AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE OF PADUR HILL ABANDONED SETTLEMENT SITE IN LANGTANG NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA.

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Author

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Department of Arts

This thesis has attempted to bring to limelight the history of the people who once occupied the Padur Hill and who have now settled in the present day Shishiri plains which is about three kilometers from the once occupied Padur hill. The only attempt to write the history of the Padur people was that made by Nimzing Sunday on the burial system of the Taroh with particular reference to Padur abandoned settlement site, thus the necessity to use archaeological methods to reconstruct the history of the Padur people. The present research aimed at reconstructing the past ways of life of the people who occupied Padur hill by studying the site. The objectives are to document the oral history of Padur people and to use archaeological methods to identify, document, describe, and interpret the various cultural materials on the site so as to understand the cultural change and continuity by comparing the ethnographic materials of the people with the archaeological data. The methods of research employed were the use of oral tradition, written sources, ethnographic survey and archaeological reconnaissance and survey. Finds and features were identified, documented and taken pictures of. These were a shrine, one upper grinding stone, two lower grinding stones, a clan meeting arena, a rock with hollows, a grave, “ishi ewopwop” (structures of skulls that are worshipped), two tombs, numerous gourds, two bows and arrows stores, house foundations and a granary foundation. Pottery was the major find that was abundantly visible and seventy six (76) sherds were picked randomly and analyzed. From this research, it could be seen that the researcher made an attempt towards contributing to the understanding of the history of the Padur people. The researcher has firstly, documented the oral history of the site; secondly, the finds and features at the site have been documented; thirdly, the researcher collected ethnographic information on the relevant crafts and industries and tried to establish a link between the past inhabitants of the abandoned Padur settlement site and the people who are presently occupying the Shishiri settlement. Finally, corroboration has been made from the evidence gotten from oral tradition, documentary sources and ethnographic study which it is hoped that with more research work, the history of the Padur people and their culture dynamics would be better understood as a clearer picture will emerge. In conclusion, it could be deduced from the evidence gathered that all the finds and features left behind by the Padur people suggest that the site was a habitation site.