Kursakata Mound (Borno) – Firki Stratigraphy
Kursakata · Kusukata
Iron Age to Historic Kanem·Chad Basin (Gajiganna → Kanem-Bornu)·🇳🇬 Borno State, Firki clay plain, Lake Chad SW shore, Nigeria
About
About Kursakata Mound (Borno) – Firki Stratigraphy
7 m deep tell preserving 3000-year fishing-pastoralist sequence; fish bones, cord roulette ceramics and copper imports show trans-Saharan contact before Arab records.
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Why it mattersSignificant regional centre illustrating cultural transition.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Chronology refinement
- 02Function of enclosures
Theories
- 01Trade corridor model
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Early settlement c.1200 BCE; major mound 800 BCE–1800 CE
- Period
- Iron Age to Historic Kanem
- Culture
- Chad Basin (Gajiganna → Kanem-Bornu)
- Purpose
- Regional centre / fortified town and trade node
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
Early settlement c.1200 BCE; major mound 800 BCE–1800 CE
Initial construction
c. 1094 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
12.4500° N · 14.1333° E · 285 m · 2 mapped features
Kursakata Main Mound
mound7 m tell with 12 phases
12.4503° N · 14.1336° EFish-smoking Pit Complex
workshopPits with catfish vertebrae
12.4497° N · 14.1329° E