Daima and Sao

Small figurines of fired clay were excavated in a mound at Daima near Lake Chad in levels dating from the 5th century BC or earlier, while others were found in Zimbabwe in deposits of the later part of the 1st millennium AD.

Small Daima clay figures. Neolitic period.

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These imply an even earlier stage of unfired clay modeling. About the time of these lower levels at Daima (which represent a Neolithic, or New Stone Age, pastoral economy), there was flourishing farther to the west the fully Iron Age Nok Culture, producing large, hollow sculptures in well-fired pottery, some of the stylistic features of which imply yet earlier prototypes in wood.

Not far from the Nok area but very different in style, at Daima near Lake Chad, small, simple clay animal figures were by the 6th century BC being made by a population of Neolithic herdsmen. A little later they began making animals with more extended legs, and sometime after AD 1000 they started to make animals covered with little spikes. The last are similar to examples found on sites of the Sao culture in the Chari Valley, Cameroon, where more elaborate human figure sculptures, thought to represent ancestors and probably spirits, have been found. Carbon-14 dates for these sites range from the 5th century BC to the 18th century AD.

To learn more on African art buy The Tribal arts of Africa (the link goes to the Amazon page from this book)

It contains more then 800 illustration and basic explanation making it easy to recognise and put attributions on African art items.

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In this section:
Start
Omhoog
Nigeria
Ijo
Daima-Sao
Nok
Yoruba-Ife
Edo-Benin
Dogon
Mali-Map
Fon
Urhobo
Djenne-Mopti
Dogon-Tellem
Senufo
Dowayos
Bura
Darfur
Timbuktu Manuscripts

African art books

The Tribal Arts of Africa
Author: Jean-Baptiste Bacquart

more African Art books I like

read also : [ Start ] [ Nigeria ] [ Ijo ] [ Daima-Sao ] [ Nok ] [ Yoruba-Ife ] [ Edo-Benin ] [ Dogon ] [ Mali-Map ] [ Fon ] [ Urhobo ] [ Djenne-Mopti ] [ Dogon-Tellem ] [ Senufo ] [ Dowayos ] [ Bura ] [ Darfur ] [ Timbuktu Manuscripts ]

mail David Norden phone +32 3 227.35.40