Typical Yoruba revisionism.

Some years ago, out of jealousy, a Yoruba intellectual even claimed that Olaudah Equiano was not Igbo, in spite of the various Igbo words that Olaudah added to his biography, and the fact that Olaudah made it quite clear that he was from the EBOE country.

Now out of jealousy, they are claiming that Igbo-Nkwo bronze work is not older than Ife bronze work.
In which book did Thurstan Shaw claim that Ife bronze work is older than Igbo-ukwu bronze work? Please tell us which book he claimed that, and the page where this assertion can be found.

They are also claiming that EAST means WEST. So all of a sudden, EXPLORERs that sailed their ships, all the way to the Bight of Benin, no longer knew their EAST from WEST. The day that Yorubas can claim that Ife is to the East of Benin, is the day that this revisionism will start sounding a bit plausible.

Tomorrow, Yorubas will now claim that the 4 Nri market days that Benin people use, are Yoruba market days, in spite of the fact that they mirror the Nri market days. You can try harder.

Chaiii!!! Who did this thing to Yorubas.

Lol!

The resources TAO11 was lecturing you with was not written by Yorubas so what exactly do you mean by Yoruba revisionism?

The people that dated the bronze themselves asserted that their dating might be flawed and that is not a Yoruba doing, so how is that a Yoruba revisionism?

I can see you have suddenly lost the pace by the references TAO11 gave and you don’t even know how to respond other than to start throwing unrelated scenarios like Oluadah to digress.

Just calm down and learn from TAO, there are lot of things you can learn from him and everything should not be a case of win or losses.

Not that people are interested in Igbo culture and history tho because even amongst yourselves, a lot of you guys don’t even care about your history because it is full of contradictions and people are finding it hard to identify with it.

So calm down, Igbo culture is not interesting to me, and not even interesting to scholars of history.

Hellraiser77:
You are too ignorant , East of Bini is the NRI kingdom across the Niger, from where the Igbos currently in delta were coming from, Ife is far west of bini, where did Ketu come in again?

Lol the Nri you are blabbing about was established in the 10th century while Oyo that is offshoot of Ife already had her 8th king in 14th century. That means the first king of Oyo will be in the 6th century. We no be una mate. Ife is older than you! our civilization is older than you.

Cc legendhero, Sammy07, ThatFairGuy, Etinosa1234, obalatule, babaramota1980

MinorityOpinion:
With the image and your comment, now I know you know nothing about ifa, it pain me I'm wasting time with someone that knows nothing about what he is badmouthing. Bye go online and read material on ifa.

lol, I know about all the divinitions of the southern Nigerian ethnicities , Your IFA was received from Igbos either through igala or Bini, I personally think its from igala

Hellraiser77:
What you dug up is dwarfed by established evidence of Igbo ukwu and it's seniority to anything in the west

This is why you Igbos always lose arguments, you don’t have facts with you and I wonder how your universities teach you guys over there.

You are the only set of people that argue without reference. Even in the face of glaring evidence, you will all still continue to parrot statements without subjecting it to critical evaluation.

My lecturer once told me that you need to have reference for any statements you give before your claim can be accepted in the academic environment.

The person that date the Igbo-Ukwu was the one that said the dating might be flawed and the reason was given. The researcher presented the evidence in prints.

Was the bronze dated by your Igwe? No right?

Now the person that dated them said they are subject of some doubt and here you are wasting your precious time reinforcing ridiculous claims.

Nawa for you guys.

MinorityOpinion:
Lol the Nri you are blabbing about was established in the 10th century while Oyo that is offshoot of Ife already had her 8th king in 14th century. That means the first king of Oyo will be in the 6th century. We no be una mate. Ife is older than you! our civilization is older than you.

Cc legendhero, Sammy07, ThatFairGuy, Etinosa1234, obalatule, babaramota1980

Cry Cry, there is a clear question mark there , They only started from ifuakuanim who is the earliest recorded NRI priest-king, Oyo is a grandchild of Igbos while iFe is the direct offspring ......I've noticed yeroba people feel so helpless alone that's why you keep calling your fellow ignoramus ...if you re convinced of your position why call help?

Hellraiser77:
lol, I know about all the divinitions of the southern Nigerian ethnicities , Your IFA was received from Igbos either through igala or Bini, I personally think its from igala

You are a joker ifa is more complex than what your tribemen IQ can comprehend we gave you ifa and you water it down to nonsense afa or avwa whatever you call it

Hellraiser77:
Cry Cry, there is a clear question mark there , They only started from ifuakuanim who is the earliest recorded NRI priest-king, Oyo is a grandchild of Igbos while iFe is the direct offspring ......I've noticed yeroba people feel so helpless alone that's why you keep calling your fellow ignoramus ...if you convinced of your position why call help?

Cry all you want Oyo is even older than Nri. Stay on your lane boy you are a joker.

Oyo > Nri

LegendHero:
This is why you Igbos always lose arguments, you don’t have facts with you and I wonder how your universities teach you guys over there.

You are the only set of people that argue without reference. Even in the face of glaring evidence, you will all still continue to parrot statements without subjecting it to critical evaluation.

My lecturer once told me that you need to have reference for any statements you give before your claim can be accepted in the academic environment.

The person that date the Igbo-Ukwu was the one that said the dating might be flawed and the reason was given. The researcher presented the evidence in prints.

Was the bronze dated by your Igwe? No right?

Now the person that dated them said they are subject of some doubt and here you are wasting your precious time reinforcing ridiculous claims.

Nawa for you guys.

I still doubt the authenticity of that but if I'm to accept it for two seconds he said "Dating might be flawed" right?.....of course it might be from a much earlier time, no where did he say anything in IFE was older than Igbo ukwu

MinorityOpinion:
Cry all you want Oyo is even older than Nri. Stay on your lane boy you are a joker.

Oyo > Nri

IFe is the bone of contention Oyo is irrelevant, NRI begat IFE

MinorityOpinion:
You are a joker ifa is more complex than what your tribemen IQ can comprehend we gave you ifa and you water it down to nonsense afa or avwa whatever you call it

This is what Oduduwa came with to IFE, Yoruba people twisted it that he came down from heave with a chain and palm fruits, this is the real AFA divinition apparatus, The power of 4(ano)

Hellraiser77:
I still doubt the authenticity of that but if I'm to accept it for two seconds he said "Dating might be flawed" right?.....of course it might be from a much earlier time, no where did he say anything in IFE was older than Igbo ukwu

Professor Thurstan Shaw, the man who dated it said himself that:
“ Consideration is given to the arguments for a date later than that suggested by the radiocarbon dates”

That implies it can not be an earlier time so you better re-read the quote below to understand more.

TAO11:
Even Igbos too?? Hehehe! God is wonderful.

Everyone somehow need Oduduwa to validate their culture. Who no like better thing?

Lots and lots of ignorance being pumped in here. Touching on only two of the misinformation here, viz. (1)Igbo-Ukwu bronzes and (2)The Ogane who resides in the “east”:

(1) The archaeologist who worked on the Igbo-Ukwu ‘bronzes’ was Professor Thurstan Shaw.

Due to his work in the years 1959-60, the Igbo-Ukwu ‘bronzes’ is still thought, among common folks, to pre-date the Ife ‘bronzes’. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Such assumptions among common folks are terribly mistaken because the early dates initially associated with the Igbo-Ukwu 'bronzes' are now regarding as misleading by experts — including Professor Thurstan Shaw himself.

At the minimum, the radio-carbon dates initially attributed to the Igbo-Ukwu ‘bronzes’ are now noted to be due to erroneous exaggeration, and are therefore not absolute, not final, and not conclusive.

To quote the words of Professor Thurstan Shaw himself in a later publication in relation to the Igbo-Ukwu artefacts, he sums up and concludes as follows:

“SUMMARY: In the discussion of the reliance which should be placed on the Igbo-Ukwu radiocarbon dates, it is necessary to make certain that what evidence we have is correctly used. The precise locations of the samples used for dating are recalled and possible sources of error discussed. Consideration is given to the arguments for a date later than that suggested by the radiocarbon dates, stemming from the state of preservation of the textiles, the character of the beads, the pottery evidence, analogies with the presumed dating of Ife and Benin, the quantity and the source of the copper, and what is known of pre-European trading patterns in West Africa. The latter is probably the most serious objection to a very early date, but the question will only be settled with the acquisition of more archaeological evidence.”

Reference: Thurstan Shaw, “Those Igbo-Ukwu Radiocarbon Dates: Facts, Fictions and Probabilities”, The Journal of African History, Vol. 16, No. 4, (1975), p.517.

Furthermore and in relation to the foregoing, I should clarify and caution that the phrase: the earliest date obtained from the dated Ife ‘bronzes‘ is not one and the same thing as the phrase: the earliest date possibly obtainable from any of the not-yet-dated Ife ‘bronzes’.

This foregoing clarification is of utmost relevance here because “much of the bronze/brass art of Ife has not been dated.” — S.A. Akintoye, “A History of the Yoruba People”, 2010, p.52.

Moreover, the bronze casting tradition of the Yorubas is not isolated or restricted to the Ife subgroup. Later finds in the course of the 1900s came to prove that the ancient bronze casting art also existed in other parts of Yorubaland such as: Owo, Obo-Aiyegunle (in Northern Ekiti), Ijebu-Ode, etc.