Ancient Yoruba Glass & beads found at Ile-Ife

 

1000 years old ancient Yoruba glass and glass beads that contains piece of glasses with different colours ,glass making tool and glass making workshop was discovered at Igbo Olókun {Olokun Forest) ILÉ IFÈ Osun State Yorubaland, Nigeria.

A newly discovered treasure trove of more than 10,000 colourful glass beads, as well as evidence of glassmaking tools, suggests that an ancient city in Yorubaland was one of the first places in West Africa to master the complex art of glassmaking, scientists reported.

The finding shows that people who lived in the ancient city of Ile-Ife learned how to make their own glass using local materials and fashion it into colorful beads, said study lead researcher Abidemi Babalola, a fellow at Harvard University's Hutchins Center for African & African American Research.

"Now we know that, at least from the 11th to 15th centuries [A.D.], there was primary glass production in sub-Saharan Africa," said Babalola, who specialises in African archaeology.  Ile-Ife is also widely known for its copper alloy and terracotta heads and figurines that were made between the 12th and 15th centuries A.D., the researchers said.

Àkàngbé Oláolúwa Samson