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On the frontier of empire: understanding the enclosed walls

in Northern Yoruba, Nigeria

Aribidesi A. Usman*

African American Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-3802, USA

Received 18 November 2003; revised 4 December 2003

Abstract

The enclosure walls found among small-scale societies of Igbomina in northern Yoruba shared similar characteristics

with some well-known walls of large political centers in various parts of tropical Africa, particularly Nigeria. The study

of settlement walls of Igbomina provides an understanding of the nature of the Yoruba frontier region in the north. By

virtue of its location on the border with the Nupe to the north, Igbomina became a competing zone between rival core

polities, the Old Oyo and the Nupe, and later, Fulani and Ibadan states. It therefore seems that the construction of

enclosure walls was to counter aggressions on the frontier and protect local communities from invaders. However, the

functions of enclosure walls in Igbomina may have fluctuated from defensive to sociopolitical. The rise and expansion

of Old Oyo Empire into Igbomina from the 16th century and the formation of relations with the local elites brought

greater sociopolitical changes to the area, evident in settlement aggregation, large site size, and ceramic changes. Thus,

enclosure walls may have been a good indicator of the power of the local rulers and a symbol of cohesive social or-

ganization within the settlements. Ethnohistorical sources, archaeological survey, and excavation form the core of thisexamination of settlement walls on the northern frontier of Yoruba.

2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords:Nigeria; Iron age; Pottery; Enclosure; Rampart; Warfare; Yoruba; Igbomina; Old Oyo; Nupe

Walls have for some time fascinated archaeologists

and historians working on Iron Age materials from

Africa. The practice of surrounding settlements with

walls was very common in Africa over the last 3000

4000 years (Connah, 2000). African city walls consistedof enclosures, either single or multiple, that entirely or

partially surrounds a settlement. They are found in va-

rieties of ways and materials: sometimes of stone or

mud, earth, or with banks and ditches, timber stockades,

or naturally grown vegetation. These walls may have

been primarily a protective strategy from increased

competition for resources, caused by expanded popula-

tion or environmental deterioration (Connah, 2001).

The increasing use of horses in warfare in the West

African savanna from the 13th or 14th century onwards

also forced many towns and cities to protect themselves

(McIntosh and McIntosh, 1988). However, enclosed

walls had other functions. It could represent a cohesive

social unit, and as social marker or status symbol, whichclearly distinguished dwellers from outsiders.

Overview of some West African walls

Prior to the 19th century, walls and ditches sur-

rounded every major town in the southwest of Nigeria,

the Yoruba heartland. The most common form of walls

were earthen ramparts, often consisted of both an inner

wall enclosing the living area, and an outer wall that

protected the farmland and other important resources

(Ajayi and Smith, 1971). Oyo-Ile, the capital of Old Oyo

* Fax: 1-480-965-7229.

E-mail address: [email protected].

0278-4165/$ - see front matter 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2003.12.002

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 23 (2004) 119132

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Empire, exhibited a complex multiple wall system that

consisted of both inner and outer walls (Soper and

Darling, 1980). The wall contained about 17 gates (or

entrance), and the inner and outer walls were 18 and

21 km, respectively.

Two other Oyo settlements with enclosed walls, Ip-

apo-Ile and Koso, are located near Old Oyo. Ipapo-Ile isa single-bank, convex type that was originally con-

structed as a dump-rampart without a ditch (Agbaje-

Williams, 1990). Although Ipapo-Ile shared some

characteristics with Old Oyo wall, the Ipapo-Ile wall was

small, and the wall was probably not constructed until

the Fulani invasion in the first half of the 19th century

(Agbaje-Williams, 1990). At Koso, walls probably built

in loops and thick mud courses surrounded a former

northern seat of Old Oyo power. The standing wall was

about 1 m thick, and the average height of about 4 m

(Agbaje-Williams, 1990).

As described by Mabogunje and Omer-Cooper(1971), the Owu Ipole, an important kingdom of the

Yoruba, had at least two concentric wall circuits of

wide-topped rampart types of about 3.6 m high. The

outer wall is about 11 km in diameter with a circum-

ference of about 33 km, while the inner wall is about

5 km across and roughly 14 km in circumference. Also

associated with the walls were undetermined number of

gates, and forts constructed at intervals along the walls

where the defenders launched surprise attacks on the

invaders (Johnson, 1921, p. 209).

Ife, an important Yoruba city, is a two-wall settle-

ment with numerous added loops. According to Ozanne

(1969), the central area (original Afin enclosure now

delineated only by roads and pathways) has a circum-

ference of about 3.8 km. The inner wall of medieval Ife

has a circumference of about 7.8 km, while the outer

medieval wall is about 14 km in circumference; the wall

height is about 4.5 and 2 m thick with no ditch. Modern

Ife wall is estimated about 162 km in circumference, and

between 3 and 5 m high with a ditch about 2.5 m deep.

The basic two-concentric wall system of Ife is similar to

Old Oyo wall (Soper and Darling, 1980). At Ife, the

concentric walls indicates complex series of phases in

which the city grew up around the palace of the ruler

(Ozanne, 1969). A summary of the wall lengths of some

Yoruba cities is provided in Table 1, and these comparefavorably with those from Igbomina to be discussed

later in the paper.

Outside Yorubaland, the Benin city walls, which

have been studied in some detail, would parallel to some

extent the Ife wall system. The wall system was origi-

nally built to delineate the royal precint of the Oba

(king) from the surrounding area (Connah, 1975; Dar-

ling, 1976). As further land was taken under control by

population increase or fusion with neighboring com-

munities by affiliation or conquest, additional walls were

built to enclose the area (Soper and Darling, 1980). The

height of Benin wall, from the excavated bottom of theditch to the top of the earthen bank, is about 17.4 m and

total length in excess of 16,000 km (Connah, 2001).

In Hausaland the Kano city wall in the north of

Nigeria was constructed of both mud-bricks and

dumped earth. Early European travelers, colonial sour-

ces, and archaeological study have provided some

information on the nature of the city wall. In the mid-

1820s Captain Hugh Clapperton described the wall as

about 24 km in length, over 9 m in height, with 15 entry

gates, and a dry ditch on both the inner and outer sides

(Denham et al., 1826). In 1902 during the early days of

the establishment of European colonies, Frederick Lu-

gard was faced with the task of storming the wall, and he

admitted: I have never seen, nor even imagined, any-

thing like it in Africa (Lugard, 1903, p. 28).

The walls of Zaria, described by Sutton (1976),

present a superficially close parallel with Old Oyo. The

Zaria City Wall has a circumference of nearly 16 km and

with Kano is the largest of the Hausa wall. The basic

Table 1

The Yoruba wall systems (length in km)

Yoruba towns Wall system Palace Inner Outer Loops

New Oyo Double wall 1.2 x 10.4 x

Ife medieval Double wall 3.8 ? 7.8 14 xIfe modern x 9 x 16.2 Numerous

Igboho Triple wall x x 22.4 3.7

Owu Double wall x 7.8 34 ? x

Ibadan Single wall x 14.4 38.5 x

Owo x 2.8 8.4 17.8 Probable

Ado-Ekiti Single wall 1.5 x 5.5 x

Old Oyo Multiple wall 7.5 18 21 16

Igbomina

Gbagede Single wall x x 3.4 x

Iyara Single wall x x 2.08 x

x, Information not available; ?, may not be exact.

Source. Other Yoruba walls (Soper and Darling, 1980, pp. 6181).

120 A.A. Usman / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 23 (2004) 119132

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design is of a ditch and a rounded earthen dump-ram-

part, above which stood a straighter, slightly sloping

face built of egg-shaped sun-dried bricks, and a counter-

scarp occasionally visible outside the ditch (Soper and

Darling, 1980). The construction of the city wall took

place probably between the 15th and 17th centuries

(Sutton, 1976). The Amina wall, which post-dates thecity wall was a territorial marker, linking the Kufena

inselberg to Zaria town and encloses agricultural land.

The wall is about 13.5 km long, and can stand up to

about 6 m high in some section (Soper and Darling,

1980).

A breakdown of the studies of these early West Af-

rican city walls shows they mostly represent large and

historically known sites. This has been the main focus of

archaeological research programs in West Africa until

recent. It is so much easier to investigate sites that are

known from written documents or oral traditions. Also,

the remarkable artistic traditions and massive architec-ture associated with some of these sites made them more

attractive for archaeological field research. The overall

result is that archaeological work has been limited to

relatively large sites, remarkably the states and their

capitals, leaving out the outlying settlements.

It is presently recognized that small-scale societies,

especially those often called periphery, were more dy-

namic than previously thought (MacEachern, 1993;

Renfrew and Cherry, 1986; Rowlands, 1987; Schortman

and Urban, 1992). Enclosure walls like those in large

political centers have been found among small-scale

societies of Yoruba in central Nigeria. It appears that

the same forces and needs, which made construction of

enclosure possible at large centers, were also at work in

the periphery. This investigation examines enclosed

walls of Igbomina in Yoruba northern frontier. The

main question is: What can these walls system tell us

about the Igbomina area during the Old Oyo kingdom?

In an attempt to understand this, the paper will: (1)

examine the physical characteristics of the enclosed

walls, and (2) explore the functional implications of the

walls as defined elsewhere in Africa, and as applicable to

northern Yoruba.

The making of the frontier settlements

The northern Yoruba frontier (or northern frontier

of Old Oyo) is part of the area that is today called Ig-

bomina. This area has also been called north central

Yorubaland. It is located in the Irepodun, Ifelodun, and

Isin local government areas of Kwara State, Nigeria.

The area stretches from the southern part of Ilorin in the

northwest to parts of Ekiti in the southeast. Before 1918

when the British colonial administration altered the

northsouth border, the Igbomina extended to the

southeast banks of the Niger River up to Jebba, and to

Illa in post-colonial Yoruba state of Osun. Geographi-

cally, the area is in the savanna belt of Nigeria and is

characterized by flat plains, tall grasses, scattered trees,

and chains of hills (Fig. 1). The topography in the

northeast Igbomina is more rugged and hilly than the

western Igbomina. The hills, known as the Ire Range,

divide the northeastern from the western Igbomina.The Igbomina land is inhabited by a group of people

who speaks a related Yoruba dialect called Igboona.

The area is divided into about nine sociopolitical units

or village-groups, such as Magbon, Ilere, Esisa, Isin,

Erese, Iyangba, Eku-mesan Oro, Eku Apa, and Ipo

(Dada, 1985; Pemberton and Afolayan, 1996; Usman,

2001) (Fig. 2). The people claimed to have arrived in the

area at different times in history and from various pla-

ces. Oral traditional accounts trace descent either from

Ife, Old Oyo, or elsewhere in Yorubaland. It appears

that the large-scale Yoruba immigration northward

witnessed in the 16th century was preceded by smaller-scale immigration or, at least, ceramic emulation. From

the available archaeological data, establishment of set-

tlements in Igbomina by the Yoruba may have begun, at

least, by the 13th century (Aleru, 1998; Usman, 2001).

Based on the Ife and Oyo pottery types found in the

area, it appears that, either Ife, Oyo, or related groups

have settled in Igbomina, or the indigenous settlers in

Igbomina interacted with Oyo and Ife centers by that

time (Usman, 2001). However, if the thermoluminis-

cence date of 1100 AD (Stevens, 1978) obtained for Esie

stone carving is reliable, the occupation of Igbomina

may be at least a century earlier.

Igbomina has been described as a northern province

of Old Oyo (Johnson, 1921; Law, 1977), based on the

geopolitical division of the territory under the Old Oyo

administration. The Osin River east of Ajasepo may

have formed the Old Oyo boundary (Law, 1977; Usman,

2001). Old Oyo controlled or influenced several Igbo-

mina towns east and west of the Osin River (Biscoe,

1912; Burnett, 1912a,b; Law, 1977). It is also likely that

Old Oyos influence or establishment of administration

was limited by rugged terrain in the area east of Osin

River (e.g., Ilere, Esisa) (Usman, 2000). The Igbomina,

and certainly most of northern Yorubaland, is regarded

as the dispersal point for most groups of people nowliving to the southwest of Nigeria (Obayemi, 1976;

Oyelaran, 1998; Usman, 2001). The pre- and 19th cen-

tury wars in the area had created large-scale population

displacement (Ajayi and Akintoye, 1980; Usman, 2001).

By the 16th century the frontier communities had

been established by the Old Oyo empire, through ex-

pansion and consolidation, the displacement of the

Nupe, and the occupation of the conquered land by

groups from Ife and Oyo-Yoruba speaking areas (Ade-

pegba, 1982; Obayemi, 1976). The creation of frontier

communities was for strategic purposes, be it economic

or political. The military importance of the Igbomina to

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the Old Oyo was vital, particularly its strategic position

between Old Oyo and an enemy, the Nupe. For Old Oyo

in Igbomina, military threats included the Nupe inva-

sions and the exile of the Oyo from their capital in the

15th century (Smith, 1976). The Nupe victory was short-

lived, however, as Old Oyo regained its power and es-

tablished a military outpost, Igbaja, in Igbomina onwhat had been Nupe territory in order to check Nupe

raids (Law, 1977, p. 91). The presence of aggressive

groups like the Nupe, and the Ibariba to the north might

have facilitated the establishment of the frontier com-

munities, and the unification of the area under Old Oyo

control, providing a common leadership and defense

(Usman, 2000).

The walls

Beginning from the 16th century, Gbagede, Iyara,Ila-Yara in western Igbomina, and several settlements in

northeastern Igbomina, were associated with different

kinds of walls from earthen ramparts with ditch, to mud

courses, and stone barriers. The practice of building

fortifications seems to have continued throughout the

18th century, as relics of town walls have been found at

some extant Igbomina settlements (Akpobasa, 1994;

Usman, 2001). The investigation of Gbagede and Iyara

walls first took place between January and June 1995.

The survey involved taking measurements between

points along the wall using tapes, ranging poles, and

prismatic compass. Due to obstruction from vegetation,

only about 90% coverage of the wall was achieved

during this period. Between January and June 2003,

further investigation of the walls was carried out usingGPS equipment, and with better ground visibility the

mapping of the walls at the two settlements was ac-

complished. The investigation was also extended to the

northeastern Igbomina where evidence of walls has

survived. The main concern here is to provide a de-

scription of the walls and examine their relevance to

northern Yoruba frontier represented by Igbomina set-

tlements. A more detailed discussion of the excavation

and analysis of materials have been provided elsewhere

(Usman, 2000, 2001).

Gbagede was surrounded by wall constructed prob-

ably of thick mud wall. All that is left of the wall arebanks in varying widths (46 m) and heights (12 m)

(Fig. 3). Stones and pottery protrusion were observed on

the wall, and it appears they were already incorporated

in the soil dug from previously inhabited areas. Three

main entry gates (AC) probably with sentry, and two

or three minor entrances, were associated with Gbagede.

The width of the entry gate A, parallel to the west wall

was 13.4 m. Gate B is about 8.3 m wide located almost

Fig. 3. Section of Gbagede wall with ceramic protrusion.


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on the northwest wall. Gate C is in the northeast corner

of gate B, and with its small size and absence of recess

walls, it could represent a small opening rather than a

major entry gate. Observed within the wall are small

ditches or pits that were randomly situated. Some of the

pits walls contained exposed granites that suggest the

pits may have been used in the past as water reservoir.Gbagede is a single walled site with a circumference of

3.4km (3313.86 m), and the site area approximately

612,360 m2 or 0.612 km2 (Fig. 4). Excavated charcoal

samples from Gbagede gave a radiocarbon result of

320 60 BP (Beta-88414) and 495 45 BP (A13053)

which calibrates to possible calendar age ranges of 1450

1670 AD at 95% probability and 13241350 AD at

95.4% probability, respectively. The dates indicate that

at least some of the charcoal also forms part of the relics

from an early stage in the towns development, until

probably in the 16th century when the town wall was

constructed.Iyara site is located about about 2 km southeast of

Gbagede, and enclosed by wall constructed of earthen

rampart (Fig. 5). The name, Iyara,is synonymous with

the conspicuous walling system. Iyara or Yara in Yor-

uba means trench or ditch behind the walls of a town.

The estimated height of Iyara wall ranges from 1.2 to

3 m, and the width from 4.3 to 5.5 m. The walls height

increased to about 3.3 m or more when measuring from

the bottom of the ditch. Two main entry gates were

identified. The first, gate A, is about 6.8m wide and

located on the northeast corner of the wall; the second

gate, B, is about 4.3 m wide, located on the southwest

wall. Some small openings on the south wall were

probably minor entrance to the site. The Iyara wall is

associated with a continuous ditch located outside thewall (Fig. 6). The depth of the ditch varied from one

section of the wall to another with the deepest about

1.3 m. Such deep ditch was unique of rampart built wall,

since their enormous sizes required considerable amount

of soil to build than freestanding mud wall. The Iyara is

a single-walled settlement, with a wall circumference of

about 2.8 km (2079.82 m). The limit of the site, which is

thought to be within the wall, was approximately

385,720 m2 or 0.386 km2 (Fig. 7).

In the northeastern Igbomina, there is a different

kind of wall characteristically different from Gbagede or

Iyara walls. These are rock piles and boulders arrangedto form a linear wall to a considerable height along

edges and entrances to hilltop sites. Sometimes, this

arrangement could extend for upward of 1 km or more

in length. In most places only stones of various sizes

were formed as walls (Fig. 8), while in some, for exam-

ple, at Aun I, stones and mud courses were combined to

form a wall (Fig. 9). The association of walls with set-

tlements in this part of Igbomina occurred from the late

Fig. 4. Survey map of Gbagede wall and excavation units.


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17th century, which was apparently connected with the

occupation of hill top sites as a result of increase raidingof the inhabitants by the Nupe.

Functional interpretation

The rains of several seasons, the activities of land

developersand farmers, have made it difficult to get the

actual picture of the walls from their remains today.

However, from what is left of the physical characteristics

of settlement walls, it might be possible to determine

why the wall was constructed in the first place. Several

studies have referred to enclosing walls as defensive

features (Connah, 1972; Haase, 1985; Lafferty, 1973;

Okpoko, 1987; Ozanne, 1969; Webster, 1975). Appar-ently the encircling nature of some walls (whether partial

or complete), the height and width, and the number and

type of entry gates, were sufficient reason to call them

defensive.

Walls ranging between 0.9 and 1.8 m high provide

adequate protection against opponents armed with bows

and arrows (Lafferty, 1973). By looking at the design

and layout of Gbagede and Iyara enclosures one might

learn something about the character of the warfare in-

volved. The height of the walls estimated between 1 and

3 m may be enough to present some obstacles to cavalry

soldiers. Some comparative examples abound elsewhere

Fig. 5. Section of Iyara exterior ditch and earthen rampart.


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Fig. 6. Section of Iyara earthen rampart.

Fig. 7. Survey map of Iyara earthen rampart and pottery collection/excavation units.


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Fig. 8. Remains of stone barrier in northeast Igbomina.

Fig. 9. Mud/stone wall at Aun I, northeast Igbomina.


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in Nigeria. The 4 m high walls of Owu Ipole (Mabogunje

and Omer-Cooper, 1971), and the 9 m high walls of

Kano (Connah, 2001, p. 43), were a response to the

highly mobile cavalry forces of the West African sa-

vanna. Also, the multiple enclosure walls of Old Oyo,

Ife, and Ipapo-Ile were designed to provide defense

against attackers (Agbaje-Williams, 1990; Soper andDarling, 1980). With such walls, attackers either on

horses or on foot could be slowed down, while the de-

fenders rallied behind the wall to plan a counter-attack.

Looking at the nature of the high walls, tropical

African city walls were probably not designed to with-

stand artillery weapon, unlike some European military

structures in Africa such as the late 16th century Fort

Jesus in Mombasa, Kenya (Connah, 2001, p. 43). Fire-

arms did not become important weapon in Yoruba

warfare before the 1820s (Olutoye and Olapade, 1998;

Smith, 1967). Until the 19th century, bows and arrows

were important item in the armament of the Yorubaarmies (Smith, 1989, p. 70). There is a reference to the

use of bows and arrows by the Borgu, neighbors of the

Oyo, in the time of Alafin Ofinran, who reigned at Oyo

around the middle of the 16th century (Smith, 1967).

The recovery of iron points from excavations at Gbag-

ede, Olupefon, Obaloyan, and Apere sites in Igbomina

indicate the importance of the item in the area, and

possibly its use in warfare before the introduction of

firearms (Fig. 10).

Low or breast-work type of wall in Yorubaland was

constructed due to the increasing use of firearms, which

could be easily fired over it (Ajayi and Smith, 1971). The

high walls could offer considerable protection from bows

and arrows and opportunity for the defenders to launch

attack from inside. The Oyo cavalry who also used bows

and arrows were so skilled that their arrows could go

through a small opening in a wall upwards of a hun-

dred yards distance (Smith, 1989, p. 72). However, the

relationship between the two types of walls and weapons

as suggested above may not be that simple. It has been

suggested recently that both high and lower types of

walls were used in West Africa before the introduction

of firearms, and that availability of manpower and the

degree of urgency probably determined the size of walls

(Smith, 1989).The surrounding ditches were an important feature

of the defenses. They seem to have been dug on both

sides of the wall, but usually found on the outside. They

were in varying depth, depending on the height of the

wall. Of the sites investigated in Igbomina, only Iyara

exhibited this characteristic the most. The ditch, which is

continuous and located outside the wall, may have

provided additional obstacle to approaching foot and

cavalry soldiers in their advance. The depth of the ditch

added extra height to the enclosing wall, making it dif-

ficult for attackers to surmount. At Ketu and Owu in

Yorubaland, the ditches were up to 5 or 6 m deep and 2

or 3 m wide (Mabogunje and Omer-Cooper, 1971; Ajayi

and Smith, 1971).

The construction of stone barriers and mud-walls in

northeastern Igbomina accompanied the occupation of

hilltop sites in the area from the late 17th century. Ac-

cording to oral accounts, the rock piles were constructed

to slow down NupeFulani, and later Ibadan, cavalrysoldiers, while the hills facilitated a commanding view of

approaching invaders and provided a comfortable po-

sition for hurling rocks. Clarke, in 1854, recognized

similar stone piles among the Igbeti in northwest Yo-

rubaland, which he described as innumerable small

rocks scattered in profusion and confusion. . . [this] was

the stratagem of mode of warfare resorted to when the

Igbeti were attacked by Ilorin (Clarke, 1972, p. 76).

Several communities in this area of Igbomina, such as

Aun, Oro Ago, Ofaro, Owa, Aafin, Alaabe, Ikosin, Oke-

Oyan, and Agunjin were situated in a naturally fortified

areas and houses built on and between rock outcrops.The Oro Ago warriors stationed themselves on hilltop

and between rock outcrops, from where they unleashed

heavy rocks and hail of poisoned arrows on the Ibadan

invaders (Akintoye, 1971).

Enclosure walls should be informative about the level

of political stress and inter-group conflict, existence,

threat or fear of military invasion. The Igbomina is lo-

cated in the frontier area between the Old Oyo and the

Nupe where competition for resources was intense. The

construction of walls for defensive purpose was therefore

a necessity. Warfare was a major and unpredictable var-

iable in Igbomina up to the early 19th century. Old Oyos

expansionfrom the16th century involved taken land from

the Nupe. The expansion of Yoruba and occupation of

land may have placed the Yoruba groups in armed con-

flict with the Nupe. The incessant frictions between the

Yoruba and Nupe which continued throughout Old Oyo

period has been described as a attempt by the Nupe to

reclaim the lost land (Adepegba, 1982).

Enclosing walls may have functioned as spatial de-

marcations, social or territorial markers, and as a means

of social regulation (Adler, 1990; Kane, 1989; Ozanne,

1969). In describing Ife walls, for example, Ozanne

(1969, pp. 32) claimed that, the communities. . . must

have had a more elaborate social structure than that ofautochthonous hamlets of early life. The fact of building

a wall indicated a single though probably segmented,

polity, in which relations must have been carefully or-

dered. By demarcating a groups place in the envi-

ronment, a boundary becomes a symbol of the social

and political group (Wilson, 1988, p. 60) and may

function to reinforce its identity. The fact that residen-

tial groups chose to demarcate their settlements with

walls implies that the space and its contents were highly

valued (Tringham, 1972, p. 470).

Some local elites in Igbomina may have taken ad-

vantage of their strategic location and relation with Old


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Oyo to aggrandize power. Initially, newly emergent local

rulers may rely on contacts with core elites to establish

their power especially through affinal ties. The increas-

ing waves of migration into northern Yorubaland fol-

lowing the establishment of Old Oyos authority, and the

need for land to settle, may have led to immigrant

groups appealing to the local elites who acted as the

custodian of the states conquered territory. Local chiefs

then became the rallying point for these immigrants, and

could use these circumstances to promote and consoli-

date authority and power. By the 17th century, while the

Igbomina was in the Old Oyo Empire, the Old Oyo

authority boosted the prestige of Olupo, a local political

elite, by using him as local superintendent of Oyo in-

terests in Igbominaland (Akintoye, 1971). The character

of Gbagede enclosure may be related to the sociopolit-

ical importance of the settlement as a capital or head

town where the ruler, Olupo, resided (Elphinstone,

Fig. 10. Excavated metal points from Igbomina.


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1921). The Gbagede and Iyara walls may have political

connotations, such as the presence of a highly valued

political institution, and as an enhancement of privacy

and prestige, while signaling the existence of a high de-

gree of political and social cohesion. In such a case the

status of the inhabitants and their ruler would have been

enhanced by the very existence of the enclosure walls.Changes in the size and shape of enclosures through

time may also reflect similar changes in the settlement

(Connah, 2001). It is assumed that a reconstruction of the

history of a settlements walls may provide some under-

standing of thedevelopmentof thesettlement.While there

are no data from Igbomina to test the sequence of walls

development, what is known from dated charcoal is that

construction of walls and ditches may have followed the

large-scale immigration into Igbominaland in the 16th

century. Elsewhere in Africa attempts to address such is-

sue have been very successful (Connah, 1975; Ozanne,

1969; Quarcoopome, 1993; Soper and Darling, 1980;Sutton, 1976). The archaeological study of the remains of

the Kano city wall by Moody, for example, identified

three phases of growth in the wall system: in the 11th and

12th century AD, the late 15th century, and the 17th

century; a sequence documenting the growing size and

importance of the city as the second millennium AD

progressed (Moody, 1967).

Wall enclosure implies the presence of centralized di-

rection, collective effort, labor availability, and resource

surplus. The construction of the vast network of Benin

city walls, for example, would required at least

150,000,000 person hours of work over a period of several

centuries (Darling, 1984). The digging of the ditches at

Bigo in Uganda would have required the removal of over

200,000 cubic meters of earth and rock, which implies

several men hours of work (Posnansky, 1969). It is very

likely that the Gbagede and Iyara walls would require

workers smaller than those suggested above and shorter

period of construction. However, regional centers can

encourage local population concentrations, while politi-

cal elites may coerce people to live nearby, where they can

be watched more easily and be better controlled (Cowgill,

1975). Such large population could provide labor for

public works (e.g., walls, ditches), for craft production,

could be taxed, and could be organized for defensivepurposes (Anderson, 1990). Whatever the situation in

Igbomina, the enclosure walls in Igbomina, like in the

large centers, were major projects that would have re-

quired discipline and planning, as well as a respectable

leader with the ability to marshal the labor and provide

food while the work was in progress.

Discussion and conclusion

The study of site enclosures in Igbomina reveals how

an architectural feature might have functioned in regard

to prehistoric social relations. The exigencies of security

on the one hand may have prompted the walls. Old

Oyos expansion into northern Yoruba in the 16th cen-

tury and the creation of frontier (or periphery) settle-

ments to cater for Oyos interest provided the

foundation for hostilities. One important problem faced

by Oyo expansionism was how to defend and protect thenewly established frontiers from external incursions. The

Igbomina was strategically important to Old Oyo, at

least in terms of military security. Its location between

the Nupe and Oyo had the advantage of protecting

Oyos northern frontier from the Nupe, and probably

ensure access to northern goods, such as horses (Obay-

emi, 1976).

Equitable alliances, more or less, between social

groups can resolve the problems faced by threatened

populations (Gregor, 1990). It seems likely therefore

that the cooperation by Old Oyo with the Yoruba local

elites in the area of the Nupe must have been greatlystimulated by the need to unite to face Nupe aggression,

which persisted until the end of the Old Oyo suzerainty

in the late 18th century. The communities may have

considered cooperation with Old Oyo as advantageous,

as their own defense would have been assured (Obayemi,

1976). The organization of Old Oyo Empire, based on

the periphery or provincial system, made warfare

possible. Resources were mobilized, often with the

blessing and outright assistance of local chiefs, and with

the expectation that they would serve as allies to provide

support, including food and warriors, should the state

be attacked (Law, 1977).

The competitive milieu between Old Oyo and Nupe,

which led to the consolidation of Igbomina under the

Old Oyo, may have stimulated rapid sociopolitical

changes in the area. The increased occupation of Igbo-

mina from the 16th century following the Old Oyo ex-

pansion is accompanied by changes in the frequency and

distribution of pottery motifs (Usman, 2000). The

presence of large numbers of Old Oyo pottery decorative

motifs, such as snail shell in western Igbomina, indicates

not only the contribution of new social groups but also

the dominance of certain social groups over others

(Usman, 2000). The prevalence of Oyo pottery decora-

tive motifs in Igbomina may suggest the important roleplayed by Oyo elements in the society. The ceramic de-

sign changes and enclosure walls may be physical man-

ifestations of these internal changes in the periphery.

Wall enclosures should be able to provide informa-

tion on cultural identity and cultural relationships,

specifically from similarities in design, materials, and

constructional methods (Connah, 2001). The Gbagede

and Iyara enclosures had in common certain character-

istics with other Yoruba and non-Yoruba walls such as

Old Oyo, Ife, Ijebu, Ipapo-Ile, Owu, and Benin. Com-

mon to all of these are the characteristics of the enclo-

sures, consisting of earthen ramparts or mud-built wall,


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entry gates, ditches, etc. Yet, such closeness in settlement

walls may suggest clearly indigenous affiliation and

cultural similarities. The differences in the walls of Ig-

bomina and those of the large centers are in size or scale,

and depended on factors such as, the population of the

town, the intensity of the pressure necessitating con-

struction, and the influence of the ruler or war leaderwho directed the project (Darling, 1984; Ojo, 1966;

Posnansky, 1969).

The Gbagede and Iyara are single wall system con-

structed of mud and earthen ramparts with ditches

placed inside or outside the wall. At Gbagede, several

small ditches or pits are located arbitrarily inside the

wall. The single ditch at Iyara is continuous, deeper,

concentric, and located outside of the wall. The differ-

ences in the ditches between the two sites may be func-

tional. The cultural deposit of Iyara is not yet well

understood. This is a result of limited excavation at the

site compared to Gbagede. Oral tradition from Ajasepoand its environ suggests that Iyara was a war camp

founded by one Balogun Adelani, a warrior from Old

Oyo. Although there is no concrete evidence to back this

claim, the Yoruba armies often constructed war camps

which both in their defenses and the laying out of houses

and farms took on the appearance of settled towns

(Ajayi and Smith, 1971, p. 28). Whatever the case, the

impressive nature of the Iyara wall indicates that its

construction was oriented towards meeting the defensive

needs of the 17th century.

Finally, the encircling nature of walls, ditches, and

excavated weaponsof war suggests a climate of hostility

and help defined the Yoruba northern frontier. The Ig-

bomina may have constructed enclosed walls and evolved

towards increased centralizedcontrol and hierarchyin

reaction to the aggressive Nupe on its borders. Thus, like

Benin, Old Oyo, Ife, Kano, and Bigo walls, the Igbomina

wall enclosures are testimony of the power of their rulers,

and indicative of a cohesive social organization in the

area. It is possible that warfare, exemplified by the wall

systems, suggests the collapse of a system of balanced but

competing Yoruba and Nupe polities.

Acknowledgments

The research work reported here is part of the Ig-

bomina project funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation

(1994/95, 2002/03) and the Balantine Fund (1994/95). I

am highly indebted to the following people who assisted

in various aspects of the research: Jonathan Aleru, and

Raphael Alabi of the University of Ibadan, and Kayode

Adewusi of National Museum, Esie. My thanks also go

to the National Commission for Museums and Monu-

ments for providing me with a research permit and

laboratory space.

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