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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Saving Sungbo's Eredo: a challenge to Nigerian archaeologists
Author:Aremu, David A.ISNI
Year:2002
Periodical:West African Journal of Archaeology
Volume:32
Issue:2
Pages:63-73
Language:English
Geographic term:Nigeria
Subjects:archaeology
prehistory
monuments
fortifications
conservation of cultural heritage
Yoruba polities
Abstract:Bilikisu Sungbo's Eredo (Bilikisu Sungbo's moat) in Ijebuland, southwestern Nigeria, is the most outstanding moat out of thousands of ancient city moats and boundary embankments and ditches that stretch across Nigeria. Measuring 160 km in length and 5 to 20 metres in depth, it encloses a vast area. It is the boundary of a sizeable political entity, probably a powerful kingdom, located in the rainforest region from about the 10th century AD onward. According to oral tradition, the moat was constructed by the slaves of a woman named Sungbo, a rich woman whose purported tomb and the adjacent shrine, built by the local people, were developed as a tourist centre by the Ogun State government in the early 1980s. However, owing to a military change of government, the site became neglected. In 2005, the present author trekked along the course of the Eredo, which appeared to be under threat of being destroyed. He strongly advocates the preservation of Sungbo's Eredo. Bibliogr. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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