Pair of Greaves (Shin Armor)
Birom / Rukuba / Sura, Nigeria
Iron
19th century

What makes these items distinctive is the use of straight iron spikes pushed through an iron sheet. The same manufacturing technique can be seen on four objects from the British Museum, attributed to the Birom / Rukuba / Sura cultures of central / northern Nigeria. These two objects, described as "Chief's greave: shin armour made of iron" are particularly relevant: Af1906,1017.4 and Af1906,1017.5.

The Birom people (sometimes called Berom) are one of the largest ethnic groups in central Nigeria. With a population of more than one million, they are distributed across four local governments of the state: Jos North, Jos South, Riyam, and Bakin Ladi, with some spillover into Kaduna.

The Birom speak the Birom language, which is very different from the Hausa language, although some of the Birom people speak and understand Hausa fluently. It is believed that the Birom were the first to settle in Jos, Plateau state, after a series of migrations from Ethiopia to Sudan to Chad and down to Niger, before finally settling down in Jos, Nigeria (Dunmade, “Birom Tribe,” 2022).

10.75, 11 in :: 27, 28 cm

InventoryID #13-2094

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