In Africa, Nigeria is crucial in contributing to the wider narrative of African environmental and agricultural history as it stretches across many ecological zones which are potential source regions for many African crops. However, not much data has been tapped from these diverse ecological zones due to paucity and uneven distribution of archaeobotanical studies in the different parts of the country. Whilst the northern and southwestern parts of Nigeria have a higher record of archaeobotanical research conducted, only little is done in southeastern Nigeria. This paper highlights the progress made so far in the development of archaeobotanical research in southeast Nigeria, an area which holds one of the earliest complex societies in Nigeria. One of the major breakthroughs in archaeobotanical studies in the southeast region is the recent establishment of the first archaeobotany laboratory in southeast Nigeria at the Department of Archaeology and Tourism, University of Nigeria Nsukka through the Cambridge-Africa Alborada research fund. The laboratory is a product of the Igboukwu archaeology project for teaching and research. Preliminary results from recent micro and macro botanical studies conducted at Igboukwu have provided insights into landscape history, plants exploited by early settlers and antiquity of plant use. These developments show high potential for further archaeobotanical studies in the region.