ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the major ideas and practices that have framed the intellectual tradition of Nigerian archaeology since independence. It discusses about three of pioneering Nigerian archaeologists: Omotoso Eluyemi, Babatunde Agbaje-Williams and Bassey Andah. Eluyemi's corpus of work emphasized the archaeology of living traditions as evident in his focus on cultural institutions and their associated sites, such as shrines within and outside Ile-Ife, as well as his attentiveness to what priests and priestesses had to say about the past and processes of rituals. Although Eluyemi tended to take a static view of culture, he recognized the importance of oral traditions, ethnographies of living traditions and idiomatic-symbolic practices of culture for fleshing out the interpretations of archaeological contexts. The discovery, preservation and management of Nigeria's cultural heritage were seen as central solutions for economic and political development.
