Researchers working in Benin, Nigeria, have uncovered the most extensive archaeological evidence to date from the former capital of the Benin Kingdom, offering fresh insight into royal spaces, urban planning, ritual life, and the city’s destruction in 1897. The work is part of the MOWAA Archaeology Project, led by Caleb Folorunso and published in the journal Antiquity.
The excavation is tied to the development of the Museum of West African Art, known as MOWAA, and represents the first major archaeological research effort in Benin City in 50 years. It is also the largest urban dig ever attempted in West Africa.
A historic city with a violent end
Benin City served as the cultural and political center of the Benin Kingdom from around AD 1200 until its fall in 1897, when British troops burned the palace and looted thousands of royal bronzes. Excavations in the 1960s revealed deep cultural layers, but most palace areas remained untouched. The new project targets previously unexcavated land that once held the Central Hospital and the Health Management Board.
The project combines heritage preservation with construction planning, making it the first large-scale pre-construction archaeological program in a West African city.
Methods combine science and development
Researchers used a mix of intrusive and non-intrusive techniques, including ground-penetrating radar, test pits, and full excavation trenches. Cultural deposits reach 1.6 meters (5.2 feet) deep, with some pits more than 3 meters (9.8 feet) deep. Early radiocarbon dates show activity from the first millennium AD, long before the rise of the Benin Kingdom.
The main settlement sequence begins in the 14th century and covers the kingdom’s “golden age” in the 16th and 17th centuries. That period was not clearly documented in earlier research, making this the first continuous timeline of palace life, ritual activity, and post-war transformation.
New evidence from palace quarters and shrines
Excavations uncovered structural remains from the royal “wives’ quarter,” a restricted residential zone protected by earth walls and controlled gateways. Another area, now planned as the Rainforest Gallery site, contained shrines with arranged pots, chalk molds, cowrie shells, and ritual deposits.
One deep pit held more than 100 19th-century gin and glass bottles from European brands. The bottles were buried with giant snail shells and iron pieces, suggesting a shrine linked to royal ceremonies.
Material culture confirms metalworking legacy
Finds from the dig include lead slag, crucible fragments, and copper-alloy pieces, pointing to an active bronze-casting workshop. More than 120,000 ceramic sherds were also recovered, the largest collection ever recorded in Benin City. Researchers say the material will allow them to build the first detailed ceramic sequence for the region.
Botanical remains such as oil palm, cotton, pearl millet, and foxtail millet, along with animal bones and pollen, will provide the most complete picture so far of diet, agriculture, and environmental change in the kingdom.
Layers of colonial and post-colonial history
The team also mapped a European cemetery established shortly after 1897, uncovered remains of early police facilities, and located traces of the colonial governor’s residence. These discoveries document the shift from royal capital to colonial outpost.
A major goal of the project is training. Ten early-career Nigerian archaeologists were hired full-time, supported by more than 58 temporary field roles. MOWAA is now building a permanent field team and conservation lab to support long-term research.
Researchers say the project proves that rapid construction in Nigeria does not have to erase the past. Instead, it can expose it. The Benin excavations now represent the most complete archaeological record of a major West African city before, during, and after colonial disruption.
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