The Ancients30 Mar 2025

Prehistoric Nigeria: The Nok

In the heart of ancient Nigeria, a mysterious civilisation flourished - known today only through archaeology. The Nok Culture, symbolised by its striking terracotta figurines, remains one of Africa’s most fascinating yet overlooked ancient societies.

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Kevin MacDonald to uncover the secrets of the Nok. Who were they? Where did they live? And what can their incredible artistry tell us about Iron Age West Africa? From groundbreaking archaeological discoveries to the enduring mystery of their decline, this is the story of one of Africa’s earliest known civilisations.

For more on the ancient Iron Age world, our episode on the Birth of the Iron Age with Eric Cline can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6emHXY7Cv8xImTcVAi4mrf

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music from Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here:

https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(651)

Terror Birds

What kind of predator needs no teeth to terrify its prey? The terror birds were enormous flightless hunters that ruled South America for millions of years, standing metres tall and built for a life of...

23 Aug 45min

The Maya Ballgame

A rubber ball. A stone court. And a sport where the stakes could be life and death.For more than 2,000 years, Mesoamerican peoples played a remarkable ballgame that became far more than entertainment;...

20 Aug 1h 7min

How Slavery Built the Roman Empire

Was the Roman Empire really made by conquest? Or was it powered by something much darker?For centuries, millions of enslaved people sacrificed their lives and their labour on the altar of Roman progre...

16 Aug 1h 7min

Romulus & Remus

The story of Romulus and Remus is one of the most famous myths from the ancient world. But the Romans believed the founding of their city stretched far beyond the tale of the twin brothers. Heroes, ki...

13 Aug 59min

Shapur I: Rome's Greatest Enemy?

Few rulers humbled Rome quite like Shapur I. A King of Kings, he rebuilt the Sasanian Persian Empire, defeated Roman armies and captured Emperor Valerian in one of antiquity's most remarkable military...

9 Aug 58min

Scotland's First Warriors

Three thousand years ago, prehistoric Scotland was a landscape of rival communities, raids and warfare. Bands of warriors fought for power and territory leaving behind extraordinary weapons that revea...

6 Aug 56min

The Catiline Conspiracy

In 63 BC, Rome faced a conspiracy that threatened to tear the Roman Republic apart. At its centre stood two figures: Marcus Tullius Cicero, the grand old orator of Rome and Lucius Sergius Catilina, ac...

2 Aug 1h 4min

Alexander the Great's Mad Scientist

WARNING: graphic descriptions of violence and warfareMeet Diades, Alexander the Great’s overlooked military engineer, the man who made the impossible siege of Tyre happen.Tristan Hughes and Professor ...

30 Jul 1h 12min