As urban construction accelerates in Nigeria, a preventive archaeological operation carried out in Benin City has uncovered remains of exceptional importance. Between 2022 and 2024, excavations at the future sites of the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) revealed a continuous sequence of human occupation, spanning more than a thousand years of history. This survey, coordinated by MOWAA, the British Museum, the Nigerian Museums and Monuments Commission (NCMM), with the support of the University of Cambridge and Wessex Archaeology, constitutes the largest ever carried out in an urban context in West Africa.
Published in the journal Antiquity, the study led by Caleb Folorunso, Sam Nixon, Segun Opadeji and their colleagues restores a material anchor to the heritage of the kingdom of Benin, long eclipsed by colonization and the looting of its artistic masterpieces.
Rethinking Benin City through urban excavation
The MOWAA Archeology Project, carried out between 2022 and 2024, made it possible to undertake preventive excavations on an unprecedented scale in the historic center of Benin City. The archaeologists launched this operation upstream of the MOWAA site, on land occupied by old colonial buildings. For the first time in more than fifty years, archeology intervened systematically within this historic urban core. The issue was twofold. It was necessary to document a heritage threatened by modern developments, while enriching historical knowledge of the Kingdom of Benin. Remember that a British raid in 1897 heavily damaged the capital.
The project deployed a methodology based on geophysical surveys, core drilling, and large stratigraphic openings. More than 60 Nigerian archaeologists were trained as part of this operation, accompanied by internships in the United Kingdom and Cyprus.
© C. Folorunso et al., 2025
Selection of found objects. a) metallurgy; b) other objects.
The results revealed a stratigraphy 1.5 to 3 meters deep. It corresponds to a sequence of continuous occupation extending from the first millennium AD to the contemporary period. Deep pits, ancient walls, and densely overlapping levels of settlement have been documented. This approach demonstrates the feasibility of urban archeology in West Africa and offers a reproducible model. The project thus provides a new database to reconstruct the dynamics of a major precolonial political center, until now little documented in the field.
A capital with origins older than its kingdom
The first dates obtained in Benin City call into question the commonly accepted chronology of the site. The kingdom of Benin is historically located around 1200 AD. However, the oldest archaeological levels identified during excavations date back to the first half of the first millennium. These early levels, although little documented in terms of material culture, show that the site was already structured before the emergence of monarchical power. This suggests stable occupation. Perhaps organized around earlier chiefdoms, which prepared the ground for later centralization.
From the 14th century, the data became more precise. The excavations highlighted a phase of urban consolidation, marked by the emergence of monumental architecture. There are vast spaces delimited by earth walls and a coherent spatial organization. The project notably made it possible to find sections of the missing palace complex. Particularly in the areas of the future Rainforest Gallery and the MOWAA Institute, respectively occupying the former quarter of the royal wives (erie) and an area of sanctuaries.
The structures found demonstrate planned urbanization, with a constant orientation of the buildings. It indicates continuity in the use of space over several centuries. This planning, observed both in ancient and recent phases, reveals a capacity to organize the city around lasting political and ritual norms.
As the researchers point out, “ the identification of successive architectures on the same spatial axis shows that the memory of the place was intended to be integrated into construction practices “. The pits associated with the construction of these buildings also show that earth extraction was a centralized activity, probably regulated by royal authorities.
Ritual, craftsmanship and spirituality in the palatial space
One of the major contributions of the project lies in the precise identification of the functions of certain sectors of the palace. Archaeologists have found several architectural complexes clearly linked to ritual practices. In one of the buildings excavated near the Rainforest Gallery site, they uncovered a series of symbolic arrangements. Concretely, upturned pots, cowrie shells buried in containers, arrangements of molded chalk (nzu) and deposits of ashes. These elements are interpreted as the remains of a palatial sanctuary. A sanctuary probably linked to purification and rites of protection of royal power.
These practices, still known in certain contemporary Edo traditions, were integrated into the organization of the palace. The Édo (or Bini) are the direct heirs of the kingdom of Benin. Other structures have yielded ritual pits containing more than 100 bottles of 19th century gin (Africana, Van Marken, Van Hoytema brands), associated with large snail shells and iron deposits. Their accumulation in a sacrificial context suggests offerings made in times of crisis, before or after the British invasion.
In addition to religious practices, the excavation uncovered an artisanal area strongly associated with metal production. Crucibles, copper alloy melting residues, lead slag and combustion pits bear witness to highly specialized metallurgy. This discovery provides direct archaeological confirmation of the existence of workshops integrated into the palace. Palace where the famous Benin bronzes were cast using the lost wax technique. The metallographic analyzes currently underway, as the authors specify in a press release, should make it possible to identify the sources of metals and the exact techniques used.
An urban memory fractured then recomposed
Excavations were not limited to the precolonial period. The team also documented the transformations following the destruction of the royal palace by British troops in 1897. The layers of burning, demolition and embankment found in several sectors correspond to this military operation which destroyed the traditional power structure. These levels are immediately followed by traces of European occupation. We also find a cemetery mapped for the first time, used from the end of the 19th century.
The remains of a mud brick and mortar building, perhaps linked to the former residence of the colonial governor, testify to the rapid reorganization of space according to administrative needs. Later, structures associated with the colonial police headquarters and then a post-independence hospital were identified.
For the authors of the project, this reversed stratigraphy – from a destroyed indigenous power to an imported authority – constitutes a key to understanding the current tensions around memory and heritage. As Anna Adamu explains, “ what we discover here is not only the city before, but the way in which it was covered, erased, then reappropriated
“.
This memorial dimension gives full meaning to the establishment of MOWAA at this precise location. The museum, under construction on this historic site, will be used to conserve, study and transmit the exhumed objects. It will also become a place for rereading the past, accessible to African researchers and local communities. A strong symbol in a context of restitution of looted objects. And a tool to reconnect Benin City to its urban, political and spiritual history.
Source: C. Folorunso et al., “MOWAA Archeology Project: enhancing understanding of Benin City's historic urban development and heritage through pre-construction archaeology”. Antiquity (2025).
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