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Section 6. History
Section 6. History
Adeyemi Akande, University of Lagos, PhD in Cultural Art History, Department of Architecture E-mail: [email protected]
Further Investigation into the Origin of Cuprous Material used for the Ife Brass Heads
Abstract: So far studies show that material used for the Ife heads is not local to the area. As these heads continue to grow in popularity even after 100 years of their discovery, absolute knowledge of their true source becomes imperative. This study attempts to push the knowledge frontier in this regards.
Keywords: Cuprous Material, Ife heads, Brass, Yoruba metal.
Introduction: Cuprous alloy among the YorUba.
In YorUba, copper is baba. Its alloy has been an important medium for artistic and spiritual expression among the Yor-Uba since antiquity. While the Ife brass heads [1, 150-155] are relatively popular, they are not the only signs of the importance of copper alloy — particularly brass — in the area. Ade-pegba recounts Ifa verses and praise poems dedicated to Osun, the goddess of river Osun. The verses include Ose tura; where Osun is referred to as the wealthy owner of enormous amount ofbrass, stating that “she" (Osun) owned so many brass items, “she" required shelves to store them all [2, 102-103]. One of Osun’s praise songs states “she who lulls her children with brass". This suggests the plentiful nature of brass in the era Osun lived and the amount of wealth she possessed in brass. Shrine objects used for Osun worship are all made of brass. The objects found in the shrine and used in the deity’s worship include brass bangles, comb, hair pin, lidded containers and fan [2, 108].
Brass is an alloy of mainly copper and zinc. Curiously, zinc has no name in Yoruba which suggests that the element — zinc — was not known to the Yoruba of the early times in its natural state. Copper on the other hand, though known to the Yoruba, was not found in Yoruba land or anywhere nearby. Relatively recent discoveries by some scholars suggest a possible large scale copper mine in the Benue basin area of Nigeria which is on the other side of the Niger River [3, 27-36]. Invariable it appears that the combination of copper and zinc to form brass was imported to the Ife/YorUba area around the tenth to fifteenth century.
Furthermore, Ifa worship is believed to have existed since the earliest times according to YorUba oral tradition. If ample mention is made of ide (brass) in the verses of Ifa incantations, the question arises — how did the “creator (s)” of Ifa worship know about brass if it was to arrive in Ife area only around eleventh century? Two possibilities presents here. First, it may be that Ifa worship and poetry began
much later than claimed by oral tradition. From the traditional accounts of the arrival of Oduduwa (the progenitor of the Yoruba race), it situates the beginning of Ifa worship probably around eight hundred to eight hundred and fifty Common Era [4, 85]. Tradition states that when Oduduwa arrived Ile Ife, he met Setilu (also called agboniregun), an old man credited as the founder, custodian and propagator of the Ifa secrets and worship as revealed to him by Olodumare (the Supreme Being) [5, 32-4]. If the 850 CE date for the arrival of Oduduwa to Ife is one to go by and currently Ife archaeology puts the beginning of the use of brass in the area at about 10th - 11th century, there appears to be a gap of 200 years still unaccounted for. With the above scenario one is pressed to consider a much later date (than 850 CE) for the commencement of Ifa worship in order for Ifa verses to capture the aboriginal use of brass in Ife area.
Another possibility is that the working and use of brass in Ife predates the current presentations of archaeology and art history. If the corpus of Ifa is as ancient as tradition suggest (in some traditions first millennium BCE is proposed), then one may consider earlier dates for brass activities in Ife.
In all, there is as yet no trace of local production of brass in ancient Ife and as Adepegba notes — there appears to be no genealogical root for brass casting in Ife [6, 32-34; 7, 19-25]. Though traditional brass casters in other areas of Yoruba land like Obo Ayegunle, Idomowo, Ijebu-Ode, Ibadan, Ilobu, Ogbomosho and Ilorin all claim to have some link or the other with Ife, none of them are originally from Ife. Traditional histories obtained from the different sites suggest that the centres directly or indirectly originated from Ife. There exist minor technical differences in the various locations. For example, the materials used for the core and outer moulds vary and the deity worshiped by the casters also differs from place to place. In Ijebu, Obalufon (a king in Ife) is worshiped as the patron of the casters, while Ogun (god of iron) is worshiped together with Obalufon in
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Further Investigation into the Origin of Cuprous Material used for the Ife Brass Heads
Obo Ayegunle. Ogun is solely worshiped by the casters in Ogbomosho, Ibadan, Abeokuta and Ilorin [7, 19-25]. Ben Oluyemi, who was interviewed by this researcher in Ife in 2011, is the last surviving early 20th century brass caster in the ancient town, he is also not a native of Ife but resides there. He was trained in brass casting by the National Museums authority. Oluyemi is originally from Efon Alaye in Ondo State. This further suggests a possible external influence on ancient Ife brass casting industry.
Origin of the cuprous material for the Ife heads
Different resources were reviewed and employed in the quest for the possible origin of the materials used for the Ife brass heads. An important approach used was the evaluation of the percentage chemical content of the alloys used for the Ife heads. Harold Baker has published the breakdown of the percentage chemical content ratio of the Ife heads in 1965 [7, 23]. Warner and Willett also presented in some details, the percentage composition of Ife and Benin brass in comparison [8, 142]. The analyses presented by both works show that about two-thirds of the Ife heads are brass, while the rest are copper.
In the ancient times, the percentage composition of constituents in alloys are a unique signature to different sources or locations. The reasons for this uniqueness may be due to the different process of smelting, type of ores used and other peculiar practises that may be attached to particular groups of people. One of the methods used by researchers to trace the possible origin of metal works or at least to relate certain works to others is the analysis of the percentage composition. Composition affinity here refers to the correlation or degree of resemblance in the ratio of the constituent elements in an alloy. Because the percentage constituent is reasonably peculiar to different location and time, a composition affinity evaluation is therefore a veritable means of associating works from different areas with consideration given to variables like the time frame under study, the smelting practises of the area (s) under study and type of ore used.
This approach was the basis for Warner and fagg’s comparison ofthe Ife and Benin brass/bronze heads [8, 142-156]. To relate or compare a number of works with another, certain mathematical realignments are done in other to put the various data in the same format for comparison. The mean
of the percentage ratio of constituent elements found in the alloy under evaluation is calculated from the data derived by chemical analysis. The mean of the different alloys to be compared are then simply related to each other to ascertain correlation or otherwise.
In line with this study’s enquiry to seek out the origin and possible relationship of the cuprous alloy art of Ife with other parts of the world (but particularly northeastern Nigeria), this researcher carried out a basic correlation evaluation between the results from Harold Baker’s analysis of thirteen Ife brass pieces and data of several brass samples from different areas of the world that may provide clues to the source for the materials used to make the Ife heads. The different locations were selected based on their historic importance to pre 17th Century brass casting and their geographical alignment with information in the myth of origin of the Yoruba people. The following areas were selected for correlation with the Ife results; Diama, an important brass location near Maiduguri in the Northeastern part of Nigeria with coverage up to the chad basic and parts of Northwestern Cameroon. Benin; a very important city in West African brass civilisation. Outside Nigerian locations were Turkmenistan, Ma’den Ijafen, Tiberias, Europe and India. The following are the outcome.
Discussion of the Results
It has already been established that most of the metal Ife heads are brass objects and likewise the Daima cuprous objects are mostly brass. While brass is generally defined as a mixture of about seventy percent copper with mainly zinc, this mixture however usually contain other “impurities” which will appear as trace elements. The trace elements in copper-zinc alloy includes lead, tin, antimony, nickel and arsenic. To test for any meaningful affinity or difference in the chemical composition of these alloys, one must look to the supplementary (in this case zinc) and trace elements. It is usually in their ratio that the researcher may identify the unique nature of the material used for the object under evaluation. The Table 1 show the mean distribution for zinc (Zn), lead (Pb) and tin (Sn) from the brass alloy of different selected locations.
Table 1. - Table showing mean distribution for percentage ratio of zinc, lead and tin in Brass alloy from different locations
LOCATION % Zinc (Zn) % Lead (Pb) % Tin (Sn) Source
Ife 12.5 10.7 1 [10, 23]
Daima 15.6 2.5 1.5 [8, 176]
Benin 13.2 9 1.1 [11, 142]
12th - 13th Century European 12.3 8.6 3.4 [8, 146]
Tiberias, Israel 12.5 10.9 1.3 [11, 37-9]
Ma’den Ijafen, Morocco 20.0 0.3 *n.d [12, 151]
India 16.2 9.8 20.7 [13, 127]
Turkmenistan 16.0 12.0 6.6 [8, 126]
Note: * — Not detected
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Section 6. History
From the Table 1 presented above, it makes clear that there is no positive correlation between the elements of the Ife and Diama brass pieces. The only close relationship may be seen in the tin ratio and this is not enough to relate the two locations. The difference in margin for lead content is significant and while Ife brass is noted for particularly high levels of lead, it clearly presents a premise for the dissociation of these two locations on the basis of character of material. The table suggests that the materials used for the Diama brass, either does not share the same source with those of the Ife brass or different ores, practice and technology were used in the manufacture of the brass. However, this does not necessarily negate the possibility that the workmen who made the brasses from the two locations are from the same stock. Skilled workmen have been known to be dexterous with material medium for their work. This implies that a good caster can work with different composition of metals as there is no line dividing a brass caster or bronze caster. All the metals within the same family including lead and/or pure copper can be worked by any smith or caster. This was confirmed to this researcher by Ben Oluyemi an Ife veteran caster.
Further, the mean distribution for the three elements under consideration shows a closer relationship between the Ife brass and those from 12th - 13th century Europe than those from Benin. This means there is a significant difference in the source and/or type of material used for casting in Benin and Ife. So far there appears to be sparse evidence to support a relationship between the Benin and Ife pre 17 th century brass casting civilisations as purported by oral tradition from both locations. Scholarly work must continue to explore the gaps between Ife and Benin as it is difficult to believe that there was no technical interaction between the two location because of their proximity and intertwined relationship since antiquity. In spite of the apparent similarity between Ife and 13th century Europe however, there is a noticeable difference in the lead and tin content of the Ife brass when compared with those of 12th - 13th century Europe. The high tin content presents a pronounced deviation from the Ife standards. While one can reasonably relate the data from the Ife and European samples particularly because of their similar high lead content, a conclusion cannot be reached. In rationalising the data one must consider that the actuality of high lead content in the 12th - 13th century Europe stock occurs only in a few of the samples out of a horde of 200 specimen analysed for the period [15, 146]. The implication of this is that it will be difficult to categorically generalise that 12th - 13th century European brass is characterised by high lead content. The occurrence of high lead may very well be isolated and as such cannot appropriately represent the content character of the period and location. This disparity therefore snags any hypothesis that may presents a common source for the materials and technique of 12th - 13th century European brass and that of Ife.
Though the sample from Turkmenistan possessed a reasonably high amount of lead which is similar to the Ife brass,
it however features a high tin content which is contrary to the Ife ratio. This short fall makes it difficult to see a possible relationship with the constituent character of the two locations for the tested samples. Also, very importantly, as published by Thornton [11, 126 -127], the brasses from Turkmenistan and its environs (Uzbekistan and Northern Georgia) were found to be dated ca. 3rd millennium BCE. This timeframe is too far off from the eleventh to fifteenth century CE under consideration by this study, hence, no direct relationship can be considered. However, because of the rich deposits of copper, zinc and leads in Uzbekistan, neighbours such as Georgia, Turkmenistan, southern Russia and the Caspian depression became popular for their brass casting industry around the late second millennium. The casting culture flourished and influenced the surrounding areas over a long period of time, though it is thought that the influence became heightened around the late eight century CE after the Islamic take over. Under Islamic rule, certain elements of the indigenous culture of the area were absorbed and propagated in favour of the Islamic overlords. By the time the Roman Empire collapsed the Middle East cuprous culture was already close to its climax as it had absorbed a great deal of knowledge and skill from the Romans [12, 69-76].
Ife brass is known for its relatively high lead content which has given it the accolade leaded brass. It has been suggested that the high lead content of the Ife brass as it is with many West African brasses is as a result of purposeful addition of lead in other to lower the melting point and to improve fluidity of the alloy [13, 95]. Warner and Willett suggested that the high lead content may be due to the addition of lead rich manillas to the copper alloy [8, 142]. However, further analysis also by the duo show that the manillas may be the explanation for the relatively high lead content in the Benin brass but the same cannot be said for the Ife brass. They argued that if the alloy’s high lead content is as a result of the addition of lead rich manillas, there should be a corresponding high level of antimony — One of the trace elements found in copper alloys and also a major constituent element in lead rich manillas. Ife brass presents low antimony which suggests that the high lead content is not from the addition of leaded manillas. This study suggests an alternative explanation for the high lead content in the Ife brass. The levels may be the result of any of the following reasons. The Ife metallurgist may have added lead itself deliberately to increase the volume of the alloy produced. This practise is not altogether uncommon particularly in the Mediterranean and Near East axis. Ponting hints at this in his study of Post-classical Bet She’an copper alloys [14, 1316]. The process of adding lead directly has its appeal which includes the slight lowering the melting point but there is also an unpleasant side to it. Intentionally adding lead to copper-zinc alloy creates structural weakness for the brass because lead is insoluble in copper [14, 1316]. Consequently master casters use such procedure very carefully in a manner
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Further Investigation into the Origin of Cuprous Material used for the Ife Brass Heads
that it does not compromise the structural integrity of the alloy particularly if the piece is to be hammered to shape and desired fineness. Lead ore is available and accessible in Ife. This is evident in the use of lead for the veneration of Obata-la — The god of creation. Also, because lead is a cheap, it may have been used to achieve greater productivity. Therefore, rather than the addition of lead rich manillas, lead itself may have been added to increase the mass of the alloy — this is sometimes done by cementation. The northeastern Nigerian brass casters on the other hand may have no desire or need to add lead to their alloy as they are not known to make pieces that require a large amount of metal. Unlike the Ife casters who make near to life and life size human portraits requiring quite an amount of metals, the northern artisans focus more on small items such as rings, pins, small jewellery and the likes. This may account for their low lead content as noticed in the Daima samples. On another hand the Ife brasses may use very high lead content ores. Since the Ife brass works are produced almost solely by casting, an ore that is especially good for casting and at the same time rich in lead which renders a lower melting point is Caldarium. Though particularly popular in Islamic metallurgy, the ore is believed to have been used first by the Romans and later adopted by the ancient Islamic world after the collapse of the Roman Empire [14, 1375]. Caldarium does present qualities
that would entice metallurgist of ancient Ife to make it their choice additive material for casting.
It is very plausible that being very popular in the Islamic areas ofAsia Minor and parts of north-eastern Africa, caldarium filtered into southern Sudan and many tropical areas of Africa through skilled itinerant artisans and adventurers. Therefore the possibility that Ife brass casting materials and possibly technology may have come from the Near East/early Islamic world is quite reasonable based on deductions from the history of the spread of casting cultures in the eastern part of Asia Minor. The very strong similarity between the component ratio of the Ife brass and the tested samples from Tiberias; a city located in the north-eastern part of Israel in Fig. 1 gives support to the pursuance of this hypothesis. The brass objects studied for this comparison were of the Fatimid period — this is between nine hundred and fifty CE to the early tenth century CE. This time frame relates directly with the early beginnings of the Ife dynastic rule. Six different elements were used in the evaluation between the materials from the two locations under comparison — Ife and Tiberias (see Table 2).
A high degree of correlation was found on all six elements. Werner and Fagg had concluded that the materials used for making the Ife heads was rich in arsenic with a high average mean of 0.35 percent and yet also distinguished by low nickel content [8, 145].
Table 2. - Table showing mean percentage composition of trace elements in Brass samples for Ife, Tiberias and Benin
Location Trace Elements Source
% Nickel % Arsenic % Antimony
Ife 0.03 0.35 0.22 [8, 146]
Tiberias 0.09 0.31 0.29 [12, 37-39]
Benin 0.22 0.12 0.50 [8, 147]
The mean figure for arsenic found in the brasses from Tiberias shows a markedly close and similar high average of 0.31 percent and an equally low nickel average. The Benin average mean for arsenic was however 0.12 percent, which is a significantly lower reading.
The correlation between the two locations for all six supplementary and trace elements suggests that the materials used in both locations may have come from the same source. Further, one may reason based on inferences from the data that there was some degree of contact and possibly interaction between the artisans and/or traders who conduct business in the two regions. These itinerants may be responsible for the transfer of knowledge from the Near Eastern region of Tiberias to the lower ends of southern Sudan.
Conclusion
After careful correlation analysis and consideration of other secondary data like local tradition of origin and ancient geographical interactions, one will find that the percentage constituent figures of the Ife brass heads is most correlated with the results from Tiberias in northern Israel. Though Werner and Willett earlier concluded that the materials used for the Ife brass may have come from the lower Saxony in
north Germany, this researcher proposes that rather than
the lower Saxony, the now Middle East, particularly the region of Teberias in Israel must be presented and considered. This is primarily because of the striking similarity in the composition ratio of the elements found in the copper alloy used in both areas.
Based on evidence from the correlation of the supplementary and trace elements found in the Ife brass and those from the region of Tiberias in Israel, and other factors such as local casting practise, literature on constituent ratio of alloys and location, history of the caldarium ore and traditions of interaction between the Islamic areas and the Yoruba people, this researcher concludes that the materials used for the Ife brass objects possibly came from the ancient Islamic areas of the Near East and Northeast Africa. The implication of this is that there is a high probability that the casters who made the Ife heads also came from the those regions as itinerants or at least interacted with the YorUba at some point. In the further pursuance of the above stated position, one must examine the possible authors of the Ife brass heads and how the Ife metallurgist came in contact with the materials used.
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Section 6. History
References:
1. Ife brass heads are part of a group of naturalistic head sculptures, found in and around Ile Ife; the spiritual capital of the Yorfiba in the early 20th century. They are mostly made of brass, bronze, stone and terra cotta. For detailed introduction, see: Meyerowitz H., Meyerowitz V Bronzes and Terra-Cottas from Ile-Ife.//The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs. -1939. - Vol. 75. - No. 439. - P. 150-55.
2. Adepegba C. Osun and Brass: An Insight into Yorfiba Religious Symbology In Osun across the waters/Eds.: J. Murphy, Mei-Mei Sanford. - Indiana: University Press, 2001. - Р. 102-112.
3. Chikwendu V E., Farquhar R. M., Craddock P. T., Shaw T. and Umeji A. C. Nigerian Sources of Copper, Lead and Tin for the Igbo-Ukwu Bronzes.//Archaeometry. - 1981. - Vol. 13. No. 1. - Р. 27-36.
4. Aimiuwu O. E. Oduduwa.//Nigerian Magazine. - 1971. - No. 107. - Р. 85-90.
5. Johnson S. The History of the Yorfiba: From the earliest times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. - Lagos: CSS Limited, 1921.
6. Adepegba C. Yorfiba Metal Sculpture. - Ibadan: University Press, 1991. - Р. 32-34.
7. Baker H. Examination of Ife Bronze Heads.//Man. - 1965. - Vol. 65. - No. 10. - Р. 23-24.
8. Warner O., Willett F. The Composition of Brasses from Ife and Benin.//Archaeometry. - 1975. - Vol. 17. - No. 2.
9. Connah G. Three Thousand Years in Africa. - Cambridge: University Press, 1981. - 176 p.
10. Ponting M. The Scientific Analysis and Investigation of A Selection of the Copper-Alloy Metalwork from Tiberias In Tiberias: excavations in the house of the bronzes. - Hebrew: University ofJerusalem, 2008. - Р. 37-39.
11. Thornton C. Of brass and bronze in prehistoric Southwest Asia In Metals and mining: studies in archaeometallurgy/Eds.:
S. LaNiece, D. Hook, P. Craddock. - London: 2007. - Р. 123-135.
12. Craddock P. T. The Copper Alloys of the Medieval Islamic World - Inheritors of the Classical Tradition.//World Archaeology. - 1979. - Vol. 11. - No. 1. - Р. 68-79.
13. Shaw T. Spectrographic Analyses of Igbo and other Nigerian bronzes.//Archaeometry. - 1965. - 8. - 95 p.
14. Ponting M. T. East meets West in Post-Classical Bet She’an: The Archaeometallurgy of Culture Change//Journal of Archaeological Science. - 1999. - 26. - Р. 1311-1321.
Yarkulov Alisher Atakulovich, Principle Scientific-Production Department for the preservation and utilization of objects of cultural heritage E-mail: [email protected]
Development of the society of the middle ages Naxkshab
Abstract: Southern Sogd (Naxkshab) one is ancient country of Central Asia. In the article is analyzed scientific principles of progress society early middle ages of Naxkshab.
Keywords: early middle ages, Naxkshab, handicraft, ceramist, terracotta, symbiosis, metallurgy, glass-making.
The territory known since the early Middle Ages as a Naxkshab, in ancient times, according to written sources, called Ksenippa [1, 85-94]. Based on the opinion of the Israeli researcher Shauket Shaul, the famous French archaeologist Franz Grene noted that “the terms Knesippa and Ksane are different forms of pronunciation of single-rooted term Naxkshab”. If this assumption is true, the name of Karshi oasis in the whole path of historical development has always been Naxkshab and only after the conquest of the Arabs became a Nasaf [2, 260].
Until the formation of early medieval craft production in Naxkshab as in other historic areas, preserve and develop pottery traditions of ancient times. However, with the advent of the banks of the Syr Darya Chionites pastoral communities, and later replaced Ephtalites very graceful and harmonious pottery objects of antiquity came several sets of ceramic products, differing in form and colors of the old materials.
A similar picture is observed not only in ceramic complexes Naxkshab V-VI centuries, but in the ceramic basic agricultural oases of Central Asia.
In the archaeological literature there is an opinion that the cities of Central Asia in its early medieval development is a stand-alone locks fortress or a cluster of houses, and even Samarkand was added to a number of cities. According to the proponents of this idea around these fortified castles were huge empty space on the site which later formed densely built neighborhoods. However, the study of ceramics Yerkurgan quarter shows that in the V-VI centuries, the houses were built very tight, and along the side of the road from the southern to the northern gate of the city, located homeownership masters ceramists.
Quarter ceramists, in turn, consisted of group workshops, owned by five maj or, patriarchal individual genera, uniting the family of potters.
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