SLC31-W4 // Steem Expedition, Hidden Gems and Local Secrets: Curiosities and Rarities"
Echoes of Angarake in Aluchi: A Roadside Curiosity in Akwanga
Hello everyone! For this page of my expedition diary, let me whisk you away to a place that always forced me to descend to slow pace of travel; the mysterious fields of Angarake in Aluchi, at the heart of Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. Normally, my blog entries would be dealing with vistas, but this trip, we are looking at one miniature wonder on the side of the road.
How did I come across this curiosity?
This is something I have seen my entire life. Riding through these areas in the car in the background, with the forward moving green cars reflecting the bend of the road, I have seen patch after patch of earth like these. These same culverts, which sometimes fill with melted snow and so warrant the appearance of muddy water, either in the, or showing evidence of prior habitation, are prevalent throughout Central Massachusetts.
We see many diverse trees in the background of these sectors, and yet it is the raw earth and these fascinating modifications that seems to catch my eye. It was only a few weeks ago that I began taking pictures of my own journey, with the fields and patches of earth behind me in the backgrounds of cell phone selfies, that I began to wonder what was the "why" behind these singular excavations
The Story Behind the Rarity
We said we'd steer clear of tech-speak so here's the low-down on the human, not geological, story. While on the surface all of these might look like the holes of a game of 'dot-to-dot' or just simple erosion, all is little to do with the work of nature. More often than not, communities are scouring land for the next prized mineral, searching for the right kind of clay or replicating one of my own images and exploiting more expansive, landscape hungry adjustments thereof or existing already on the landscape like newly-pruned trees. For these communities however, it's not the resource which is few and far between, but the form, direct and dialogic, that action takes with the community and the earth state. Every bit of loose soil has been turned over by a great deal of human effort and aspiration for the sought-after find.
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The Craziest Thing I've Heard from Locals
Ahthe stories! Although there's no doubt everyone understands that people are searching for physical objects, there's much more lurid gossip elsewhere. The most famous folk story is that the pits are failed endeavors by turn-of-the-century treasure hunters believed to be seeking ancient artifacts or ghosts protecting ancient wealth. The ghosts are believed to shift the treasure just at the moment of completion! The conviction in this story is so great that the community have endured days of hard toil excavating several hundred meters in an area simply because the area felt right rather than because of geology.
If I Were Naming It
If it were MY call, for the endless and sometimes 0 result! digging I would probably have to declare these locations "The Hope Holes" or maybe "The Field of Endless Earthquakes" Bon-boys. They are grand monuments to steadfastness!
I trust this has given you an insight to the lived environment of Aluchi, and we can glean as much enjoyment in the beauty of the land from its scars. Follow me again as we continue our Nigerian adventure!
Thanks for reading my post I'm inviting @rad-austine, @pea07 and @ninapenda to participate.