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92-486: The Jos Plateau is a plateau located near the centre of Nigeria . The plateau has given its name to the Plateau State in which it is found and is named for the state's capital, Jos . The plateau is home to people of diverse cultures and languages. The plateau's montane grasslands, savannas , and forests are home to communities of plants and animals distinct from those of the surrounding lowlands and constitute

184-488: A mosaic of savanna, open woodland, and forest . Human activities have reduced the plateau's tree cover, and most of the plateau is now covered by open grassland. Small areas of woodland and forest remain on steep and inaccessible sites, including the southern and western escarpments, along rivers, and at the base of rock outcrops. The plateau is home to West Africa’s only population of klipspringer ( Oreotragus oreotragus ), as well as several endemic birds and mammals, including

276-658: A ' megalithic stone fence' had been erected around a central area in the settlement. However in a subsequent study published in 2016 the authors concluded that these were in fact misinterpreted natural geological features, and that there was no evidence for any stone architecture at Nok sites, apart from the rare exception of the circular stone foundation of a hut discovered in Puntun Dutse. The archaeological evidence indicates that Nok houses were built primarily of organic materials like wood, plant stalks, grasses, and animal hides, which decomposed without leaving visible traces in

368-524: A Nigerian Government Directive. What further complicates the problem are the many workshops which fake Nok sculptures and then put them on the market as authentic. As each share cultural and artistic similarity with the Nok culture found in Nok, Sokoto, and Katsina, the Niger-Congo -speaking Yoruba , Jukun , or Dakakari peoples may be descendants of the Nok peoples. Based on stylistic similarities with

460-431: A complex funerary culture that may have included practices such as feasting. The earliest Nok terracotta sculptures may have developed in 900 BCE. Some Nok terracotta sculptures portray figures wielding slingshots , as well as bows and arrows , which may be indicative of Nok people engaging in the hunting , or trapping , of undomesticated animals. A Nok sculpture portrays two individuals, along with their goods , in

552-470: A dugout canoe. Both of the anthropomorphic figures in the watercraft are paddling . The Nok terracotta depiction of a dugout canoe may indicate that Nok people used dugout canoes to transport cargo , along tributaries (e.g., Gurara River) of the Niger River , and exchanged them in a regional trade network. The Nok terracotta depiction of a figure with a seashell on its head may indicate that

644-483: A few known sites. There is little pottery available for analysis but from the pottery that was found there is a decrease in the strictness of the ornamental band. While bands are still used, they are more complexly decorated with additional patterning. There also tends to be a returning pattern of body decoration. The variety of rim sizes and types seem to be increasing even more than in the Middle Nok period. Akin to

736-539: A large teeth-bearing therianthropic ( human - feline ) figure and the torso of a seated figure wearing a belt around their waist and a necklace, which had added features (e.g., bows, knots); there are also sculptures portraying the head of a human figure that has a bird beak and the head of a male figure with a seashell on it, which may have been created by the same sculptor. Additionally, there are sculptures portraying figures wielding slingshots , as well as bows and arrows , which may be indicative of Nok people engaging in

828-561: A regional trade network. The Nok terracotta depiction of a figure with a seashell on its head may indicate that the span of these riverine trade routes may have extended to the Atlantic coast. In the maritime history of Africa , there is the earlier Dufuna canoe , which was constructed approximately 8000 years ago in the northern region of Nigeria; as the second earliest form of water vessel known in Sub-Saharan Africa ,

920-553: A river was already there, though not necessarily on exactly the same course. Then, subterranean geological forces caused the land in that part of North America to gradually rise by about a centimeter per year for millions of years. An unusual balance occurred: the river that would become the Colorado River was able to erode into the crust of the Earth at a nearly equal rate to the uplift of the plateau. Now, millions of years later,

1012-513: A small flat top while others have wider ones. Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, plate tectonics movements, and erosion by water and glaciers. Volcanic plateaus are produced by volcanic activity . The Columbia Plateau in the north-western United States is an example. They may be formed by upwelling of volcanic magma or extrusion of lava. The underlining mechanism in forming plateaus from upwelling starts when magma rises from

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1104-582: A tiny version of Nigeria in terms of variety. In addition, the state is home to sizable populations of Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba immigrants (also known as farmers as opposed to herders who go around). The Jos Plateau is home to the ancient Nok culture , known for its remarkable terracotta artwork. After the British colonization of Nigeria , Jos Plateau became a mining region and one of the most important tourist destinations in Nigeria, but touristic activity

1196-501: A type of porridge. Hard pits from wild fruits have been found at many Nok sites. At some sites, fruit and seeds of other wild plants such as grasses and legumes were discovered. Overall there is not a huge selection of plant remains, but this could simply mean they were not preserved. More recent evidence of Carbonized plant remains of the Nok suggest that they foraged for tree fruits. The Nok people probably used an agroforestry system, combining cultivated crops with useful trees on

1288-502: Is a lack of cutting tools. Apart from stone axes, no tools with a cutting edge have been found. Projectile points made of either iron or stone are also absent from Nok sites. Grinding tools are very common at Nok sites. They are rarely preserved in one piece, but can still illustrate the different shapes and sizes of tools used throughout the Nok Culture. Grinding stones were made of quartzite , granitic , or metamorphic rock . At

1380-441: Is currently no conservation program for this ecoregion. Due to tin mining activity some 320 km of agricultural land has been disturbed. The situation has been improved since by local farmers due to usage of traditional as well as modern fertilisation methods which combined includes manure, urban waste ash and inorganic fertilizers. Approximately 1,199 km, or 9%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include

1472-622: Is divided into three main flat regions: the Bogotá savanna , the valleys of Ubaté and Chiquinquirá , and the valleys of Duitama and Sogamoso . The parallel Sierra of Andes delimit one of the world highest plateaux: the Altiplano , (Spanish for "high plain"), Andean Plateau or Bolivian Plateau. It lies in west-central South America, where the Andes are at their widest, is the most extensive area of high plateau on Earth outside of Tibet. The bulk of

1564-435: Is highly productive and resistant to adverse growing conditions, including drought. Cowpeas , valued for their high protein content, are also found at some sites. So far, pearl millet and cowpeas are the only crops known to have been cultivated by the Nok people. It is unclear whether they ate or farmed tubers of any kind. The numerous grinding stones found at Nok sites suggest that the grains were ground into flour and made into

1656-594: Is more probable than any other." Breunig (2017) expounded: "The people of the Nok culture must have come from somewhere else. So far, however, we have not found out what region, though we suspect the Sahel zone in West Africa ." Champion et al. (2022) suggested that they may have come from the Central Sahara, and stated: The cultivation of pearl millet diffused from the desiccating West and Central Sahara into

1748-573: Is possible that members of the Nok Culture used these grinders until they reached a certain state of wear, and then repurposed them as pestles. Ground stone axes were another tool commonly used by the Nok. They were typically made from fine-grained volcanic rock (siliceous rock is also sometimes seen), and may have been used in food preparation. These ax blades tend to be smallish in size, the largest reaching 20 centimeters. Stone balls are found at almost every Nok site and are approximately palm-sized. They were probably used as hammerstones or for roughening

1840-416: Is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides have deep hills or escarpments . Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma , extrusion of lava , and erosion by water and glaciers . Plateaus are classified according to their surrounding environment as intermontane, piedmont, or continental. A few plateaus may have

1932-710: Is sometimes called the Roof of Africa due to its height and large area. Another example is the Highveld which is the portion of the South African inland plateau which has an altitude above approximately 1,500 metres, but below 2,100 metres, thus excluding the Lesotho mountain regions. It is home to some of the largest South African urban agglomerations . In Egypt are the Giza Plateau and Galala Mountain , which

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2024-545: Is the Scottish Highlands . Plateaus are classified according to their surrounding environment. The highest African plateau is the Ethiopian Highlands which cover the central part of Ethiopia. It forms the largest continuous area of its altitude in the continent, with little of its surface falling below 1,500 metres (4,921 ft), while the summits reach heights of up to 4,550 metres (14,928 ft). It

2116-572: Is the home of more than 70 million people. The Western Plateau , part of the Australian Shield , is an ancient craton covering much of the continent's southwest, an area of some 700,000 square kilometres. It has an average elevation between 305 and 460 metres. The North Island Volcanic Plateau is an area of high land occupying much of the centre of the North Island of New Zealand, with volcanoes, lava plateaus, and crater lakes,

2208-433: Is unknown, but their use as currency or a medium of exchange has been suggested. Another rare find is stone beads, which are typically found as if strung on strings. Beads tend to be carefully made out of hard siliceous rock such as quartz , chalcedony , jasper , or carnelian . There are three different bead shapes: cylindrical, which is the most common shape, as well as rod and ring-shaped. Potsherds (pottery shards) are

2300-895: The Deccan Plateau (≈1,900,000 km (730,000 sq mi), elevation 300–600 metres (980–1,970 ft)). A large plateau in North America is the Colorado Plateau , which covers about 337,000 km (130,000 sq mi) in Colorado , Arizona , New Mexico , and Utah . In northern Arizona and southern Utah the Colorado Plateau is bisected by the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon . This came to be over 10 million years ago,

2392-586: The Deccan Plateau in India and the Meseta Central on the Iberian Peninsula . Plateaus can also be formed by the erosional processes of glaciers on mountain ranges, leaving them sitting between the mountain ranges. Water can also erode mountains and other landforms down into plateaus. Dissected plateaus are highly eroded plateaus cut by rivers and broken by deep narrow valleys. An example

2484-570: The National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), which is used to manage Nigeria's cultural heritage. NCMM Decree number 77 made it illegal for anyone other than authorized personnel to buy or sell antiquities within Nigeria or export an antiquity without a permit from the NCMM. Towards the end of the 1990s the federal government of Nigeria implemented the NCMM, which initiated a series of actions to work out strategies for combating

2576-675: The Niger . The Gongola River drains eastwards to join the Benue . The Hadejia and Yobe rivers flow northeast into Lake Chad . The Jos Plateau is dominated by three rock types. The older granites date to the late Cambrian and Ordovician. The younger granites are emplacements dating to the Jurassic and form part of a series that includes the Aïr Massif in the central Sahara . There are also many volcanoes and sheets of basalt extruded since

2668-556: The Nigerian mole-rat ( Cryptomys foxi ), Fox's shaggy rat ( Dasymys foxi ), rock firefinch ( Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis ), and Jos Plateau indigobird ( Vidua maryae ). The Jos Plateau lies in the Nigerian Middle Belt , and even in this region known for cultural diversity, it is unusually diverse. Barbour et al. (1982:49) show over 60 ethno-linguistic groups on the plateau. Most of the plateau's languages are in

2760-486: The West African savanna zone after 2500 BCE, in the context of southwards population movements (Ozainne et al. 2014; Neumann 2018; Fuller et al. 2021)…The presence of pearl millet without roulette decorations or chaff temper, as seen in the Nok and early Gajiganna sites, suggests that the third diffusion originated directly from the central Sahara and possibly split before reaching northern Nigeria , accounting for

2852-423: The hunting , or trapping , of untamed animals. One Nok sculpture portrays two individuals, along with their goods , in a dugout canoe. Both of the anthropomorphic figures in the watercraft are paddling . The Nok terracotta depiction of a dugout canoe may indicate that Nok people utilized dugout canoes to transport cargo , along tributaries (e.g., Gurara River) of the Niger River , and exchanged them in

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2944-408: The mantle , causing the ground to swell upward. In this way, large, flat areas of rock are uplifted to form a plateau. For plateaus formed by extrusion, the rock is built up from lava spreading outward from cracks and weak areas in the crust. Tectonic plateaus are formed by tectonic plate movements which cause uplift, and are normally of a considerable size, and a fairly uniform altitude. Examples are

3036-567: The " Roof of the World ", which is still being formed by the collisions of the Indo-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates . The Tibetan Plateau covers approximately 2,500,000 km (970,000 sq mi), at about 5,000 m (16,000 ft) above sea level. The plateau is sufficiently high to reverse the Hadley cell convection cycles and to drive the monsoons of India towards

3128-688: The Altiplano lies within Bolivian and Peruvian territory while its southern parts lie in Chile. The Altiplano plateau hosts several cities like Puno, Oruro, El Alto and La Paz the administrative seat of Bolivia. Northeastern Altiplano is more humid than the Southwestern, the latter of which hosts several salares , or salt flats, due to its aridity. At the Bolivia-Peru border lies Lake Titicaca ,

3220-648: The Chad Basin, and these questions led the team to investigate the Nok Culture. In the early steps of the Frankfurt Nok Project, researchers had difficulty finding sites to excavate. The team began collaborating with Umaru Yusuf Potiskum and they started finding distinct Nok culture sites, although most were looted. Scientific field work began in 2005 to systematically investigate Nok archaeological sites and to better understand Nok terracotta sculptures within their Iron Age archaeological context, and

3312-762: The Chadic family, which is part of the Afro-Asiatic family. Two of the Plateau's largest ethnic groups are the Berom , in the northern Plateau, and the Ngas in the southeast. Smaller groups include the Mwaghavul, Pyem, Ron, Afizere , Anaguta, Aten, Irigwe , Chokfem, Kofyar , Kulere, Miship, Mupun and Montol. The state's 3.2 million inhabitants are made up of more than 50 ethnic groups out of Nigeria's 374 tribes, making it

3404-540: The Department of Mines in Jos . Fifteen years later, in 1943 near the village of Nok, in the center of Nigeria, a new series of clay figurines were discovered by accident while mining tin . A clerk in charge of the mine had found a head and had taken it back to his home for use as a scarecrow , a role that it filled (successfully) for a year in a yam field. This scarecrow was eventually noticed by Bernard Fagg who at

3496-720: The Gajiganna people may have migrated from the Central Sahara , along with pearl millet and pottery, diverged prior to arriving in the northern region of Nigeria, and thus, settled in their respective locations in the region of Gajiganna and Nok . Nok people may have also migrated from the West African Sahel to the region of Nok. Nok culture may have emerged in 1500 BCE and continued to persist until 1 BCE. Nok people may have developed terracotta sculptures , through large-scale economic production, as part of

3588-546: The Jarawa Hill, Jere, Rafin Bawa, Panshanu, Guram River, Assob Bachit, Kurra Jekko, and Abak River forest reserves. Plateau In geology and physical geography , a plateau ( / p l ə ˈ t oʊ , p l æ ˈ t oʊ , ˈ p l æ t oʊ / ; French: [plato] ; pl. : plateaus or plateaux ), also called a high plain or a tableland , is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that

3680-613: The Jos Plateau forest-savanna mosaic ecoregion . At the start of the 20th century, the British established Jos as a tin-mining metropolis. Many individuals from Southern and Northern Nigeria came to Jos for work and business because of the tin industry on the plateau. Situated in North-Central Nigeria, the area consists of rolling hills on a plateau. Because of its diverse range of landforms and stunning scenery,

3772-463: The Jos Plateau is a popular tourist destination. It covers 8600 km and is bounded by 300–600 m escarpments around much of its boundary. With an average altitude of 1,280 m, it is the largest area over 1,000 m in Nigeria, with a high point of 1,829 m, in the Shere Hills . Several rivers have their sources on the plateau. The Kaduna River drains the western slopes, flowing southwest to join

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3864-503: The Nigerian customs authorities and Interpol . However, not all of the recommendations were implemented, because the Nigerian government did not have the resources to face the large scale of some of the challenges. For example, the government did not have the resources to place monitors at all archaeological sites, and terracotta figures still slip through Nigeria's borders. Today, the terracotta sculptures are very highly sought after on

3956-775: The Nok Culture would start being regarded as belonging to the Iron Age . In 1989, German scientists were working in northeastern Nigeria's Chad Basin as part of a cooperative project between the University of Maiduguri located in Borno State , Nigeria, and archaeologists of Goethe University Frankfurt . This project examined the beginnings of sedentary farming societies in the Chad Basin . Questions arose about whether there were other societies like those in

4048-436: The Nok Culture, no matter which concept is followed, developed complexity only in terms of ritual." Iron metallurgy may have developed in the Nok culture between 750 BCE and 550 BCE. Nok people may have independently invented iron metallurgy in the 9th century BCE or 8th century BCE. The shapes of stone tools found at Nok sites change little throughout the entire span of the Nok Culture. What tends to strike researchers

4140-671: The Nok culture, and no evidence has been found for special buildings or areas occupied by high-ranking community members. The lack of substantial stratigraphies or evidence of mound formation processes further indicates that Nok sites had brief occupation episodes. In sum, the evidence indicates that Nok culture communities were small-scaled and organised in locally autonomous groups. According to Rupp et al. (2016): "Rather than attributes of social complexity like signs of inequality, hierarchy, nucleation of settlement systems, communal and public monuments, or alternative African versions of complexity discussed in recent years, it has become apparent that

4232-578: The Nok terracotta depiction of a dugout canoe was created in the central region of Nigeria during the first millennium BCE. Based on evidence from the sites of Nok archaeological culture , such as considerable quantities of charcoal layered among Nok sculptures, goods (e.g., technically crafted ceramics, numerous stone-beaded necklaces) found in burial pits that support the view of them serving as grave sites, difference in soil coloring of burial pits and their immediate geographic area, and burial pits containing materials from organic substances, this supports

4324-721: The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is at an elevation of about 2,450 m (8,040 ft) above sea level , and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is about 2,150 m (7,050 ft) above sea level. At its deepest, the Colorado River is about 1,830 m (6,000 ft) below the level of the North Rim. Another high-altitude plateau in North America is the Mexican Plateau . With an area of 601,882 km (232,388 sq mi) and average height of 1,825 metres, it

4416-471: The Pliocene. The younger granites contain tin which was mined since the beginning of the 20th century, during and after the colonial period. The climate on the plateau is tropical but cooler than the surrounding lowlands. Average temperatures range from 15.5 °C to 18.5 °C in the coolest months to 27.5 °C to 30.5 °C during the hottest months. Rainfall ranges from 2,000 mm per year in

4508-502: The Sahel grasslands, causing difficulty in the dating and classification of the mysterious artifacts. Luckily, two archaeological sites, Samun Dukiya and Taruga , were found containing Nok art that had remained unmoved. Radiocarbon and thermo-luminescence tests dated the sculptures to a range of dates between about 2,900 and 2,000 years ago, making them some of the oldest in Western Africa. Many further dates were retrieved in

4600-576: The acidic soil, no animal bones from the Nok culture have been preserved, leaving no direct evidence of what species they might have domesticated (or hunted). The only evidence for animals during the Nok culture period is the depictions of animals as figurines or terracotta sculptures. As of 3500 years ago, Nok agriculturalists gathered and utilized bee products (e.g., gathered honey in pottery). The honey may have been utilized by Nok agriculturalists to add to West African cuisines . As evidenced by remnants of beeswax and fats from animals on ceramics,

4692-407: The beginning of January 1961 began near a remote valley named Taruga near the village of Takushara. The trial excavations took place during a period of eight days. The finds included objects of wrought iron , a quantity of iron slag, fragments of tuyere , pottery, figurine fragments, red ocher , quartz hammer-stones, and small concentrations of charcoal . The most famous finds at the site were

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4784-572: The conclusion that Nok sculptures were part of a complex funerary culture . Excluding ancient Egyptian figurative art , Nok sculptures are regarded to be the most early, large figurative art in continental Africa. Later artistic traditions of West Africa : Bura of Niger (3rd century CE – 10th century CE), Koma of Ghana (7th century CE – 15th century CE), Igbo-Ukwu of Nigeria (9th century CE – 10th century CE), Jenne-Jeno of Mali (11th century CE – 12th century CE), and Ile Ife of Nigeria (11th century CE – 15th century CE) – may have been shaped by

4876-599: The course of new archaeological excavations, extending the beginnings of the Nok tradition even further back in time. Because of the similarities between the two sites, archaeologist Graham Connah believes that "Nok artwork represents a style that was adopted by a range of iron-using farming societies of varying cultures, rather than being the diagnostic feature of a particular human group as has often been claimed." Nok people may have developed terracotta sculptures through large-scale economic production. Among Nok terracotta sculptures at Pangwari, there are sculptures portraying

4968-513: The differences in Nok and Gajiganna pottery (Fig. 8; and see Champion 2020, p. 462). The first Nok terracotta was discovered in 1928 by Colonel Dent Young, a co-owner of a mining partnership, near the village of Nok in Kaduna State , Nigeria. The terracotta was accidentally unearthed at a level of 24 feet (7 m) from an alluvial tin mine. Young presented the sculptures to the Museum of

5060-551: The dome-shaped bases found on several figures, they could have been used as finials for the roofs of ancient structures. Margaret Young-Sanchez, Associate Curator of Art of the Americas, Africa, and Oceania in The Cleveland Museum of Art , explains that most Nok ceramics were shaped by hand from coarse-grained clay and subtractively sculpted in a manner that suggests an influence from wood carving. After some drying,

5152-499: The earlier West African clay terracotta tradition of the Nok culture. In the central region of Nigeria , Nok archaeological sites are determined to be settlement sites, on the basis of archaeological evidence discovered at the surface level of the sites, and determined to be of the Nok culture, on the basis of the type of archaeological evidence discovered, specifically, Nok terracotta remnants and Nok pottery. Nok settlement sites have been found in flat plains, on hilltops, and on

5244-464: The earlier West African clay terracotta tradition of the Nok culture. Nok settlement sites are often found on mountaintops. Iron metallurgy may have independently developed in the Nok culture between 750 BCE and 550 BCE. Breunig and Rupp (2016) stated: "Their origin is unknown, but since the plants they used as crops (especially millet ) are indigenous to the Sahel region, a northern homeland

5336-399: The erosion of water. The terracotta statues found there are hidden, rolled, polished, and broken. Rarely are works of great size conserved intact making them highly valued on the international art market. The terracotta figures are hollow, coil built, nearly life sized human heads and bodies that are depicted with highly stylized features, abundant jewelry , and varied postures. Because of

5428-692: The first millennium BCE. As part of Nok traditional medicine , Nok ceramics may have been used to process roots and bark as medicinal plants for the production of medicinal decoctions . Excluding ancient Egyptian figurative art , Nok sculptures are regarded to be the most early, large figurative art in continental Africa. Latter artistic traditions of West Africa – Bura of Niger (3rd century CE – 10th century CE), Koma of Ghana (7th century CE – 15th century CE), Igbo-Ukwu of Nigeria (9th century CE – 10th century CE), Jenne-Jeno of Mali (11th century CE – 12th century CE), and Ile Ife of Nigeria (11th century CE – 15th century CE) – may have been shaped by

5520-674: The gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon , the Indigenous people who inhabit the Gran Sabana . Tepuis can be considered minute plateaus and tend to be found as isolated entities rather than in connected ranges, which makes them the host of a unique array of endemic plant and animal species. Some of the most outstanding tepuis are Neblina , Autana , Auyan and Mount Roraima . They are typically composed of sheer blocks of Precambrian quartz arenite sandstone that rise abruptly from

5612-444: The homogeneous composition of the scultptures across the Nok cultural, in contrast to the varying compositions of Nok pottery, it is thought that Nok sculpture was made from a few clay deposits, suggesting a centralized and specialized production. Little is known of the original function of the pieces, but theories include ancestor portrayal, grave markers , and charms to prevent crop failure, infertility, and illness. Also, based on

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5704-550: The international art market, and so artifacts continue to be dug up without documentation of the contexts in which they were buried. A lack of extensive archaeological study has also severely limited our understanding of the Nok cultures. A joint research project with Goethe University and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments conducted since 2005 showed that more than 90% of Nok Culture sites known in

5796-492: The jungle, giving rise to spectacular natural scenery. Auyán-tepui is the source of Angel Falls , the world's tallest waterfall . The Colombian capital city of Bogota sits on an Andean plateau known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense roughly the size of Switzerland. Averaging a height of 2,600 m (8,500 ft) above sea level, this northern Andean plateau is situated in the country's eastern range and

5888-561: The largest lake in South America. [REDACTED] Media related to Plateaus at Wikimedia Commons Nok culture 9°30′N 8°0′E  /  9.500°N 8.000°E  / 9.500; 8.000 The Nok culture is a population whose material remains are named after the Ham village of Nok in southern Kaduna State of Nigeria , where their terracotta sculptures were first discovered in 1928. The Nok people and

5980-420: The limits of actual occupation. Twenty of the anomalies revealed concentrations of slag and nine of them contained in situ structures of furnace walls and bases. The most common type of artefact found was domestic pottery which can be divided into two different types. One type are bowls or shallow basins without lips and the other are globular pots which have averted lips. Because of this preliminary excavation,

6072-531: The main traders could employ approximately 1,000 diggers to unearth terracottas every day. Although the majority of the terracottas were fragmented, some were intact and sellable. Because of this, hundreds of Nok Culture sites have been illegally dug in search of these terracotta sculptures. Valuable information about the Nok Culture is lost when these objects are taken from out of the ground and removed from their archaeological contexts. In 1979, Nigeria's National Commission of Museums and Monuments Decree established

6164-402: The most abundant archaeological artifacts at Nok sites. Since 2009, excavated pottery has been undergoing systematic analysis with a central aim to try and establish a chronology. Certain attributes of the pottery such as decoration, shape, and size appear with an increasing frequency and then disappear, being replaced with different pottery attributes. This change can sometimes allow one to divide

6256-601: The most notable of which is the country's largest lake, Lake Taupō . The plateau stretches approximately 100 km east to west and 130 km north to south. The majority of the plateau is more than 600 metres above sea level. A tepui ( / ˈ t ɛ p w i / ), or tepuy ( Spanish: [teˈpuj] ), is a table-top mountain or mesa found in the Guiana Highlands of South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana . The word tepui means "house of

6348-448: The peoples of the Chad Basin and Kintampo culture , the people of the Nok culture employed a mixed cropping method of cultivating cowpeas and pearl millet as well as utilized oleaginous fruits. At Pangwari, pearl millet was domesticated and cultivated, cowpeas were cultivated, and various forms of vegetation (e.g., Caesalpinioideae , Canarium schweinfurthii , Combretaceae , Phyllanthaceae , Vitex ) were utilized. Hunting-gathering

6440-408: The pots' upper half or directly under the rim of the bowls. Some bands have sharp ends as well as impressed zigzag lines or an incised wave or arc. Unlike the Early Nok period the Middle Nok ceramics tend to have more variety in the rim with everted rims, open bowls, bowls with inverted rims and incised line ornaments on the rims' lips. The Late Nok period is from approximately c. 300–1 BC and has only

6532-438: The pottery graters which were shallow, flat-bottomed dishes which were deeply scored inside with diced patterns to produce a sharp abrasive surface. These pottery graters were probably used for food preparation. In the preliminary excavation a proton magnetometer survey was used to try and locate furnaces. The survey revealed a total of 61 magnetic anomalies which were mostly located in a flat, central area which probably indicated

6624-469: The pottery may have been utilized to store meat, along with honey utilized for preservation purposes. As part of Nok traditional medicine , Nok ceramics may have been used to process roots and bark as medicinal plants for the production of medicinal decoctions . Since the 1970s, Nok terracotta figures have been heavily looted. Even larger-scale looting commenced in the Nok cultural area in 1994, and by 1995 two main local traders emerged. Each of

6716-467: The pottery of the Early Nok Period are mostly small and not very well preserved. They seem to be richly decorated with various elaborate patterns directly below the vessels' rims and covering a large part of the ceramic body. The lines made on the pottery seem to be remarkably fine or curving lines. There tend to be many lines that are close together and some even have crisscrossing lines beneath

6808-476: The problems of looting and to map out a plan of action. The general consensus was that laws governing antiquities and penalties for offenders needed to be strictly enforced and that all archaeological sites should be monitored. The NCMM also recommended more aggressive public enlightenment campaigns as well as a series of sensitization programs across the nation. These programs are considered a success in terms of increased awareness by law enforcement agents, as well as

6900-455: The progression into different intervals based on the different attributes. In total approximately 90,000 potsherds have been collected, of which 15,000 have been considered diagnostic, meaning that they are decorated, sherds from the rim or the bottom of the vessel, or they have handles or holes in them. The results of the pottery analysis can be delineated into three distinct time periods: Early, Middle, and Late. From approximately c. 1500–900 BC

6992-670: The research area have been illegally looted. Art historical studies carried out shows that over 1,000 Nok terracotta sculptures have been illegally excavated and smuggled into Europe, the USA, Japan, and elsewhere. In February 2013, Daily Trust reported that the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation repossessed five Nok statuettes looted by a French thief in August 2010. The pieces had been seized by French customs agents and were repatriated following

7084-406: The rim. Pottery frequently had everted and broad, thick rims. The Middle Nok Period is approximately from c. 900–300 BC and in this time period there is a dramatic increase of sites, terracotta fragments and iron objects. Instead of the early period's decoration, which tended to cover most of the pot, instead, there is a decorative band which is bordered by deep horizontal lines. This band appears on

7176-581: The same plot of land. These plots are ecologically sustainable and inter-cropping of trees and several cultivated plant species were common from the savannas to the rain forest, with the origins of the practice going back to the first millennium BC, right at the time of the Nok culture. Most West African trees are not domesticated but are part of the wild vegetation which is left after farmers clear their fields of their crops. Because they are left to grow they multiply naturally without needing to be planted. Trees can produce food, medicine and animal feed. Because of

7268-448: The sculptures were covered with slip and burnished to produce a smooth, glossy surface. The figures are hollow, with several openings to facilitate thorough drying and firing. The firing process most likely resembled that used today in Nigeria, in which the pieces are covered with grass, twigs, and leaves and burned for several hours. As a result of natural erosion and deposition, Nok terracottas were scattered at various depths throughout

7360-424: The site of Ungwar Kura , grinding stones seem to have been placed in a certain order, and at the site of Ido huge grinding slabs were arranged in an upright position with pots and stone beads next to them. This context is assumed to have been ritual in some way. Most of the grinders are merely hand-sized. Throughout Nok sites, there is an abundance of grinding slabs but there seems to be a low number of hand stones. It

7452-402: The slopes and summits of mountains. There appears to have been a preference for specific topographic features like elevations and gentle slopes, possibly because they provided favourable drainage during the rainy season. In a preliminary study published in 2005, Rupp et al. stated that the foundation of a wall had been carved out of the underlying granite at the settlement site of Kochio, and that

7544-521: The soil. Typical Nok settlements were either hamlets or single compounds, similar in size to modern farmsteads found in the same area. There is no indication of agglomerations of people above village level, thus "no evidence that would warrant the existence of communities of a size that would be necessary to develop social stratification, which is regarded as one of the attributes of social complexity." Numerous excavations and prospections have indicated that no towns or any kind of urban environments existed in

7636-866: The south. The Deosai Plains in Pakistan are situated at an average elevation of 4,114 meters (13,497 ft) above sea level. They are considered to be the second highest plateaus in the world. Other major plateaus in Asia are: Najd on the Arabian Peninsula , elevation 762 to 1,525 m (2,500 to 5,003 ft), Armenian Highlands (≈400,000 km (150,000 sq mi), elevation 900–2,100 metres (3,000–6,900 ft)), Iranian Plateau (≈3,700,000 km (1,400,000 sq mi), elevation 300–1,500 metres (980–4,920 ft)), Anatolian Plateau , Mongolian Plateau (≈2,600,000 km (1,000,000 sq mi), elevation 1,000–1,500 metres (3,300–4,900 ft)), and

7728-409: The southwest to 1,500 mm or less in the drier northeast. Rainfall for the town of Jos averages 1,411 mm per year. Rainfall is highly seasonal, falling mostly between June and September with July and August the wettest months. Moisture-bearing winds come from the south and west, and rainfall is higher on the windward south- and west-facing slopes. The natural vegetation of the region was likely

7820-423: The span of these riverine trade routes may have extended to the Atlantic coast. In the maritime history of Africa , there is the earlier Dufuna canoe , which was constructed approximately 8000 years ago in the northern region of Nigeria; as the second earliest form of water vessel known in Sub-Saharan Africa , the Nok terracotta depiction of a dugout canoe was created in the central region of Nigeria during

7912-459: The surface of a grinding stone. Not all of them are ball shaped, however, and many have chipping marks all over or at least in one place. These stone balls likely would have served as mobile grinding stones. Stone rings have also been found at Nok Culture sites. They are normally found as fragments but can be identified as rings because of their flat, oval or triangular cross-sections and their shapes. These stone rings are very rare and their purpose

8004-480: The surrounding coastline through enormous glaciers . The polar ice cap is so massive that the echolocation measurements of ice thickness have shown that large areas are below sea level . But, as the ice melts, the land beneath will rebound through isostasy and ultimately rise above sea level. The largest and highest plateau in the world is the Tibetan Plateau , sometimes metaphorically described as

8096-447: The time was an administrative officer who had studied archaeology at the University of Cambridge. Fagg noticed that the head on the scarecrow looked similar to the sculpture that Young had found. He traveled to Jos where Young showed Fagg other recently uncovered terracotta figures. Eventually it became clear that the tin mining in Nok and Jema'a areas was revealing and destroying archaeological material. Preliminary excavations at

8188-456: Was another subsistence pattern followed by the Nok people. Nok peoples may have migrated into the central region of Nigeria and brought into the area the agricultural knowledge of cultivating tamed pearl millet between 1500 BCE and 900 BCE. At almost all Nok sites, there are charred plant remains consisting of firewood and plant material for cooking. Remains of pearl millet , one of Africa's oldest grain crops, are commonly found. Pearl millet

8280-426: Was impeded in early 21st century by a new conflict between Christians and Muslims as a result of tribal and political differences between the inhabitants of the Jos Plateau. The Jos plateau is a heavily populated area with loss of native savanna and woodland to farmland conversion and firewood collection; remaining native fauna is predominantly limited to small areas in the more remote areas and river embankments. There

8372-605: Was once called Gallayat Plateaus, rising 3,300 ft above sea level. Another very large plateau is the icy Antarctic Plateau , which is sometimes referred to as the Polar Plateau or King Haakon VII Plateau, home to the geographic South Pole and the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station , which covers most of East Antarctica where there are no known mountains but rather 3,000 m (9,800 ft) high of superficial ice and which spreads very slowly toward

8464-431: Was subsequently concluded in 2021. The function of Nok terracotta sculptures is still unknown. For the most part, the terracotta is preserved in the form of scattered fragments. That is why Nok art is well known today only for the heads, both male and female, whose hairstyles are particularly detailed and refined. The statues are in fragments because the discoveries are usually made from alluvial mud , in terrain made by

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