The Socio-Political and Economic Structures of Birnin-Kudu Settlement Patterns: An Ethno-Archaeological Perspective

Abstract

In this paper, we study from an ethno-archaeological perspective of Bimin-Kudu settlement pattern. The study is concerned with the explanation of socio-political and economic structures among the other relevant structures that made Birni n-Kudu settlement pattern using the present structures to explain the past. Birnin-Kudu is an ancient settlement with both old and new settlements that has anethnographic parallel which indicates a linkage between the past and the present such as Palace, Mosque, Prison Yard, Market Square and Defensive wall among many structures. This paper is a result of an ethno-archaeological investigation of Birnin-Kudu settlement from the 2019 field work research carried out by research team from Department of Archaeology, ABU, Zaria. This paper therefore, highlights and interprets the structures related to socio-political an d economic activities among the people of Birnin-Kudu.

Keywords: Ethnoarchaeology, Settlement Pattern, Socio-Political, Economy and Birnin- Kudu. 

Introduction

The study of settlement pattern in archaeology is a verse aspect of the discipline that seek to build up from the static spatial distribution of material culture and anthropogenic modifications visible in the contemporary landscape to an understanding of the dynamic 

cultural and environmental processes of human settlement system (Bevan and Conolly, 2006). Many scholars have attempted the explanations and analysis of settlement pattern in different dimensions depending on what is situated on the landscape of the settlement 

and the area of interest to researcher(s). The case of Bimin-Kudu’s settlement pattern can be viewed in different angles as researchers were provided with multiple case studies and interest from the settlement based on the nature, uniqueness and several important 

structures on the surface of the settlement. Unequivocally, this paper however, explored the causes and occurrence of modern socio-political and economic structures in the present Birnin-Kudu settlement pattern so as to explain and interpret the past settlement 

pattern of Birnin-Kudu, as stated by Stone (1991) that today archaeologist explore the causes behind modern phenomenon that have also occurred in the past, so as to explain the how it happened in the past.