Nigeria
Very little archaeology seems to come out of Africa if one excludes Egypt, so I am happy to report that this and my next report comes from the huge continent. Whether this lack of reporting is due to the lack of archaeology, or whether it’s to do with a lack of interest in Africa from the media is not something I can answer, but it’s nice to see it in the headlines for a change.
Suffice to say I know very little about the history of Sub-Saharan Africa, much to my own shame perhaps, although I am quite versed in the ancient tribal teachings of people like the Dogon and their well-known and astounding (although debated) knowledge of the Sirius star system. And then there’s the British Empire’s rape and genocide of the Zulu and other cultures that we were taught in school, although the lessons were never put like that since, of course, we were fighting barbarian nomads with little intelligence who couldn’t invent anything beyond a spear. All of it was pro-British of course. Shocked? Well, this is pretty much what we were taught in school 35 years ago. Thankfully times have changed, and rapidly too.
Of course, Saharan Africa is full of archaeology, what with the Egyptians, the Carthaginians, and the Romans, to name a few.
Here is an amazing report from Nigeria – almost 13,000 glass beads, dating to a thousand years old. And yet here we have the whitewashing of African history raising its ugly head again – archaeologists first thought the glass beads must have been imported, for our African brothers and sisters were not capable of such artistry, even a thousand years ago. That kind of arrogance and blatant racism should result in fines in the modern world. Perhaps there should be an “Arrogant Archaeologist of the Year” Award. I know quite a few who would qualify.
“Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”, Carl Sagan once said. And how right he was.

https://www.livescience.com/59462-early-glassmaking-west-africa.html