NYAME AKUMA No. 44 December 1995 assess what was visible on the ground. The A report on newly discovered soap- method of traversing was employed in mapping. stone figurines from North-Central This method uses a prismatic compass, two linear Yorubaland, Nigeria measuring tapes and three ranging poles. A series of control points (peg stations) were assigned. Aribidesi Usman Whole circle bearings of successive (traverse) Department of Anthropology lines and their lengths were measured. In the Arizona State University course of this survey, features such as middens, Tempe, Arizona, 85287-2402 ash mounds, baobabs, etc. were located and recorded. Using the limits of the surface scatter of pottery and baobabs as a guide (Usman 1983), the Introduction site was estimated to extend over an area of 199,280 m2 (0.199 km2) (Map 2). Between November 1994 and July 1995, I conducted my third field season in north central Stone figurines Yorubaland, the homeland of Igbomina, a Yoruba subgroup of Kwara State, Nigeria. Survey and About nine fragmentary soapstone figurines excavations took place between November 1994 were found in the southwestern section of the site. and March 1995, and analysis of finds between At first glance, they resemble ordinary rock; upon April and July 1995. Most of the materials recov- closer inspection it is evidence that they have been ered, including pottery, tobacco pipes, soapstone modified into figurines (Figure 1). They were not figurines, iron implements and porcelain, are found in situ; they have been moved from their stored at the Esie Museum, Nigeria. This research original position through plowing activities. Seven is part of a general archaeological inquiry into the figurines were scatttered in a farm immediately culture history of the Igbomina. This paper will behind a large baobab tree. Two large pieces were discuss one aspect of the research, the discovery found very close to the tree trunk. A large ash of soapstone figurines. mound with a heavy pottery concentration is located near the baobab, and may be the former The Site pottery manufacturing center suggested in Okeya's tradition. The Pee stone figures consist of Recent archaeological investigations conduct- two torsos (Figure 2), three heads with conical ed in western Igbomina have resulted in the dis- caps- (Figure 3), one trunk, an almost complete covery of a number of soapstone figurines. These figure with a two-strand necklace (Figure 4) and figurines were recovered from an abandoned set- two unidentified fragments. The figures weigh tlement known in the area as Pee. The Pee site lies between 1.5 and 13 kg and are between 17 and 33 about 1 km west of Igbaja town, close to its cm long. periphery. Pee is the ancestral site of Okeya, an Igbomina town located about 4 km south of Igbaja Relationship with other stone figures in (Map 1). In the oral tradition of Okeya are praise the area songs linking the people to the site. For example, omo mole ni pee in Igbomina dialect means "the Since they were first discovered more than indigenous child of Pee" (Usman 1987). five decades ago, over 1000 pieces of Esie stone figurines have been recorded. Detailed descrip- The Survey tions are found elsewhere (eg. Stevens 1987; Courlander 1973; Daniels 1973; Fagg 1959; In order to assess the archaeological potential Milsburn 1963; Hambolu 1987). Researchers try- and the limit of the Pee site, a survey was ing to explain the origin of the figues have been designed and conducted. Our focus was the map- divided into two camps: those who link the sculp- ping of the maximum limit of the site, and the tures with Oyo-Ile (the former capital of the Old identification of cultural features. The first day of Oyo empire) and the ancient Yoruba kingdom of investigation was spent walking through the site'to Ife (eg. Stevens 1978; Adepegba 1982) and those NYAMEAKUMA - No. 44 December 1995 Map 1: Map showing the location of Pee site and some surrounding towns I PLAN OF PEE SETTLEMENT SITE GGGt WENHERED GRANITIC ROCK OUTCROPS e ,% BAOBAB TREES O *On CONCENTRATION OF WEATHERED GRANITIC BOULDERS d -- ASH MOUNDS aMIDDEN -GROVES WfT!4 WEATHERED GRANITIC ROCK OUTCROPS YVTUKTREES -STREAM P EUESI GUINENSIS X CULVERT *-'L '; FARMLAND r*- 1 .- I SPOT OF flNDS (FIGURINES) L--I I -__---- -- I------ Map 2. A SURVEY MAP OF PEE SETTLEMENT SITE. NYAME A KUMA No. 44 December 1995 Figure 1: A stone figure (trunk and torso) in its original place of discovery Figure 2: A stone figure (trunk) NYAME A KUMA No. 44 December 1995 Figure 3: Stone figure (head) with conical hat I Figure 4: A fairly complete stone figurine with two-strand necklace 48 NYAME AKUMA No. 44 December 1995 who believe in a local origin (eg. Obayemi 1980; vation is neeed to help place the site in its proper Hambolu 1989; Onabajo 1982; Andah 1982). chronological framework, and to unravel the mys- Apart from Esie, soapstone figures have been dis- tery surrounding the soapstone figurines. covered elsewhere in Igbominaland at Owode Ofaro and Ijara-Isin (Hallan 1978; Stevens 1978). But we found out during a 1990 visit that the two Acknowledgements stone figurines discovered in the village of Owode The research work reported here is part of the Ofaro have been stolen. Igbomina research project funded by the Wenner- An examination of Pee stone figures show Gren Foundation (1994) and the Ballantine some similarities to Esie and Ijara Isin ones in the Family Fund. I am highly indebted to the follow- material used in carving and in body adornment ing people who assisted in the survey: Jonathan and costume. Steatite is a very soft stone that can Aleru, Raphael Alabi of the University of Ibadan, be worked easily and carved with wood working and Yakeen Jimoh of the Federal Ministry of tools (Atherton 1980). That the figures were Works, Damaturu. Their relentless efforts con- carved with woodworking tools is suggested by tributed to the success of this investigation. tool marks on some of the stone figures. The mag- nificent dresses, ornamentation and headgear depicted by the Pee stone figures can also be References found in the Esie and Ijara-Isin collection (Stevens 1978; Hallan 1978). Aside from the simi- Adepegba, C.O. larity in raw material and body decoration, we 1982 Ife Art: an enquiry into surface patterns have no other information to suggest how or and the continuity of the art tradition where the Pee stone figures were derived. Unlike among the northern Yoruba. West the stone figures of Owode Ofaro and Ijara-Isin, African Journal of Archaeology 12: 96- which have been historically linked to those of 109. Esie (Stevens 1978; Hambolu 1989), the connec- Allison, P.A. tion of Pee stone figures to these other three is still a mystery. 1963 Newly discovered stone figures from the Yoruba village of Ijara, Northern Nigeria. Man LXIII: 115. Conclusion Andah, B.W. It has been suggested that intensive archaeo- 1982 The enigma of stone sculptures in logical research supported with ethnohistoric and Yorubaland: the need for archaeological ethnographic data from Esie would help answer research. West African Journal of the numerous questions about the origin of the Archaeology 12: 111- 117. soapstone figures of north central Yorubaland (Hanboulu 1989; Andah 1982). The results here Atherton, J.H. indicate that the raw materials used for the stone 1980 Speculations on functions of some pre- images occur within the Esie and surrounding area historic archaeological materials from (Hamboulu 1989). Second, evidence of isolated Sierra Leone. In B.K. Swartz and R.E. sculptures within and outside Esie (Hamboulu Dumett, editors, West African Cultural . 1989; Ameje 1994: personal communication) sug- Dynamics. The Hague: Mouton, pp. gest that the origin of soapstone figures should 259-275. first be sought within the immediate environment. In addition, the discovery of soapstone figures at Courlander, H. Pee, some 18 km northwest of Esie, is a further 1973 The stone people of Esie. In Tales of indication that soapstone sculptures may have Yoruba Gods and Heroes. New York: been present at more than one location in Crown Publishers. Igbominaland in the past. To date, the research at Pee has not gone beyond site survey. Further work involving systematic surface collection and exca- NYAME A KUMA No. 44 December 1995 Fagg, W. 1959 On a stone head variant style at Esie, Nigeria. Man LIX(60): 41. Hallan, A. 1978 Excavation of a shrine at Ijara-Isin, Kwara State: a preliminary report. Confluence 1. Ilorin: Kwara State Art Council. Hamboulu, M.O. 1987 Esie soapstone images in new perspec- tives. In Proceedings of the 6th annual conference of the Archaeological Association of Nigeria, Jos, September 7-10, 1987. 1989 An archaeological up-date on the mys- tery of the Esie soapstone figures. In Proceedings of the 8th annual confer- ence of the Archaeological Association of Nigeria, Minna, June 25-July 1, 1989. Milburn, S. 1963 Stone scuptures at Esie (Ilorin Province). The Nigerian Teacher VIII: 2-7. Obayemi, H.A. 1980 States and peoples of the Niger-Benue confluence area. In 0.Ikime, editor, Groundwork of Nigerian History. Ibadan: Heinemann, pp. 144-186. Onabajo, 0. 1982 Archaeological excavations at Esie. Unpublished research paper, National ~useum,Esie, Nigeria. Stevens, P. 1987 The Stone Images of Esie. New York: Africana Publishing Co. Usman, A.A. 1987 The early settlement history of Ipoland: a preliminary archaeological investiga- tion. M.Sc. thesis, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. 1993 A recent survey of some archaeological sites in the North Central Yorubaland. Nyame Akuma 40: 42-45. .