A GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS DOCUMENTATION OF OYO-ILE AND BADAGRY HERITAGE SITES, SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has triggered a revolution in archaeological methods for collecting and keeping inventories of heritages sites and monuments. Specifically, GIS studies have in recent times produced models for site potential or archaeological resource sensitivity. However, in Nigeria, previous archaeological works have focused on excavations, settlement patterns, vegetation history and reconstruction of cultural history, ignoring the aspects of digital documentation of heritage sites, with deleterious implications for data access, preservation and planning. This study, therefore focused on the production of a GIS database of Oyo-Ile and Badagry, two important heritage sites in southwestern Nigeria, with a view to digitally preserving their respective cultural features for research, planning and development, and determining their tourism potential. The study adopted the GIS, a tool for collection and manipulation of spatially referenced data, as a model for documenting heritage sites and monuments. Fourteen sites, seven each from Oyo-Ile and Badagry – two heritage sites associated with the history of slave trade – were purposively sampled. Qualitative data were at the first instance collected through archaeological reconnaissance, oral tradition, and observation techniques. Spatial locations of cultural resources were thereafter obtained with the aid of topographical maps, aerial photographs, satellite images and handheld global positioning system (GPS). Data were analysed using spreadsheet, while cartographic representation of classified resources was developed with Arc View Software.