ABSTRACT

The main objective of archaeology as a discipline is to extend the horizons of known history. The aim of a Yoruba archaeology is to use archaeological materials to interpret the socio-economic and ideological history of Yoruba people (Fig. 13.1). Currently Yoruba history is in a disorganized state because there are many writers of history, using many irreconcilable sources and therefore arriving at different, at times contradictory, conclusions. These historians include individuals trained locally during the colonial era who have remained pupils of colonial historians. There are also traditional historians who derive their data from purely oral traditions. Archaeologists are new to the Yoruba historical scene. At this period of their national consciousness the Yoruba need a balanced documented history of their people, based on archaeological, ethnographic and historical data; in particular, it is important to solve the problems of chronology which are at present difficult to tackle in Yoruba history.