Abidemi Babalola

• PhD. Rice University
• Fellow at British Museum

Ongoing research continues to show that ancient Africans had their own versions of science that were embedded in local contexts. The apparent lack of writing systems in most of the continent, especially south of the Sahara, was used to undermine the continent’s scientific achievements. Rather than relegate Africa to a simple receiver of science and...

The poster presents the results of our Co-creation and Conservation of Archaeological and Heritage Site (COCOAH) Project in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, which was designed to work collectively with the stakeholders and the local community to conserve the site and popularize it through public sensitization and school education as a way of decolonizing archaeol...

We present the results of fieldwork conducted at Igbo-Ukwu in 2019 and 2021 aimed at expanding the temporal and spatial record of the ancient settlement. Local participation and public engagement are central to the project, which has yielded a new dataset that enhances our understanding of the archaeological and landscape contexts of Thurstan Shaw’...

This paper discusses the process, prospects, and challenges of making bikini glass in Bida (Nupeland), central Nigeria. The Masagá glassmakers of Bida provide the ideal case study for investigating the production of bikini. Nineteenth-century Arab and European writings have described glassmaking in Nupeland; however, with the exception of the study...

The earliest glass beads in the archaeological record in West Africa dates to the 7th through 5th centuries BCE, predating the Islamic trade in the region. By early 2nd millennium CE, the occurrence of glass beads had increased exponentially following the influx of goods and people. Thus, glass beads on the subcontinent are traced to outside source...

Beads of all kinds are essential objects of prestige, power, trade, and aesthetics in West Africa across time periods. This article discusses the ecologies of beads in medieval and postmedieval west Africa by interrogating the complex relationships between the environment and the craftspeople. With a focus on archaeological records from across the...

Archaeological evidence from Ile-Ife in southwest Nigeria has revealed the first known primary glass beadmaking from locally made glass in sub-Saharan Africa dated to the eleventh to fifteenth centuries ce. This entry discusses the technology of Ile-Ife high lime, high alumina glass and the technique of glass beadmaking. Glass production materials...

Research in African archaeology on material culture and sophisticated technological innovation has often channeled attention towards the question of origins. This perspective neglects the complex and fluid relationship that existed between the artisans and the materials at every stage of production. The social and "technological" resilience, creati...

The discovery of glass crucible fragments with the remains of semi-finished glass at Ile-Ife, Nigeria, has provided the first evidence for the existence of autonomous glass production in sub-Saharan Africa.

Crucibles to melt glass are very rare in archaeological contexts in sub-Saharan Africa. Recent archaeological excavations at Igbo Olokun, Ile-Ife (Southwest Nigeria) revealed abundant fragments of glass crucibles from 11th-15th century AD deposits, matching the complete and near complete examples earlier reported from Ile-Ife. This paper provides a...

The site of Igbo Olokun on the northern periphery of Ile-Ife has been recognized as a glass-working workshop for over a century. Its glass-encrusted crucibles and beads were viewed as evidence of secondary processing of imported glass until the high lime, high alumina (HLHA) composition of the glass was recognized as unique to the region. Archaeolo...

The technology of glassmaking is complex. This complexity has been cited for the exclusion of the development of ancient glass technology from certain regions of the world, especially Africa, South of the Sahara. Thus, much of the existing scholarship on the technology of ancient glass has focused on the Middle East, Mediterranean, and Southeast an...

Recent excavations at the site of Igbo Olokun in the Yoruba city of Ile-Ife, in south-western Nigeria, have shed light on early glass manufacturing techniques in West Africa. The recovery of glass beads and associated production materials has enabled compositional analysis of the artefacts and preliminary dating of the site, which puts the main tim...

This entry discusses the life and works of Cheikh Anta Diop – an erudite Senegalese writer, researcher, and political activist of the twentieth century. As a young foreign student in Paris, Diop began his career by advocating for the abolition of the colonial presence in Africa and the institutionalization of African independence. Throughout his li...

The site of Igbo Olokun in the city of Ife, in southwestern Nigeria has been identified as a primary glass and glass beads production center dating to the “Classic” period (12th-15th c.), but glass from well-recorded contexts has been rare. Excavations in 2011-2012 produced over twelve thousand drawn glass beads. LA-ICP-MS analysis of 49 glass bead...

This paper reports on preliminary archaeological investigations carried out at Ile-Ife, southwest Nigeria in November and December 2010. Survey reconnaissance, shovel testing, and test excavations were carried out within Ile-Ife in order to gather information on site characteristics, search for deposits suitable for future expanded excavations, and...

Many of governmental bodies such as commissions, and councils have been established to tackle the problem of poverty and probably bring it to abrupt end in Nigeria. Among such bodies is the National Poverty Alleviation Programme (NAPEP) with the aim of wiping out poverty from Nigeria by 2010. At the instance of tourism translating poverty to huge e...

Since the expedition of Leo Frobenius in Ile-Ife in 1910, the ancient city has witnessed significant archaeological attention. Excavations, coupled with ‘chance’ discoveries, have produced many artifacts, and in some cases artworks, which demonstrate the significant complexity of the settlement. Artifacts such as the Ife bronzes have made Ile-Ife a...