1Itagunmodi is an important rural town in Atakunmosa Local Government Area of Ijesaland, about seven kilometers south of the Ife-Ilesa-Akure road (figure 1). The town lies in the gold belt of Ijesaland. This area is yet to be exploited commercially – at present only illegal miners exploit the alluvial deposits. If regulated, licensed mining operations had been established, Itagunmodi could have been the ‘Johannesburg’ of Nigeria.

2Itagunmodi falls directly within the rain forest belt of southwestern Nigeria, which is dominated by cocoa plantations, the cultivation of which forms the major occupation of the people. This is supplemented by subsistence farming of crops like yam, cassava and maize. The town is situated in a hollow, surrounded by hills on almost all sides, the most prominent being Ora, reputed to house an important feature, Oko Noah (Noah’s ship). An attempt to locate this feature during the 1992 field season proved abortive. Geologically, the hills are crystalline in nature, of the basement complex, the oldest exposed rocks in Nigeria. The terrain is very rocky, with a beautiful green ground cover and close stands of trees. Many of these trees are economically important, and include cocoa (Theobroma cacao), kolanut {Cola accuminata and Cola nitida) and oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). All these contribute to the beautiful, luxuriant vegetation of the area with its occasional patches of open farmland.

3Historically, little is known of the settlement of Itagunmodi. Oral tradition claims that it was founded by immigrants from Ilesa less than ten generations ago. The tradition is certain that the area in the past contained several scattered isolated settlements. Among these were Alaba, Salotun, Ariyelepe, Oke’pa, Oko Ogboni, Amuta, Iyere Ibi Abidan, Odo Mosun, and Ijoka. These scattered settlements are still characteristic of the northern part of Atakunmosa area. However, due to the ravages of war, some of the inhabitants of these sites came together to settle in the present locale, under the leadership of Agbitu, a notable hunter. When this actually happened is still unknown – the tradition is silent on it.

4The name, Itagunmodi was derived etymologically from the nature of the terrain. Unlike other areas known to the immigrant settlers, the area is a plain, hemmed in on all sides by hills. On coming to the site, the people exclaimed: ‘Ita yi ma gun o!’ meaning that the place was flat. This was contracted to Itagun, i.e., Ita (place) gun (flat).

5When later, due to the insecurity of the times, a ditch was dug around the settlement, the name was modified to Itagunmodi, i.e. Itagun a tun mo odi – Itagun (a flat place), a tun mo (we still dug or built), odi (a trench/ditch/wall). Since then, the settlement has been known as Itagunmodi – a flat place with a defensive wall and ditch round it.

6The various groups that settled in the town are now represented by four wards/quarters; Isogan, Ijoka, Oke Ode and Odo Ode (figure 2).

7At the time the research was done, the town had an area of about 0.4 square kilometers. It is ruled by a Loja, a prince from Ilesa – appointed by Owa Obokun of Ijesaland from among the princes of this dynasty. The current Loja resides in Ilesa, visiting Itagunmodi once or twice a week. He is assisted in the administration of the town by a small council of chiefs, the leader of which is the Risa. According to the people, their ancestors found nobody living at Itagun and therefore could offer little or no information about any of the exposed archaeological features which we asked about in the course of the survey of the town.

Figure 2. layout of Itagunmodi with associated archaeological features