Iho-Eleru

The Cave of Ashes

Useful Information

Location:	Ifedore, Ondo State. 20 km NNW of Akure. 1.8 km from Erigi-Isarun. (7.441342, 5.124767)
Open:	no restrictions. [2025]
Fee:	free. [2025]
Classification:	Erosional Cave Talus Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Thurstan Shaw, S. G. H. Daniels (1984): Excavations at Iwo Eleru, Ondo State, Nigeria West African Journal of Archaeology 14 (1984): pp 1-269. Shikra Katerina Harvati, Chris Stringer, Rainer Grün, Maxime Aubert, Philip Allsworth-Jones, Caleb Adebayo Folorunso (2011): The Later Stone Age Calvaria from Iho Eleru, Nigeria: Morphology and Chronology PLoS One. 2011; 6(9): e24024. researchgate Philip Allsworth-Jones, Katerina Harvati, Christopher Stringer (2010): The archaeological context of the Iwo Eleru cranium from Nigeria and preliminary results of new morphometric studies researchgate pdf Jacopo Niccolò Cerasoni, Emuobosa Akpo Orijemie, Emily Y. Hallett, Lucy Farr, Eleanor M. L. Scerri (2023): Ihò Eléérú [Iwo Eleru], Nigeria, In: Handbook of Pleistocene archaeology of Africa: hominin behavior, geography, and chronology. academia.edu DOI
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History

1922	cave discovered by a native named Obele, who was hunting.
1961	site discovered by Chief Officer J. Akeredolu.
1963	begin of excavations by Thurstan Shaw and S.G.H. Daniels.
1965	Iho Eleru skull discovered by Thurstan Shaw.
1992	cave designated one of the tourist destinations in Nigeria.
2011	study conducted by Katerina Harvati, Chris Stringer and others dated the finds.

Description

Iho Eleru was formerly known as Iwo Eleeru, so you may find this name in older descriptions or publications. The locals call the cave Ihò Eléérú in their language Isharun, which translates Cave of Ashes, because it was frequently used by hunters which lighted a fire in the cave, so the floor was covered by a thick layer of ash. This is a large rock shelter in southwestern Nigeria which is an important archaeological site. Thurstan Shaw, the famous archaeologist, found the bones of prehistoric man, and dated them to be more than 10,000 BP old. The most famous discovery was the Iho Eleru skull. Also, the remains of African olive (Canarium schweinfurthii) suggest that the plant was already cultivated 11,300 BP, for the first time in the West Africa region.

The cave was discovered imn 1961 by Chief Officer J. Akeredolu from the Department of Antiquities in Benin during a large-scale survey of the hills around the town of Akure. Thurstan Shaw and S.G.H. Daniels were the first who excavated the cave and published their results. But since then the remains were analyzed several times. A new dating from 2011 with the U/Th method dated the findings to between 11,700 and 16,300 years ago. They re-dated the Iho Eleru skull to be 13,000 BP.

The cave is located in a remote area, and there is actually no road nearby. The cave was designated one of the tourist destinations in Nigeria in 1992, which was futile as it was not really accessible, except by a long hike. The cave was declared a national monument, but nevertheless there is so far no development. Still there are plans to submit the site to the UNESCO WHL and develop it as a tourist site.

It seems the geological side of the cave was never actually explored. The area has outcrops of igneous rocks, granite, in lowlands characterized by river terraces. The well-oxidized sandy deposits in the lowlands are underlain by sedimentary lateritic formations. The granite outcrops have the typical erosional and chemical weathering which is following exfoliation joints. The result are huge boulders but also overhanging cliffs and collapse of delaminated layers of granite creating small tectonic caves. In other words, this is not a cave, it is a shelter, more or less an overhanging rock face with a small tunnel in the rear which is most likely of tectonic origin.