Igbo-Ukwu lost-wax bronzes
Bronces de Igbo-Ukwu a la cera perdida
- Date
- c. 900 · confidence medium
- Place
- Igbo-Ukwu, Anambra, Nigeria
- Credited to
- Igbo people (Nri society)
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Leaded-bronze vessels and ornaments cast by the lost-wax method with extraordinary filigree detail, alongside some 165,000 glass beads. They are the oldest bronzes of West Africa and use local minerals.
Excavated by Thurstan Shaw (1959-1964). The 9th-10th century radiocarbon dates were disputed for decades; Chikwendu's analyses showed alloys with local lead.
What it led to
- the metal-casting tradition of southern Nigeria
- evidence of long-distance trade with the Sahel
- complex societies without a large centralised state