The Rop rock shelter is an archaeological site on the

Jos Plateau The Jos Plateau is a plateau located near the centre of Nigeria. The plateau has given its name to the Plateau State in which it is found and is named for the state's capital, Jos. The plateau is home to people of diverse cultures and languages ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. There are two layers containing artifacts. The first holds large scrapers and backed crescent-shaped

stone tools A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...

. The later (upper) layer is about 2000 years old, and contains backed

microlithic A microlith is a small Rock (geology), stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimetre or so in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from around 35,000 to 3,000 years ago, across Europe, Africa, Asia an ...

tools and pottery. The shelter is about 50km south of Jos. The site was excavated by

Bernard Fagg Bernard Evelyn Buller Fagg MBE, (8 December 1915 – 14 August 1987) was a British archaeologist and museum curator who undertook extensive work in Nigeria before and after the Second World War. Biography Fagg was born in Upper Norwood to ...

in 1944. He discovered microliths, fragments of ground stone axes, two bored stones, one grooved stone, rubbed hematites and many

potsherds This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains. A B C D E F ...

. The lower, undated layer held relatively crude implements, apart from the rough crescents. The later layer held higher-quality microliths, geometrical forms and small points, as well as pottery. This later layer only covers part of the site. A skeleton was also found in a shallow grave, dated to around 25 BCE From the teeth, it appeared that the owner had lived largely on a starchy,

plant-based diet A plant-based diet is a diet consisting mostly or entirely of plant-based foods. Plant-based diets encompass a wide range of dietary patterns that contain low amounts of animal products and high amounts of plant products such as vegetables, fru ...

. A single equid tooth was found with the same age based on its position in the stratum.

References

{{Navbox prehistoric caves 1944 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in Nigeria