Ceramic petrography in Early Òṣogbo: craft technology, regional exchanges and social convergence

Excavations at Early Òṣogbo, a frontier market town in south-western Nigeria occupied c . AD 1590–1725, recovered ceramics associated with the Ọ̀ṣun, Ọ̀yọ́ and Ifẹ̀ traditions. To understand how these styles converged, the authors undertook thin-section petrographic analysis of 43 ceramic samples to examine clay composition. The results, they argue, show that potters across a 150km-long region consistently used micaceous kaolinitic clays from alluvial corridors. These clays, low in porosity and resistant to thermal stress, were well-suited for production of culinary wares and smoking pipes. Their use demonstrates knowledge circulation and technological borrowing through political expansion, mobility and trade networks.