James Odunbaku

This paper examines the archaeological finds collected from Isale an abandoned site in southeast Abeokuta, Nigeria. From the reconnaissance carried out, a number of artifacts were recovered. These include cowrie shells, metal objects, animal remains, and smoking pipes among others. These artifacts helped us in reconstructing different aspects of the life ways of the inhabitants of the settlement during its occupation.

The paper examines settlement studies in the West African sub-tropics. It discusses the various traditions of settlement studies in West Africa with particular reference to Nigeria .The traditions are: socio-cultural and ecological traditions. The position of the paper is that though these traditions have been introduced and used in West Africa, as archaeologists, we have not been able to benefit immensely from them because of some problems which are discussed in this paper. What the archaeologist has are just glimpses of the past. Our ability to reconstruct the past, therefore, depends largely on the soundness of our methodological approaches. The identified problems must be overcome if we are to benefit from these traditions.

Research in settlement archaeology is gaining more prominence in Nigeria. This emanates from the awareness of the fact that much can be gleaned from the past cultural, and by extension, social, environment of a people, through rigorous and multifacetted analyses of artifacts such as pottery, walling systems and iron furnaces. All of these derive from either surface collections and/or excavations (Ogundele 2004). Through this mode of academic discourse, we can begin to deepen our understanding and appreciation of aspects of inter-group relations, of flows and interconnections. This study area, Orile-Keesi and its environs, provides an excellent opportunity for testing this hypothesis.

The paper examines the importance of tribal marks in archaeological and historical reconstruction. Isale was occupied by the inhabitants of Old Oyo before it was abandoned. However, the marks on the cheeks of the occupants and their descendants show that originally, their ancestors were Oyo people though they claim to be Egba. This paper shows the use of tribal marks in trying to trace the original home land of the occupants of the settlement before it was abandoned. Keywords: Isale,Old Oyo,Tribal marks,Oduduwa,Idere,Egba,Akanni

Internecine wars were prevalent in Yorubaland during the 18th and 19th centuries, culminating in the construction of ditches and ramparts and other forms of wall barrier by different settlements for defensive purposes. Orile Keesi was not left out in this situation, for the ditch and rampart there were associated with warfare. Archaeological reconnaissance and survey carried out at Orile Keesi, near Abeokuta in southwestern Nigeria, revealed ditch and rampart structural remains and other features and artifacts, including an ash mound, potsherds, iron slag, tuyeres, and human skeletal fragments. Although three types of ditch and rampart features were identified, only one was extensive enough to have covered much of the ancient settlement. Vegetation was thick, preventing mapping of the entire ditch and rampart structure. Introduction Orile-Keesi is located in the southeastern part of Abeokuta in Southwestern Nigeria. It is situated off Ibadan-Abeokuta road at a distance of about 1 km...