Margaret Adebisi Sowunmi

Margaret Adebisi Sowunmi

human

Ein sex anaa gender	female
Ein country of citizenship	Nigeria
Name wey dem give am	Margaret, Adebisi
Family name	Sowunmi
Ein date of birth	1939
Place dem born am	Kano
Date wey edie	28 April 2025
Languages edey speak, rep anaa sign	English, Yoruba, Nigerian Pidgin
Ein occupation	botanist, archaeologist, palynologist
Employer	Uppsala University, Goethe University Frankfurt, University of Ibadan, University of Ibadan
Educate for	University of Ibadan, St Anne's School, Ibadan
Notable work	God, the bible and idolatry
Dey archive for	National Library of Nigeria
Described at URL	https://trowelblazers.com/africanarchaeologists/

Margaret Adebisi Sowunmi (née Jadesimi) (September 24, 1939 - April 28, 2025) be Nigerian botanist den environmental archaeologist. She be Professor of Palynology den Environmental Archaeology for University of Ibadan. She pioneer de study of Environmental Archaeology den palaeoethnobotany for Nigeria wey she be de founder den president of de Palynological Association of Nigeria.

Early life

Dem born Sowunmi for Kano, Northern Nigeria on September 24, 1939. Ein poppie be pastor for Church of Nigeria. She attend St Anne's School Ibadan for ein secondary school. She study Special Botany for Department of Botany, University College Ibadan, wey she graduate for 1962. For 1963, she get postgraduate scholarship to do PhD research for palynology. To fit do de research, Sowunmi travel go Sweden to study under Gunnar Erdtman, wey supervise ein PhD: “On the Pollen Morphology of the Palmae and its bearing on Taxonomy”. She collect ein PhD for botany from University of Ibadan for 1967.

Career

For 1967, Sowunmi be post-doctoral research fellow for Archaeology Unit inside Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan. For 1971 she establish Nigerian University Palynology Laboratory. Dem appoint am Professor of Palynology and Environmental Archaeology for 1982. All thru ein career, Sowunmi hold different visiting positions — for 1997 she dey Department of African Archaeology, Uppsala University, den for 1998 she dey Institute of Archaeology, University College London plus Departments of African Archaeology and African Archaeobotany, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität. For ein career she supervise eight PhD students, den people think am as inspirational teacher. Sowunmi sanso work on gender issues for archaeology for Nigeria, wey dey include change androcentric course titles.

Sowunmi be founder den president of de Palynological Association of Nigeria, wey she sanso be president of de West African Archaeological Association.

She retire for 2004, buh she still continue dey teach palynology courses den dey supervise BSc den MSc students til she reach 80 years for 2019.

Research

Sowunmi research achievements include de first time wey dem identify de age den paleoenvironment of de Gwandu Formation, de first description of Eocene pollen for Ogwashi-Asaba Formation, de first study of Late Quaternary vegetation den environmental history for Nigeria, den de first study of pollen wey come from archaeological site for Nigeria.

Awards den honours

For 2003, Sowunmi collect honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree for Humanities from Uppsala University, to recognize ein outstanding scholarship plus research den teaching contributions for environmental archaeology den paleobotany.

Ein selected publications

• M.A. Sowunmi. 1972. Pollen morphology of the Palmae and its bearing on taxonomy. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
• M.A. Sowunmi. 1973. Pollen grains of Nigerian plants: I. Woody species. Grana
• R.J. du Chêne, M.S. Onyike & M.A. Sowunmi 1978. Some new Eocene pollen of the Ogwashi-Asaba Formation, south-eastern Nigeria. Revista Española de Micropaleontología 10(2), p. 285-322.
• M.A Sowunmi. 1981. Aspects of Late Quaternary Vegetational Changes in West Africa. Journal of Biogeography 8: 457-474.
• M.A. Sowunmi. 1985. The beginnings of agriculture in West Africa: botanical evidence. Current Anthropology
• M.A. Sowunmi. 1995. Pollen grains of Nigerian plants: II. Woody Species. Grana 34: 120-141.
• M.A. Sowunmi. 1998. Ecological archaeology in west Africa : the state of the discipline in ANDAH (B.W.) et al., Africa: the challenge of archaeology. Ibadan, Heinemann Educational Books, pp. 65–100
• M.A. Sowunmi, 1998. Beyond academic archaeology in Africa: The human dimension. African Archaeological Review