Bwa Hawk/Butterfly masks, Burkina Faso

These wide headdresses were used by the Do society at dances to promote fertility of the fields and at funerals of Do members. The geometric designs all have meanings. The checkerboard pattern symbolizes the separation of light from dark, good from evil, and female from male.

Nok Terracotta

Nok Terracotta,Nigeria,2500 yrs old]


To Westerners, time is a set of stripes drawn on the tarmac that is on the road on which we drive. They believe to drive at exactly constant speed, so they think they know exactly when we will cross these stripes. There is one big stripe every hour, a small one every minute, a very small one every second, and so on. Westerners feel sure the road is straight, regular, and goes on forever. -

African Concept of Time

Archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu

Archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu