What were the Nok known for?
The Nok culture was one of the earliest known societies of Western Africa. It existed in modern-day Nigeria from around 500 B.C.E. to 200 C.E. The Nok farmed crops and used iron tools. Nok culture is known for its unique terracotta sculptures and its early iron working.
What happened to the Nok culture?
The Nok Culture appeared in Nigeria around 1500 BC and vanished under unknown circumstances around 500 AD, having lasted approximately 2,000 years. Iron use, in smelting and forging tools, appears in Nok culture by at least 550 BC and possibly a few centuries earlier.
What language did the Nok speak?
Modern descendants of this civilisation may now live in the Hausa states, Jos, Taruga, and Samun Dukiya. 40-50 million people are native speakers of Hausa, a popular cross-cultural language in the North of Nigeria, and a further 2 million speak Hyam in certain historic Nok regions.
What are the significance of Nok culture in Nigeria?
Famous for the distinctive terracotta sculptures of human heads and figures, Nok was the first known culture in West Africa to produce such art and perhaps the first sub-Saharan culture to perfect iron-smelting technology.
What is the most important symbol of Nok culture?
The most characteristic Nok artifacts are clay figurines of animals and stylized human beings, usually heads; perforated eyes of an elliptical or triangular shape are typical of the style. Other artifacts of the Nok culture include iron tools, stone axes and other stone tools, and stone ornaments.
Why are the heads of African sculptures so big?
The head is disproportionately large for the body, reflecting the Yoruba belief that the head is the seat of an individual’s essential energy and being. His face and torso are patterned with parallel scarification ridges that perhaps identify his place of origin and status.
What is the meaning of Nok art?
Updated January 25, 2020. Nok art refers to huge human, animal, and other figures made out of terracotta pottery, made by the Nok culture and found throughout Nigeria.
What is the meaning of Nok?
“No One Knows” is the most common definition for NOK on Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. NOK. Definition: No One Knows.
What are the features of Nok culture?
What does the head symbolize in African art?
Among the Yoruba in southwestern Nigeria, the head is the wellspring of wisdom and seat of divine power (àse). The head is divided into the external head (orí òde), emblem of individuality, and the interior or spiritual head (orí inú), the life source that controls the outer head.
What is Nok art made of?
Nok art refers to huge human, animal, and other figures made out of terracotta pottery, made by the Nok culture and found throughout Nigeria.
What does Nok culture stand for?
The Nok culture (or Nok civilization) is an early Iron Age population whose material remains are named after the Ham village of Nok in Kaduna State of Nigeria, where their terracotta sculptures were first discovered in 1928.
What does Nok culture mean?
The Nok culture is an early Iron Age population whose material remains are named after the Ham village of Nok in Kaduna State of Nigeria, where their famous terracotta sculptures were first discovered in 1928. The Nok Culture appeared in northern Nigeria around 1500 BC and vanished under unknown circumstances…
What does a Nok sculpture represent?
Nok art refers to huge human, animal , and other figures made out of terracotta pottery, made by the Nok culture and found throughout Nigeria. The terracottas represent the earliest sculptural art in West Africa and were made between 900 B.C.E. and 0 C.E., concurrent with the earliest evidence of iron smelting in Africa south of the Sahara desert.