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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Saving Sungbo's Eredo: a challenge to Nigerian archaeologists |
Author: | Aremu, David A. |
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] |