The Material History Lab is a dynamic research space that supports the analysis, curation, and viewing of an extensive West African material culture collection. The lab stewards archaeological and ethnographic artifacts and objects from 400 BC to the present. The core collection of materials in the Material History Lab came from southwest Nigeria, where Professor Akin Ogundiran has worked for almost 35 years. These objects, including earthenware, clay tobacco pipes, clay lamps, glass and stone beads, lithic materials, wooden artifacts, cowries, animal bones, and metal objects, cover 2,500 years of history of the Yoruba-speaking people, one of Africa’s largest and most prominent civilizations. These materials are on loan from the communities where the research was conducted and from various institutions that approved the research, including the National Commission for Museums and Monuments and the Nigerian National Park Service.
Lab Equipment
The lab currently has the following equipment for different types of analyses:
Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF)
AmScope ME508 Series Compact Trinocular, Ci Polarized Light Microscope
Laser-Aided Profiler
Photography Station
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The Material History Lab provides students with the opportunity to work closely with material history scholars and develop hands-on skills in various approaches to studying objects as sources and subjects of historical inquiry.
The Material History Lab provides digital and physical platforms for the public to interact with objects in ways that elevate the understanding of the past and the present. We offer programs that share the results of our work with members of the public in the US and globally.
The Material History Lab is a place for collaboration and exchange of ideas on material life and implications for understanding the deep-time human experience. Team members are encouraged to think creatively and uninhibited across disciplines when asking questions and seeking answers.