Documenting Earthworks and Enclosures of the Ife-Ilesha Area, Osun State

Earthwork systems in Yorubaland represent one of the most architecturally ambitious expressions of pre-colonial statecraft in West Africa, yet many smaller enclosures outside the major centres of Ile-Ife and Benin remain undocumented. This study undertakes field documentation of earthwork features in the Ife-Ilesha corridor of Osun State, using pedestrian survey, compass-and-tape measurement, and photographic recording to capture ditch-and-bank systems not yet registered in formal heritage inventories. Seven discrete earthwork segments were identified across four communities, with dimensions ranging from modest boundary ditches to substantial ramparts exceeding two metres in height and four metres in width. Community elders provided oral accounts linking specific earthworks to named historical chieftaincies and inter-town warfare events, offering a local interpretive framework that complements the archaeological description. The study engages with recent literature on Yoruba earthwork systems, including published analyses of the Benin Iya and Ijebu Eredo, and argues that the Ife-Ilesha earthworks represent a regional network of territorial demarcation rather than isolated defensive features. Comparative plan analysis suggests shared constructional principles across the zone, consistent with a historically connected regional polity system. The research identifies agricultural erosion and sand-mining as primary threats to earthwork survival and recommends immediate photogrammetric survey of the most imperilled segments. Keywords: earthworks, Osun State, Yoruba archaeology, territorial boundaries, heritage documentation.