Margaret Adebisi Sowunmi

Margaret Adebisi Sowunmi (née Jadesimi) (September 24, 1939 - April 28, 2025) was a Nigerian botanist and environmental archaeologist. She was Professor of Palynology and Environmental Archaeology at the University of Ibadan. She pioneered the study of environmental archaeology and palaeoethnobotany in Nigeria and was the founder and president of the Palynological Association of Nigeria. Sowunmi has worked on gender issues in archaeology in Nigeria, including modifying androcentric course titles.

Sowunmi was the founder and president of the Palynological Association of Nigeria, and president of the West African Archaeological Association. the first study of Late Quaternary vegetation and environmental history of Nigeria, and the first study of pollen from an archaeological site in Nigeria.

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