Domestic Architecture, Society and the Human Use of Space in Shira

Cultural Landscape, Northeast Nigeria.

By

Asma’u Ahmed Giade (PhD)
Department of Archaeology
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

Abstract
This paper discusses the results of an ethnographic investigation on architectural
evolution in Shira in the northeast region of Nigeria. Generally, every society that has
produced architecture has evolved with its own unique form of style that is peculiar to
its people and the society in that particular region. Largely, the northeast region of
Nigeria is not any different; the region contains many contradictions, different
cultures, history, folklores and languages, but shares a common and similar
environment, which provides the society with their own distinctive local shapes and
detailed architecture. In Shira, the archaeological and ethnographic information gives
a strong impression that the basic form of the traditional house was designed primarily
to meet the prevailing climatic conditions of the region and the form of architecture
has been adjusted to fulfill the prescriptions of the cultural demands of the people.
Keywords: Cultural heritage, architecture, northeast Nigeria, Hausa, Shira area.