Nok Sculptures

     The Nok were a sub-Saharan culture located in the northern reaches of modern-day Nigeria. Most artworks recovered from their culture are fired clay or terracotta and were made with a variety of different uses in mind. Some sculptures were smaller and meant to be worn as pendants, while others were life-size sculptures of human heads. Archeologists have dated Nok sculptures between 900-300 B.C.E. but their culture is thought to extend until 200 C.E... Archeologists have also discovered that the Nok farmed crops with iron tools, which have survived to modern-day as one of the only other indicators of their culture. The Nok leave behind no bronze or copper tools, meaning they were one of the few cultures that transitioned from stone tools straight to iron (Atwood). These discoveries indicated an advanced society, with uniform religious worship, metal smelting, and a significant population to support these trends. Its unclear why their culture declined, but archeologists notice a marked drop in the amount of pottery being removed from the earth at a certain soil level, which scientists are dating to about 200 C.E...

    Most Nok sculptures were discovered by tin miners in regions rivers. The sculptures were likely washed into the riverbeds centuries ago, this has lead to many recovered artifacts being badly damaged. Due to there shape, the heads of sculptures survived most frequently, leading to speculation on what the different heads were used for. In 1943, the head pictured below was discovered by a miner, and its similarities to another sculpture found fifteen years prior lead the archeologist Bernard Fagg to infer that their must be an unknown culture in this region (Dewey). The sculpture has stylistic similarities many other heads since discovered, such as triangular shaped eyes, and the orifices of the eyes, nose, and mouth being punched out; most Nok sculptures also tend to place special significance on the hair. Due to breaks in the sculptures archeologists have learned that these sculptures were likely made using a coil method, in which the artist rolls out long coils of clay and builds the shape of the artwork by laying them one after another (Dewey). 

Atwood, Roger. "the Nok of Nigeria,"   Archaeology Archive, Accessed Nov 5th, 2020, Published July/August 2011. https://archive.archaeology.org/1107/features/nok_nigeria_africa_terracotta.html

Dewey, William. "Nok," Pennsylvania State University.  Accessed Nov 5th, 2020. https://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/chapters/ancient-africa/nok/?start=0#essay 



Comments

  1. Justin DwinellNovember 5, 2020 at 2:18 PM

    Hello Alex,
    I really enjoyed reading your post due to the amount of background information you provided. I really liked how you discussed what kinds of other sculptures you can find and the materials they are made of. It also helped me understand how advanced this society was for it’s time. Its crazy that these Nok sculptures were found by tin minors in riverbeds, with that being said, how do you think they got there? Was there a major natural disaster that caused them to get into these weird spots?

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  2. Ashley MNovember 6, 2020 at 3:40 PM

    It's crazy how two of us can write on the same topic and deliver markedly different papers. I love how detailed you were with the explanation of how the artifacts were discovered and why we find mostly heads. This geographical location was a challenge for finding sources. What attracted me to writing about the Nok terracottas, besides my ability to find information, was the abstract nature of these relics. I love how exaggerated the features are and how stylistic the hair and jewelry are. I could see an art student researching and exploring these pieces in a sculptural ceramics class. I wouldn't mind using these as a research inspired piece if I take ceramics again.

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