Sylvester Obigba

Environmental and Cultural History of the Western Niger Delta, Nigeria

Sylvester Obigba is a Ph.D. student at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria under the supervision of Dr. Emuobosa A. Orijemie. He is primarily a palynologist and now an environmental archaeologist in training.
He is DAAD scholarship holder on a research stay at the Department of Palynology and Climate Dynamics University of Gottingen and is being hosted by Prof. Dr. Hermann Behling.
His research interest is in human-environment interaction. His research is titled “Environmental and Cultural History of the Western Niger Delta, Nigeria”. This study seeks to investigate the cultural and environmental (vegetation and climate) history of the peoples of the Western Niger Delta (WND), Nigeria using multi-proxy datasets obtained from archaeological, cultural and environmental contexts. This transformative approach emphasizes the reconstruction of the human past, climate-environment interactions and their land-use legacies.
Previous studies, based on oral traditions and anthropological data, suggest that the Ijo and Urhobo are the earliest groups in the WND but the timing of their occupation and contributions to environmental dynamics are not well known. The objectives of the study therefore, are to
(i) provide evidence of the earliest human occupation and culture in the WND
(ii) reconstruct the Late Pleistocene-Holocene and Holocene coastal environment to identify periods of climatic turbulence and vegetation dynamics,
(iii) identify the coping strategies adopted by the Ijo and Urhobo groups during periods of environmental variability and
(iv) identify the flora and fauna food resources that were available to and exploited by the people.
The ecological anthropology approach that consists of
(i) environmental and
(ii) archaeological components will be adopted.
Palaeo-environmental data (pollen, spores, phytoliths, dinocysts, and micro-charcoal) are to be obtained at high resolution (2 cm interval) from sediment cores.
The archaeological component will consist of reconnaissance, ethnographic survey, site mapping, archaeological excavations (of trenches that are 2 m x 2 m dimension) and retrieval of material culture (artefacts) from historically ancient settlements.
Three ancient settlement site namely Oporoza, Olomu and Kiagbodo based on oral tradition and previous anthropological studies have been selected for this investigation. His work shall contribute to the growing knowledge of the past lifeways of these peoples of the Niger Delta and by extension Nigeria using archaeological and palaeo-environmental data. The study will also provide evidence of earliest dates of human occupation of the selected settlements in the WND; identify cultural changes and human responses to environmental variabilities during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene and the Holocene, complementary information on cultural and dietary habits and patterns.

Academic CV

Download as PDF