In 1938, Isaiah Anozie was digging a cistern in his compound at Igbo-Ukwu, in present-day Anambra State, when he struck a cache of bronze objects. Unaware of their age and importance, he gave some away and even used ancient bronze vessels to water his goats, until the colonial officer J. O. Field recognized their value and intervened.
Systematic excavations followed in 1959–1960 under the British archaeologist Thurstan Shaw. They covered three sites named after their landowners: Igbo Isaiah, Igbo Richard and Igbo Jonah.