- published: 15 Feb 2009
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Coordinates: 9°30′N 8°0′E / 9.5°N 8°E / 9.5; 8
The Nok culture appeared in Nigeria around 1000 B.C. and vanished under unknown circumstances around 500 AD in the region of West Africa. This region lies in Northern and Central Nigeria. Its 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. It has been suggested that the Nok culture eventually evolved into the later Yoruba Culture of Ife based on similarities seen in the artwork from these two cultures.
The refinement of this culture is attested to by the image of a Nok dignitary at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The dignitary is portrayed wearing a "shepherds crook" affixed with an elastic material to the right arm ([3], [4]). The dignitary is also portrayed sitting with flared nostrils, and an open mouth suggesting performance. other images show figures on horseback, indicating Nok culture had tamed the horse.
Iron use, in smelting and forging for tools, appears in Nok culture in Africa at least by 550 BC and more probably in the middle of the second millennium BC (between 1400 BC and 1600 BC depending on references).
Nok is a village in the south of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which these figurines are typical, which flourished in Nigeria in the period 1000 BC - 500 AD. The artifacts were discovered in 1943 during mining operations. The archaeologist Bernard Fagg investigated the site, and with the help of locals discovered many other artifacts. Iron smelting furnaces were also found at Nok. Occupation dates far before the first iron smelting. A sample of carbonized wood found in the "main paddock" at Nok in 1951 was dated to around 3660 BC though there are questions about the reliability of this conclusion.
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