In 1943, tin mining in the vicinity of the village of Nok near the Jos Plateau region of Nigeria brought to light a terracotta head, evidence of the oldest known figurative sculpture south of the Sahara.

2019年3月27日 · Famous for the distinctive terracotta sculptures of human heads and figures, Nok was the first known culture in West Africa to produce such art and perhaps the first sub-Saharan culture to perfect iron-smelting technology.

Nok head fragments were once parts of entire bodies and are the most renowned objects within the corpus known to date. These objects are so highly varied that it is likely that they were modelled...

2020年1月25日 · Nok art refers to huge human, animal, and other figures made out of terracotta pottery, made by the Nok culture and found throughout Nigeria. The terracottas represent the earliest sculptural art in West Africa and were made between 900 B.C.E. and 0 C.E., concurrent with the earliest evidence of iron smelting in Africa south of the Sahara desert.

This particular Nok head is distinguished by its flaring nostrils, pierced eyes, asymmetrical hairstyle, and tufts along the lip that indicate a moustache. The neck suggests that the head may have been broken off from a nearly life-sized figure.

This complete head’s bold modeling, deliberate asymmetry, and sensitive expression make it one of the finest known examples of Nok sculpture.

Notice the decorative and classic little head with slanted, walleyed drilled eyes under arched eyebrows (which are often seen in later groups such as the Yoruba), a wide lipped mouth, the snub nose is broad and flat –unlike the majority of pieces that have a more aquiline or elongated nose – and the ears are covered by hairstyle form sideburns.

The refined hairstyle of this delicate head—a fragment of a full figure—has been carefully sculpted into four protruding shapes. The Nok culture, which developed in central Nigeria between 1000 BCE to 300 CE, is one of the oldest civilizations south of the Sahara.

Unlocking the secrets of West Africa's earliest known civilization. A terracotta head created by the Nok culture, one of ancient West Africa's most advanced civilizations, emerges at a dig site...

5 天之前 · Nok terracotta sculptures are the earliest-known sculptures from sub-Saharan Africa, created by the Nok culture of which little is known except their ironworking and terracotta sculptures that flourished circa 1500 BCE to 1 BCE. The sculptures are figurative, with the heads or figures of humans represented, as well as animals, each unique.