@article{b909d20dec94432db3657b75b0f19954,
title = "Colonial Modernity, Rituals and Feasting in Od{\`u}duw{\`a} Grove, Il{\'e}-If (Nigeria)",
abstract = "Sacred groves are ubiquitous on the cultural landscape of Il{\'e}-If and they have been the site of most archaeological research in the ancient Yoruba city. But these studies have been driven by the view that sacred groves were places of static ritual traditions. Recovering the paraphernalia of those rituals, especially the exquisite sculptures, therefore preoccupied the pioneering archaeological research in Il{\'e}-If. In contrast, the historical trajectories that defined the evolution and transformation of these groves as dynamic cultural sites have not been undertaken. We make the case in this article that sacred groves are dynamic and meaningful sites for historical negotiation. With this perspective, we conducted archaeological study of Od{\`u}duw{\`a} Grove in Ile-Ife with the goal to understand the broad sociocultural processes that have shaped the cultural landscape of the grove across different registers of time. The archaeological evidence in Od{\`u}duw{\`a} Grove dates back to at least the fourteenth century. We focus this article on the evolution of the grove during the twentieth century with emphasis on the materiality of colonial and postcolonial modernity and its implications for rituals of royal coronation, sacrificial rites, and feasting.",
keywords = "colonial modernity, feasting, Il{\'e}-If, Od{\`u}duw{\`a}, ritual, sacred grove, Yor{\`u}b{\'a}",
author = "Akinwumi Ogundiran and Adisa Ogunfolakan",
note = "Funding Information: In the course of preparing this manuscript, we have benefitted from several perspectives offered by Dr. Kola Oseni and Dr. Dele Odunbaku, and by two anonymous reviewers. Our gratitude goes to these colleagues but we alone are responsible for any inadvertent error. We also gratefully acknowledge the financial and logistical support of the following offices and institutions for our collaborative research project in Od{\`u}duw{\`a} Grove: The Office of the Vice Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; The Office of the Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; and the Carnegie Foundation-African Diaspora Fellowship program. Our efforts would not have been fruitful without the unconditional and dedicated support of Chief Ọl{\'a}j{\'i}d{\'e} F{\'a}r{\'o}t{\`i}m{\'i} F{\'a}lọba, the Ọbadio of Il{\'e}-If{\`ẹ} and the custodian of Od{\`u}duw{\`a} Grove. He gave us uncommon access to the grove and cheerfully tolerated our numerous visits and interviews. His encouragement of our research is exemplary. We are also grateful to Dr. G{\'e}rard Chouin for allowing us to use his drone equipment to take the aerial photograph of the grove. In addition, we acknowledge the contributions of many research assistants, students, collaborators, and colleagues, too numerous to identify here, but the following deserve special mention for their heavy-lifting duties during the field-work: Oluseyi Agbelusi, Femi Olaleye-Otunla, Peter Dada, Adeoba Obadare, Dele Adurosakin, and Tosin Ilesanmi. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden.",
year = "2017",
doi = "10.1163/21915784-12340004",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "15",
pages = "77--103",
journal = "Journal of African Archaeology",
issn = "1612-1651",
publisher = "Africa Magna Verlag",
number = "1",
}