Ìlá Kingdom Revisited: Recent Archaeological Research at Ìlá-Yàrà

Abstract

Introduction Most of the archaeological research in Yorubaland has concentrated on the last thousand years, a period of the development of distinctive features of Yoruba social complexity and cultures. This early research centered on large states and their capital cities. The urge to conduct archaeological excavation at such centers was often a result of their presumed historical importance as indicated by the oral traditions, the reports of early European visitors, or the presence of artworks or monumental structures such as enclosure walls. In southwestern Nigeria, the interest in documenting prehistoric societies has engendered focus on the large polities of Old Oyo, Ile-Ife, Benin, Owo, and Ileṣa, among others. However, the archaeological contribution to understanding the processes of social formation and the dynamics of change in Yorubaland has been very minimal. The outlying areas of Yorubaland have not been investigated as much as central Yoruba. Northern Yorubaland, particularly Igbomina, is relatively less known (Map 6.1). The region has always been seen as geographically too remote composed of mainly small-scale sociopolitical institutions not worthy of serious studies. There is also a misconception that societies far removed from the center were unaffected both culturally and politically by the regional development that saw the rise of states. The dearth of information on the early history of the Igbomina groups has exacerbated doubt over their cultural identity. However, the study of the Igbomina would provide an understanding of the nature of the Yoruba frontier polities in the north.