Authors : Godfrey Golu Gongchip; Daniel Bingel; Deborah Pam Shut; Fidelis Gaknung; Dr. Silas Sarkes Wankir; Bitrus Dung Tok; Sati Lubis
Volume/Issue : Volume 8 - 2023, Issue 8 - August
Google Scholar : https://bit.ly/3TmGbDi
Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/3t9abrjc
DOI : https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8311128
The research is a study in religious symbology,
which relies on the rich religious and cultural
background of the traditional African religion and
culture to determine the values cherished by pre –
Christian Ngas society. It fuses classical methods of
studying ancient artefacts with religious methods of
interpreting symbols. The study is situated among the
Ngas people of Pankshin Local Government and Kanke
Local Government Areas of Plateau state. Religious
artefacts are considered significant by traditional
worshipers among the Ngas and are also considered to be
symbolic immortalisations of the value system of the
times they were produced. The study obtained samples of
artefacts of ancient Ngas culture and subjected same to
scientific dating techniques to determine their age. It also
used analytic methods of interpretating religious symbols
to identify the values preserved in these artefacts. It
concludes that the values preserved in pre – Christian
Ngas religious and cultural artefacts are important
towards maintaining values of society and are important
for the preservation of contemporary society.
Keywords : Values; Symbols; Artefacts; Ngas Culture; Carbon 14.