The ancient Nok culture existed in the first millennium BCE near the junction of the Niger and Benue rivers in what is today Nigeria. The Nok people were agriculturalists and familiar with iron metallurgy, but there is still a great deal of work to be done before many basic questions about this culture can be answered. Two archaeological sites, Samun Dukiya and Taruga, have yielded carbon-14 and thermoluminescence dates ranging from 2,900 to 2,000 years before present.

In 1928, tin mining in the vicinity of Nok village (Kaduna state) brought to light a sculpted terracotta head. Since then a number of stylistically similar heads and figures of humans and animals have been found. These terracotta sculptures are hollow, coil-built, and close to life size. Although every Nok terracotta head is unique, certain stylistic traits are common: simplified, abstract facial features; triangular eyes with pierced pupils; and elaborate, detailed hairstyles. Pierced holes in the eyes, nostrils and mouth may have served the purpose of allowing hot gases to vent during firing. Little is known about the function of these works, nor whom they represent. Web resources here and here.

Male figure. Terracotta. Nok Culture, Nigeria. Ca. 195 BCE–205 CE. Kimball Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX.