“They Lived Before Adam: They Never Been Ruled”
The Ugwuele Stone site, currently occupied by the Setraco Company Nig. Ltd., was initially procured in 1977 by Ozoigbo Engineering Company Ltd. for the dolerite exploitation, a robust basic igneous rock utilized as aggregates for construction purposes. In October 1977, the site captured the curiosity of archaeologists from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka when Mrs. Mercy Emezie, a Geography student at the university, stumbled upon small stone pieces scattered over a broad area. Intrigued by these peculiar stones, she gathered some pieces and presented them to her professor, G. E. K Ofomata, who suspected their archaeological significance. Subsequently, samples were sent to the Archeology Laboratory at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Upon closer examination, these small stones exhibited distinct bulbs of percussion, indicative of human craftsmanship, suggesting prior human habitation at the site.
Between 1977 and 1981, University of Nigeria, Nsukka archaeologists conducted excavations at the Ugwuele Stone site, unearthing various artifacts such as stone tools, hand axes, and quartz flakes. Analysis revealed that humans had inhabited the site over 250,000 years ago.
During the 1987 Ahiajioku Lectures in Owerri, Imo State, Prof. M. A Onwuejeogwu spoke on the revolutionary trends in Igbo civilization’s history within the cultural landscape of Southern Nigeria. He inferred that if the Homo erectus individuals at Ugwuele in Uturu, responsible for the discovered artifacts, were the evolutionary ancestors of the present inhabitants, it suggests that humans initially settled in Uturu before dispersing to other Igbo regions like Awka-Nri and Orlu areas.
Moreover, Prof. F. N Anozie, as cited by Prof. Catherine Acholonu, emphasized during her speech at the USA Launching/Presentation of her book “They Lived Before Adam: Pre-Historic Origins of the Igbo, They Never Been Ruled” at the Igbo Studies Association Conference at Howard University, Washington DC on April 3-4, 2009, that Uturu stands as the oldest community in southeastern Nigeria. Prof. Anozie posited, as mentioned by Prof. Acholonu, that communities like Orlu, Amaigbo, and Isu in present-day Imo State migrated from Ugwuele in Uturu under the leadership of a figure named Ele (alias Okwara-Ugwu-Ele), establishing direct lineage to the Ugwuele Homo Erectus.
