Northern Yoruba villages during the Old Oyo period: recent archaeological research in Kwara State, Nigeria

This study examines changes in the northern Yoruba villages of Igbomina (Kwara State, Nigeria) during the Old Oyo period (late 15th-early 18th centuries), and looks at how these changes may have been related to the rise and expansion of the Old Oyo kingdom in the area. This expansion appears to have led to increasing habitation of the area, as well as settlement aggregation and increasing settlement size. Population increase in Igbomina during this period was accompanied by changes in the frequency and distribution of types of ceramic design, with a prevalence of Oyo-type decorations. The construction of defensive walls and ditches appears to have followed the large-scale Yoruba immigration into Igbomina in the 16th and 17th centuries. Bibliogr.