Nigeria

46 places in the atlas.

Kinds found here

How well established

Top regions

Bauchi State, Tura, Toro LGA

1

Borno State (Chad Basin)1

Borno State (Lake Chad historic shoreline)1

Borno State, Firki clay plain, Lake Chad SW shore1

Borno State, Firki plains SE of Lake Chad, Ngadda valley1

Borno State, Gwoza LGA, Mandara Mountains1

0

Hypothetical1

Unverified0

Pseudoarchaeology0

Heritage

UNESCO World Heritage only

Excavation

Partially excavated33 Unexcavated9 Excavated2 Excavation ongoing2

24 places

Archaeological wonders

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Ancient city

Ile-Ife

Yoruba Early/Middle Period (1st mill.–16th c; classical 12th–15th c) · Yoruba (Ifè)

Yoruba city producing hyper-naturalistic brass heads and potsherd pavements with unique locally-made High-Lime glass beads.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Archaeological wonder

Nok Culture Sites (Taruga & Jemaa)

Late Neolithic to Early Iron Age (1500 BCE–500 CE; comparable to Carthage early) · Nok Culture (unknown language; possibly proto-Benue-Congo)

500 BCE terracotta heads with triangular eyes and elaborate coiffures plus earliest West African iron furnaces (13 at Taruga 700–400 BCE).

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Archaeological wonder

Igbo-Ukwu

Late Iron Age forest (Igbo Early Period 800–1000 CE) · Igbo (proto-Igbo) Nri cultural nucleus

9th-c tripartite forest elite complex with 700+ lost-wax bronzes including roped pot and regalia requiring highest wax virtuosity.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Archaeological wonder

Samun Dukiya (Nok satellite)

Nigerian Iron Age (1500 BCE–500 CE) · Nok

Waterlogged pit yielding 25 in-situ Nok heads 900 BCE–500 CE and early 550 BCE iron knives.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Ancient city

Zilum (Chad Basin Proto-city)

Iron Age Sahel / Nok contemporary (550–350 BCE) · Gajiganna culture

12-ha 550 BCE Gajiganna proto-city with 5-m ditch and early Sahelian iron furnace.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Ancient city

Surame

Late Medieval Hausa Banza Bakwai (15th–early 18th c. CE) · Hausa (Kabawa–Kebbi)

Surame (15th–16th c.) is the 9 km² walled capital of Muhammadu Kanta's Kebbi Empire (c. 1516), the sole Hausa Banza Bakwai state to defeat Songhai (Battle of Jebbe).

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Ancient village

Sukur Cultural Landscape

Late Medieval to Modern (16th–20th c. CE; iron 16th c.) · Marghi–Wandala (Chadic)

Sukur is a Mandara Mountains hilltop settlement at 1,045 m, UNESCO World Heritage 1999, with dry-stone terraced fields 1,000–3,045 ft, paved pathways, Hidi (chief) palace with megalithic granite…

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Ancient village

Daima (Lake Chad Mound)

Neolithic to Late Iron (1800 BCE–1500 CE) · Hadjer Lamis / Kotoko ancestral

3-m 115×85 m stratified mound establishing Chad Basin Neolithic-to-Iron sequence 1800 BCE–1500 CE.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Archaeological wonder

Turunku

Iron Age Nok Culture (500 BCE–500 CE; iron from 550 BCE) · Nok Culture

Turunku in Kaduna's Nok Valley is a Nok Culture iron-smelting precinct and terracotta site, 500 BCE–500 CE, revealing sub-Saharan Africa's earliest iron (c.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Archaeological wonder

Dala Hill

Iron Age to Modern (c. 400–1900 CE; ritual ongoing) · Iron Age (Early Kano) / Hausa / Fulani

Dala Hill (Goron Dutse pair) is Kano's 534-m granite inselberg nucleus where Kano city was founded by Dala Iron Age smiths (c. 400 CE) before Hausa walling, with 999-step stair.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Archaeological wonder

Dufuna Canoe

Early Holocene (6550 BCE) · Early Holocene Saharan fisher–hunters (Lake Mega-Chad)

Dufuna Canoe is an 8.4-m dugout canoe excavated 1987 from 5 m deep Komadugu Gana floodplain, dated 6556/6384 cal BCE (8500±300 BP), oldest boat in Africa and third oldest worldwide, predating…

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Ancient village

Kajuru Hill Settlement

Iron Age to Late Medieval (500 BCE–1800 CE) · Nok–Koro–Atyap continuum

Kajuru Hills are dramatic inselberg hillforts above southern Kaduna plain, occupied Nok-terminal to Koro–Atyap phases 500 BCE–1800 CE, with dry-stone terracing and hilltop granaries akin to Sukur's…

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Rock art

Iwo Eleru Cave

Middle Stone Age to Iron Age (92,000 BP–500 CE) · MSA/LSA forest foragers

Iwo Eleru Rock Shelter in southwest Nigeria forest is Later Stone Age to Iron Age shelter 92,000–3,000 BP with 13ka calvaria of early modern human with archaic features (Iwo Eleru skull) sparking…

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Earthwork

Sungbo's Eredo (Ogun) – Yoruba's 160-km Earthwork Rampart

Late Iron Age / Yoruba (Ijebu) · Ijebu Yoruba (Oloye Bilikisu Sungbo tradition)

Largest single monument in Africa: 160 km curvilinear ditch-and-bank snaking 20 m deep through rainforest around medieval Ijebu kingdom (800–1000 CE, Darling charcoal).

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Ancient village

Kwiambana Hillfort (Zamfara) – Stone-Walled Escarpment Town

Late Iron Age / Historic Hausa · Hausa / Katsinawa refugees

Huge dry-stone perimeter walls (3 km) enclosing plateau hilltown on brink of Kayra escarpment, refuge for Katsina peoples during 18th–19th c Fulani jihads.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Ancient city

Katsina City and Kusugu Well

Hausa Late Iron Age to Sultanate (c.1100 CE–present) · Hausa (Katsinawa)

Hausa walled city (14 km walls, 7 gates) with Gobarau Minaret and Kusugu well legend.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Ancient city

Birnin Kebbi

Songhai-Kebbi to Sokoto (1515–1831) · Kebbi / Songhai / Fulani

Kebbi Empire capital (1515) with 9 km walls and Kanta palace mound.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Ancient village

Gwoza Hills Settlements

Iron Age to present (500 BCE–present) · Mandara / Wandala / Kanuri

Mandara terrace villages with 10 km stone terraces and iron forges.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Rock art

Yankari Rock Shelters

Late Stone Age to Iron Age (4000 BCE–1500 CE) · Nok-related / Hausa

National park shelters with 12 iron furnaces and Shira rock paintings.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Rock art

Kagoro Rock Gongs

Iron Age to Kagoro Kingdom (500 BCE–present) · Nok / Kagoro (Southern Kaduna)

Quartzite gong field (6 slabs) with Kpop fort walls (2 km).

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Ancient village

Gajiganna Culture Complex (Borno)

Chad Basin Late Stone Age · Gajiganna culture

Urn-field mound complex defining Gajiganna culture bridging Saharan and sub-Saharan pastoralism before Kanem.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Rock art

Dutsen Kongba (Jos Plateau)

Nok to Berom (1500 BCE–present) · Nok / Proto-Berom

Jos Plateau rock-gong complex with 8 granite gongs and Nok scatter.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Mound

Kursakata Mound (Borno) – Firki Stratigraphy

Iron Age to Historic Kanem · Chad Basin (Gajiganna → Kanem-Bornu)

7 m deep tell preserving 3000-year fishing-pastoralist sequence; fish bones, cord roulette ceramics and copper imports show trans-Saharan contact before Arab records.

🇳🇬 Nigeria · Mound

Ngala / Ndufu Mound (Chad Basin)

Iron Age to Kanem-Bornu · Chad Basin

Firki classic mound 5 m with cattle-trail causeways visible on SAR; compound enclosures vs kraals detected by magnetometry.

Nigeria

Kinds found here

How well established

Top regions

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Heritage

Excavation

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24 places

Ile-Ife

Igbo-Ukwu

Samun Dukiya (Nok satellite)

Zilum (Chad Basin Proto-city)

Surame

Sukur Cultural Landscape

Daima (Lake Chad Mound)

Turunku

Dala Hill

Dufuna Canoe

Kajuru Hill Settlement

Iwo Eleru Cave

Sungbo's Eredo (Ogun) – Yoruba's 160-km Earthwork Rampart

Kwiambana Hillfort (Zamfara) – Stone-Walled Escarpment Town

Katsina City and Kusugu Well

Birnin Kebbi

Gwoza Hills Settlements

Yankari Rock Shelters

Kagoro Rock Gongs

Gajiganna Culture Complex (Borno)

Dutsen Kongba (Jos Plateau)

Kursakata Mound (Borno) – Firki Stratigraphy

Ngala / Ndufu Mound (Chad Basin)

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24 places