Pits, pots and plants at Pangwari — Deciphering the nature of a Nok Culture site

Abstract

The central Nigerian Nok Culture is known for its elaborate terracotta figurines and iron metallurgy of the first millennium BC. Since 2005, Goethe University Frankfurt has carried out comprehensive research on this otherwise hardly known cultural complex, focusing on chronology, the structure and function of sites and their reoccupation, environment and subsistence and the function of the enigmatic terracotta figurines. Initial excavations demonstrated that features are scarce and sometimes nearly invisible and that they usually display a mixture of cultural materials of different ages. With an area of 2617 m2, the site of Pangwari represents the largest excavation of the Frankfurt Nok project, geared to tackle the project’s key questions. Application of detailed documentation and analysis methods reveals recurring site use between 1500 and 500 BC, a shift in site function and a spatial and temporal relationship between grave features, pits and a terracotta deposition. Canarium schweinfurthii and pearl millet were important constituents of Nok subsistence. Small-scale agriculture probably had only limited impact on the local vegetation, which was a mosaic of dry forests and woodlands. The present synopsis conveys the image of a Nok site, which started as a settlement in the second millennium BC and turned to ritual use around 800 BC.