Nok Civilization

The Nok culture was discovered in 1928 on the Jos Plateau during tin mining. Lt-Colonel John Dent-Young, an Englishman, was leading mining operations in the Nigerian village of Nok. During these operations, one of the miners found a small terracotta of a monkey head. Other finds included a terracotta human head and a foot.

Some of these figures were decorated with bracelets, necklaces and skull caps and one individual clay figure wore a cape. These figures were exhibited in a museum in Jos. In 1942 another terra cotta figure was discovered and reported to an administrative officer called Bernard Fagg who was a trained archaeologist and had explored this culture in depth.

The Nok Culture of Central Nigeria is well known for its terracotta figurines, depicting animals and humans up to life-size. Beside the clay sculptures, Nok iron smelting sites are still among the earliest remains of iron metallurgy in sub-Saharan Africa. The iron was fashioned into tools for farming and weapons for hunting. Some of the tools and weapons made their way into overland trade routes.

According to the present state of research, it seems that the Nok Culture appeared in the region of West Africa abruptly around 1000 BC and disappeared around 500 AD.

The region of Nok cavillation lies in Central Nigeria. The culture’s social system is thought to have been highly advanced. The Nok culture was considered to be the earliest sub-Saharan producer of life-sized Terracotta.

Their name Nok came form the village where the frost artifacts from their culture were discovered. Nok artifacts have been found in an area stretching for 300 miles between the Niger and Benue rivers.

Nok artifacts show evidence of a sophisticated culture. Their sculpture are made 0f terra cotta, a reddish-brown baked clay. The first Nok figurines found depicted a monkey head and human head and foot.
Nok Civilization