Evidence of sophisticated indigenous glass technology at Ile-Ife, Nigeria, dated to about 1,000 years ago shows the region also contributed to technological innovation and creativity
Glass related artifacts excavated from Igbo Olokun, Ile Ife. Left: glass beads, Right: fragments of glass making crucibles. Picture: ABIDEMI BABATUNDE BABALOLA
My ongoing research is another example of how archaeological evidence continues to overturn assumptions about technology in African societies. I found archaeological evidence of sophisticated indigenous glass technology at Ile-Ife, in southwest Nigeria, dated to about 1,000 years ago. Over the years, we focused on a site called Igbo-Olokun, where evidence of a glass workshop had been known for over a century but never studied in detail. We also studied archaeological materials stored in the Natural History Museum at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife.
Results of the analysis show that Ile-Ife glass is chemically distinctive. It is now referred to as high lime high alumina glass — not known from anywhere else in the world.The Ile-Ife site is the first known primary glass workshop in Sub-Saharan Africa. Like their counterparts in other parts of the world, the glass makers at Ile-Ife explored the raw materials — geological and forest resources — that were available in the area.
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