Abiola Ibirogba is a Historical Archaeologist working on settlement histories, migration, and resistant strategies of African communities navigating the Transatlantic slave trade in the 18th century. Abiola obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degree in Archaeology at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. He began a Ph.D. Program at Pennsylvania State University in 2021, where he obtained theoretical and methodological training in behavioral ecology, Archaeology, and evolutionary biology. Abiola is currently a second-year Ph.D. student at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University.
Abiola’s current research explores the intersection of internecine wars and slavery on settlement histories, population movements, and migration during the Atlantic era. This research explores the effects of these multilayered histories on palaeoecological resources on the coast. In this regard, Abiola intends to investigate the Archaeology of Resistance, slavery, and war in the 18th century. He conducts his current research in the coastal plains of Badagry, Lagos State, Nigeria, using remote sensing techniques, oral histories, archival data, and archaeology to investigate the roles of outlying communities during the era of increased slavery and war. Furthermore, Abiola’s research seeks to establish a chronology of coastal communities in the Badagry region and how these human populations established unique landscapes from centers of slavery.
