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This research represents an extension of Dr Barpougouni's doctoral research on Banikoara, and more recent post-doctoral work on Nikki, with a focus on another related town - Zugu-Wangar (known nowadays as Djougou) (Mardjoua, 2020). These three towns, situated in the northern part of the country and identified as caravan towns, are poorly studied from an archaeological perspective (Lovejoy, 1980; Kuba, 1996).

Today, all three towns (Banikoara, Nikki and Zugu Wangara) are considered ‘secondary cities’ undergoing rapid transformation linked to demographic growth and the modernizing efforts of politicians, the local administration and traditional chiefs. Similar trends and challenges have been noted elsewhere across the globe, often leading to acute land problems. In large cities, particularly, new buildings often replace older ones, despite their historical and memorial value (Giovannoni, 1998; Lane, 2011).

As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify the material traces of earlier phases of settlement in the urban fabric simply from oral data or archaeological surveys, despite the urgent need to do so given their historical, social, and economic importance. This also makes the task of trying to protect the remaining archaeological traces from further damage. The use of remote sensing technologies, supported by reviews of legacy data and targeted ground truthing (archaeological surveys and archaeological testing pitting), offers a viable way to address this challenge (see Mothulatshipi and Merlo, 2013; Naidu, 2019), and to respond to calls to protect Africa’s historic urban landscapes, as recognized by UNESCO in its session of November 10, 2011 on the importance of the historic urban landscape.

This research also aligns well with the work of the Mapping Africa’s Endangered Archaeological Sites and Monuments () project, hosted by the McDonald Institute, and its sister project Mapping Archaeological Heritage in South Asia (), both of which use remote sensing extensively to document archaeological sites and monuments and monitor threats to this heritage.
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