1This book gives an account of an archaeological investigation that took place between 1991 and 1992 at Itagunmodi, Osun State. The site came to light during a cultural resource survey of Ijesaland carried out between August and September 1991,1 sponsored by the Ijesa Cultural Foundation (Agbaje-Williams and Ogundiran 1992).

2Itagunmodi, apart from being famous for its gold deposits, was also revealed, during this investigation, to be an ancient settlement. Evidence of this was found in different sites identified in the town. The potsherd pavements, a very exciting find, are the subject of this paper.

3Prior to this discovery at Itagunmodi, Ile-Ife was the best known potsherd pavement site in this forest zone. It appears that potsherd pavements covered every inch of the ancient city; an area of about 12 square kilometers (Agbaje-Williams 1991). Much has been written and published on the Ife potsherd pavements, the best being by Willett (1967). It was not a great surprise when we came across the Itagunmodi site, which is about 10 kilometers northeast of Ife. Being near Ife, similarity in the material culture is to be expected.

4The earliest and only archaeological investigation carried out in Ijesaland until the 1980s was the rescue excavation by Willett in 1961, at Adimula Palace in Ilesa. Here, over 200 terracotta sculptures were recovered; demonstrating the continuity of Yoruba terracotta traditions, since some of them were similar to Ife pieces but date to the 19th century. Subsequently, no further archaeological research was conducted in Ijesaland. It is disappointing to observe that no attempt was made, even then, to survey the town as a whole, in order to assess its potential for archaeological research. This was a grievous omission, as, if this had been done, we would have had a better understanding of Ife terracotta tradition. It is important to investigate any archaeological site in Ijesaland so as to throw more light on historical development in Ife, and in Yorubaland as a whole.

5A few years earlier, some potsherd pavement sites had been identified in Ijesaland at Imesi Ile and Ilare (Siyanbola 1988 and Baptist 1989); others were found in the northern part of Osun State, Ikirun, Oyan and Ila; to mention a few. They are all similar to the Ife tradition, and are yet to be fully studied. This was the reason for an archaeological survey of Ijesaland, begun in 1985 and completed in 1991 (Agbaje-Williams and Ogundiran 1992). During this survey the Itagunmodi potsherd pavement site was discovered.

6The Itagunmodi potsherd pavement site is the second to be excavated in Yorubaland outside Ife. The 1992 archaeological investigation at Itagunmodi had the following objectives:

1. identify possible archaeological sites for future excavation

2. ascertain the degree of the observed similarity between the Ife and Itagunmodi potsherd pavements

3. establish a chronological framework for the Itagunmodi potsherd pavement and also to see whether it correlates with Ife dates

4. compare Itagunmodi cultural materials, pottery in particular, with those of Ife and other Yoruba sites

5. situate the result within the historical development of the Yoruba people

Figure 1. Itagunmodi: its location in Nigeria, West Africa