Igbo-Ukwu

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Igbo-Ukwu [1] (Igbo: Great Igbo) is a town in the Nigerian state of Anambra which was the site of three famous archaeological sites that revealed a highly sophisticated metal-working culture. The first, Igbo Isaiah, was uncovered in 1939 by Isaiah Anozie a local villager who stumbled upon the bronze works while digging beside his home. Subsequent excavations by Thurston Shaw in 1959 resulted in the discovery of two other sites, Igbo Richard and Igbo Jonah containing the remains of an ancient culture, including jewelry, ceramics, a corpse adorned in what appears to be regalia, and many assorted bronze, copper, and iron objects. Radiocarbon dating placed the sites around the 10th century or earlier, which would make the Igbo-Ukwu culture the earliest known examples of bronze casting in the region centuries before the more famous Ife bronzes.

The talent of these ancient casters was truly astonishing and based on the lost wax technique. Many of the castings were made in stages. For instance, in one bronze bowl set on a flat stand found at Igbo-Ukwu, small decorative items including insects and spirals were cast first and placed in the wax model before the main parts of the bowl were made. The vessel itself was then cast in two parts and fitted together by casting a middle band. In addition to a variety of ritual vessels (whose designs appear to reproduce the form of gourd vessels to which metal handles have been attached), many other bronze items have been found at Igbo-Ukwu, including pendants, crowns and breastplates, staff ornaments, swords, and fly-whisk handles. These works were also found with tens of thousands of beads, attained through trade.

The high level of technical proficiency of artwork found at Igbo-Ukwu raised questions about its origins with some historians theorizing foreign influence or phantom voyagers. However from all indications the metal were mined from nearby areas and the use of scarification show local origin and cultural continuity with modern day Igbo culture.

Today, the town of Igbo-Ukwu has a population of 64,887.