Archaeology of the Oyo Empire (West Africa): Chivalry, Colonies, and Household Politics in the Early Modern Period

Archaeology of the Oyo Empire (West Africa): Chivalry, Colonies, and Household Politics in the Early Modern Period

AIA Society: Central Arizona (Phoenix)

Between ca. 1650 and 2800, the Oyo Empire was the largest political formation in West Africa, south of the River Niger. Over the past twenty years, Akin Ogundiran has conducted archaeological research in the capital, colonies, and provinces of the empire to understand the strategies of Oyo expansion and the everyday lives of different segments of its population. In this talk, Ogundiran juxtaposes the materialities of military conquest, colonization strategies, and household politics to tell an intimate story of one of the most important imperial formations in Africa during the Early Modern Period. Here, the regional and multi-sided scope and the residential contexts of the archaeological research allow for a fine-scale understanding of how domesticity, gender, class, labor, technology, mobility, and the landscape were manipulated to fashion the Oyo Empire. In the process, ideas about personhood, family, and sexuality were also transformed. The archaeology of the Oyo Empire contributes to a truly global understanding of the Early Modern Period.

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