Nok
{{Short description|Village in Kaduna, Nigeria}}
{{Other uses|NOK (disambiguation){{!}}NOK}}
{{About|a village in Nigeria|the ancient culture|Nok culture}}
{{Use Nigerian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Nok
| settlement_type = Village, Archeological site
| pushpin_map = Nigeria
|coordinates = {{coord|9|30|0|N|8|1|0|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = Nigeria
| subdivision_type1 = State
| subdivision_name1 = Kaduna
| subdivision_type2 =
| subdivision_name2 =
| subdivision_type3 =
| subdivision_name3 =
| elevation_m =
}}
Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site.
Archaeology
The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which these figurines are typical, which flourished in Nigeria in the period 1500 BC - 500 AD.Breunig, Peter. 2014. Nok: African Sculpture in Archaeological Context: p. 21.
The artifacts were discovered in 1943 during mining operations.{{cite web
|url=http://www.hamillgallery.com/NOK/NokTerracottas/Nok.html
|title=NOK TERRACOTTA HEADS, Nigeria
|work=HAMILL GALLERY of TRIBAL ART
|accessdate=2011-01-10}}
The archaeologist Bernard Fagg investigated the site, and with the help of locals discovered many other artifacts.{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A0llBlzF6UgC&pg=PA108
|page=108
|chapter=Nok, Nigeria
|title=Archaeologica: The World's Most Significant Sites and Cultural Treasures
|author=Aedeen Cremin
|publisher=frances lincoln ltd
|year=2007
|ISBN=0-7112-2822-1}}
Iron smelting furnaces were also found at Nok.
A sample of carbonized wood found in the "main paddock" at Nok in 1951 was dated to around 3660 BC which dates far before the first iron smelting, though there are questions about the reliability of this conclusion.{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tTs9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA159
|page=159
|title=Stone-Age prehistory: studies in memory of Charles McBurney
|author1=Charles Brian Montagu McBurney |author2=G. N. Bailey |author3=Paul Callow |publisher=Cambridge University Press
|year=1986
|ISBN=0-521-25773-5}}
Nok is seen as peculiar due to the discovery of both stone and iron tools found in the archeological site but no copper tools.Atwood, R. (2011). [https://research.ebsco.com/c/roqt37/viewer/html/dh66vgibhb?route=details&auth-callid=62d65638-1cf0-4387-a3c4-946461dafc8e The NOK of Nigeria]. Archaeology, 64(4), 34–38 It is believed that Nok culture along with all of Sub-Saharan Africa skipped the copper age, suggesting that they made the leap from the Stone age to the Iron Age.
The reason for this is because the use of copper metallurgy has been dated to around 2000 BC and iron metallurgy at around 2136–1921 BC making the use of these metals predate many areas in the world which supports the independent expansion of this technology in Sub-Saharan Africa.Miller, Duncan E., and Nikolaas J. Van Der Merwe. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231791625_Early_Metal_Working_in_Sub-Saharan_Africa_A_Review_of_Recent_Research “Early Metal Working in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Recent Research.” The Journal of African History] 35.1 (1994): 1–36. Web.
References
{{Reflist|1|refs=
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=joh5yHfcF-8C&pg=PA383
|page=383
|title=Peoples of Africa, Volume 10
|author1=Fiona MacDonald |author2=Marshall Cavendish Corporation |author3=Elizabeth Paren |author4=Kevin Shillington |author5=Gillian Stacey |author6=Philip Steele |publisher=Marshall Cavendish
|year=2000
|ISBN=0-7614-7158-8}}
}}
External links
{{Commons category|Nok, Nigeria|Nok}}
{{Portal|Traditional African religion}}
{{Archaeological sites in Nigeria}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Archaeological sites in Nigeria
Category:Populated places in Kaduna State