From: Okenwa R. Nwosu, M.D.
Date: Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 1:27 PM
Subject: ||NaijaObserver|| SNIPETS ON CHIEF (PROF.) THURSTAN SHAW - TIMES OF LONDON
To: naijapat@googlegroups.com
Professor Thurstan Shaw: archaeologist specialising in West Africa
Professor Thurstan Shaw: he set up excavations using methods being developed in Britain
Last updated at 12:01AM, March 13 2013
Archaeologist whose pioneering work on the prehistory of West Africa laid firm foundations for the subject
Thurstan Shaw was probably the only man to have occupied both an African university chair in archaeology and the ceremonial throne of a Nigerian tribal chief. He was the first trained archaeologist to work in what was then British West Africa, and he devoted his long career and equally long retirement to teaching and research of the region's prehistory. West African archaeology is, to a large extent, Thurstan Shaw's creation, and it is certainly his legacy. ………
Above news snipet is the introductory paragraph of a two-page article on Professor Thurstan Shaw, CBE, FBA, FSA & Onu n'Ekwulu Ora of Igboukwu in today's edition of Times of London. Full article requires subscription to access.
The Cambridge University professor of archeology died at the ripe old age of 98 years on March 8, 2013 at his residence in Cambridge, UK. His many lifetime's accomplishments included the excavation of the lost ancient treasures of Igbo culture in the Nigerian Southeastern historical town of Igboukwu, Anambra state at the eve of Nigerian Independence (1959/60). The excavation encompassed an 8th – 9th Century AD burial chamber of a wealthy Igbo nobleman and nearby buried treasure trove containing thousands of almost intact artifacts that were rendered in bronze castings, copper, iron, glass, clay and cloth fabrics. Prof. Thurstan's pioneering work in Nigerian archeology, therefore, helped to shine a unique light into the creative genius of inhabitants of the West African rainforest region of Nigeria whose place in world history was obscure at the time.
Prof. Shaw had many publications but the most famous of them is the two-volume book titled "IGBO-UKWU: An Account of Archeological Discoveries in Eastern Nigeria" which was first released in 1969. In appreciation of his epical archeological discoveries, Prof. Shaw was given the honorary chieftaincy title of Onu n'Ekwulu Ora (Voice that speaks for the people) of Igboukwu in 1972.
Throughout the period of his retirement in Cambridge, UK, the professor kept constant contact with those he had encountered in Igboukwu during his phenomenal rediscoveries of the relics from ancestral inhabitants of this historical town. A U-tube message of salutation and commendation, for example, was sent by Professor Thurstan Shaw live from his residence in Cambridge, UK to Igboukwu and Ndiigbo to mark the occasion of 2010 IDU USA national convention in Washington, DC. This video clip was a follow up to the written message which he had sent earlier on October 5, 2010, stating thus: "…please, remember that the Bronze work from Igbo-Ukwu is extremely sophisticated and I hope you always remember the beauty of the civilisation beneath your feet."
We salute our most distinguished traditional chief as he transitions into the ancestral realm. May his great soul rest in perfect eternal peace!
Okenwa.
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