Provenance studies of Esie sculptural soapstone from southwestern Nigeria

A group of soapstone statues found near the village of Esie in southwestern Nigeria is one of the largest collections of prehistoric sculpture found in sub-Saharan Africa. The statues were found at Esie by people of the Igbomina sub-grouping of the Yoruba ethnic group when they settled in the Esie area some 300 years ago. The origin of the statues remains unknown. Several areas of soapstone in the Nigerian Schist Belt are considered as potential source areas for the Esie statues. Mineral assemblages, textures, and compositions of talc, cummingtonite, and chlorite from some of the statues suggest a source for the statue soapstone from the Agbonda area, the closest proposed source area to Esie. However, mineralogic data from one of the statues are unlike any of the proposed source areas. The result of our study, together with earlier studies of Stevens, Hambolu and Onabajo provides strong evidence that the soapstone statues were carved from local ultramafic rocks from Esie area.