The writer's intention in this paper is to give a brief survey of the very extensive archaeological research programme which the Federal Department of Antiquities have been running in Benin City since December 1961. This work in Benin, which is due to come to a close at the end of the present Dry Season has involved the biggest archaeological excavations yet conducted in Nigeria and a detailed archaeological field survey of the lengthy and important city wall system. Out of twenty-five months the writer has been able to ex-cavate for nearly six months in the 1961-1962 Dry Season, for a further period of nearly six months in the 1962-1963 Dry Season and on a more limited scale for three months in the 1963-1964 Dry Season. Thus fifteen months excavation have been achieved out of a total of twenty-five months, the remaining ten months being spent purely in dealing with and studying the material results, although for two months of this time work was halted whilst the writer proceeded on leave.

A total of thirty archaeological sections have been cut at six different sites. The sections vary in size from 47 x 6 ft trenches to 12 X 12 ft squares, with a few smaller ones, and in depth from 3 ft to 25 ft. Six old wells varying from 9 to 58 ft deep and from 2 ft 6 inches to 4 ft in width have been emptied and at the time of going to press another two are being tackled, of unknown depth. At the same time, the Benin City walls, of which the complete inner or" 1st wall" and also a small section of the middle or" 2nd wall" was already marked on the survey maps, the whole totalling some ten miles of wall, has been laboriously surveyed by chain and compass gangs who have succeeded to date in adding 67 miles of walls onto this total and in so doing have completely mapped the" 2nd wall" and are rapidly nearing completion with the outer or" 3rd wall". By the end of the work in Benin it is hoped that a survey of the whole wall system will have been completed.