In 1938, Isiah Anozie was digging a cistern in his compound in Igbo-Ukwu, in what is now Anambra State, when his tools struck metal. He uncovered bronze objects decorated with finely worked patterns: insects, snakes, tiny beads of metal and delicate loops. Archaeologists who later excavated the site were astonished. The objects were around a thousand years old, and their workmanship was more delicate than almost anything known from that period anywhere in the world.
The discovery and the dating
Anozie’s find came to the attention of colonial officials, and some objects were collected for museums. In 1959 and 1960, and again in 1964, the British archaeologist Thurstan Shaw excavated the site and nearby compounds. Shaw found a storehouse of ritual objects, a burial chamber of an important person and a pit of discarded items.
Radiocarbon dating placed the objects around the ninth or tenth century, centuries before the bronzes of Ife and Benin. The objects were made by lost-wax casting, with extraordinarily fine detail. Some pieces, such as a roped pot, are famous for their complexity.
Materials, burial and debate
The bronze was made with local metals, showing that the craftsmen had sophisticated knowledge of metallurgy. Tens of thousands of glass and stone beads were found, some from distant sources, pointing to long-distance trade. The burial chamber held the remains of a high-ranking person, probably a ritual leader, with regalia and beads. The finds show that a complex society with skilled artisans and trade networks existed in the Igbo region a thousand years ago.
Many objects are held in the National Museum in Lagos, while some are in museums abroad. Scholars still debate the trade routes and the society that produced the bronzes.
Pride and comparisons
The bronzes are a source of pride for Igbo people and Nigerians. The Igbo-Ukwu bronzes differ in style from the later naturalistic heads of Ife and the court art of Benin. They are more ornamental, with tiny surface details, and they show that bronze casting in the region began earlier than once believed. Several of the best-known pieces can be seen at the National Museum in Lagos.
A man digging for water found evidence of a civilisation. A thousand years after they were made, the Igbo-Ukwu bronzes still astonish those who look closely.
