In the heart of ancient Nigeria, a mysterious civilisation flourished - known today only through archaeology. The Nok Culture, symbolised by its striking terracotta figurines, remains one of Africa’s most fascinating yet overlooked ancient societies.In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Kevin MacDonald to uncover the secrets of the Nok. Who were they? Where did they live? And what can their incredible artistry tell us about Iron Age West Africa? From groundbreaking archaeological discoveries to the enduring mystery of their decline, this is the story of one of Africa’s earliest known civilisations.For more on the ancient Iron Age world, our episode on the Birth of the Iron Age with Eric Cline can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6emHXY7Cv8xImTcVAi4mrfPresented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music from Epidemic SoundsThe Ancients is a History Hit podcast.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. You can take part in our listener survey here:https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK
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It's the Ancients on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes, your host. Today we're covering another of those mysterious, too often overlooked ancient civilizations. A people who lived in ancient Nigeria, known today solely through archaeology, symbolized by extraordinary terracotta figurines. The Nok culture.
Search Nok culture in your browser today and straight away images of these striking statuettes appear. They are some of the most eye-catching examples of ancient art so far found anywhere in Africa, depicting all sorts of subjects. And unsurprisingly, they will feature heavily in today's conversation. So who were the Nok? Whereabouts in Africa did they live?
And what has archaeology so far revealed about this mysterious Iron Age culture? Well, joining me to explain all is Dr Kevin MacDonald, a professor of African archaeology at University College London. Kevin dialed in to join us for this chat, and I'm really grateful for Kevin's time to talk all the things the Nok culture.
Rarely does the Nok get the attention it deserves, so enjoy as we delve into its mysterious story. Kevin, it is a pleasure to have you on the podcast today. Thank you. Glad to be here. Let's talk about the Nok culture, and it's about time we explored more of these extraordinary ancient African civilisations or cultures.
But with the Nok, Kevin, is this a culture that we know of exclusively from archaeology?
Yes, there is no textual record referring to it. And indeed, even the word knock is almost by chance. It comes from the old archaeological custom of naming so-called cultures or traditions or what have you after the first site where they were discovered or defined. So it's not referring to a people or a language group or anything like that. It is purely an archaeological entity.
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