Full Length Research Paper
Archaeology, Cultural Identity and the Politics of Interpretation among the Igbo of Nigeria: The Facts and Myths in Igbo-Ukwu Archaeological Excavations
Nwankwo T. Nwaezeigwe
Article Number - 608DC2DEE5FFB | Vol. 1(2), pp. 11-25., April 2021 |
Received: 17 December 2020 | Accepted: 17 February 2021 | Published: 30 April 2021
Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.
This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0.
Abstract
The present paper represents a
historical approach to the re-interpretation of Thurstan Shaw’s excavations at
Igbo-Ukwu against the background Onwuejeogwu’s thesis of Nri hegemony. It
should be recalled that Onwuejeogwu, an anthropologist was originally detailed
to carry out the ethnographic follow-up research on Thurstan Shaw’s excavations
at Igbo-Ukwu. This theory has posited that the culture-bearers of the three
archaeological sites excavated by Prof. Thurstan Shaw at Igbo-Ukwu were the Nri
sub-culture group of the Igbo. By this theory, which is based on M.D.W.
Jeffreys’ earlier theory of Umunri cultural hegemonic hypothesis, Onwuejeogwu
subsequently hazards the theory that whatever culture is defined today as Igbo
owe its origin to the Umunri, who by their own account of origin, migration and
settlement were not originally Igbo in extraction but Igala, an ethnic group
northwest of Igboland. This hegemonic theory thus in broader sense tends to
question the authenticity of the Igbo identity of the artefacts excavated at
Igbo-ukwu. This position in consequence generated a heated historical
controversy not only among Igbo scholars but also among the various communities
associated with the interpretation of excavation sites. It is indeed part of
this controversy this paper intends to resolve using historical approach. Keywords: Igboland, Igbo-Ukwu, Archaeology, Nri,
History.
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Authors
Nwankwo T.
Nwaezeigwe
Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
E-mail: [email protected]
How to Cite this Article
Nwaezeigwe, N.
T. (2021). Archaeology, Cultural Identity and the Politics of Interpretation
among the Igbo of Nigeria: The Facts and Myths in Igbo-Ukwu Archaeological
Excavations. Journal of Culture, History and Archaeology, 1(2): 11-25.
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