90 art: The Americas heads were made in their honor and possibly were primarily intended to be placed on shrines The naturalistic heads seem to represent both male and female royalty (kings and possibly queens) The terra-cotta heads are adorned with decorative crowns; while some of the brass heads of the kings have holes around the hairline, probably for a colored glassbeaded veiled crown to be inserted The crown symbolically shades the metaphorical king—who serves as a spiritual entity and whose speech is sacred—from the profane world The holes around the mouth of the brass male heads are believed to have originally held hair for a beard and mustache, symbolically referring to their wisdom It is believed that these brass heads were placed on wooden bodies that were clothed in the king’s ceremonial attire and seated on a throne They were effigies of the king erected while he was away from the palace and possibly suggest his omnipresence Some of the terra-cotta and brass heads have lines around their necks to symbolize wealth and good health One brass full figure representing a king is bear chested and wears a traditional wrapped cloth around the lower portion of his body In his hands he holds objects that may symbolize his spiritual powers as a leader This standing figure exhibits the traditional African figural style He is rigid in posture, frontal in presentation, and symmetrical His head, which is naturalistically rendered, is attached to a stunted body In fact, the head is three to four times the size of the entire body The disproportionate size of the head on this figure reflects the African religious philosophy that the head is the most important part of the body because of its spiritual empowerment The Tellem lived the Bandiagara Cliffs in the Sanga region of eastern Mali Tellem art consists of wood sculptures of human figures and utilitarian objects, such as neck rests, spoons, and bowls The figural sculptures are stylized forms and have raised particular interest because several were originally attributed to the Dogon but later were attributed to the Tellem The figures’ upraised hands, invoking rain for crops in this dry climate, are characteristic of the Tellem style This art style influenced Dogon figural sculpture and continued in Dogon sculpture well into the 20th century The Tellem wood figural sculptures, intended to be placed on shrines, are covered with a thick encrustation, the result of repeatedly placing or pouring sacred liquids on or over the wood for each religious ceremony associated with the sculptures Tellem textiles were used for both clothing and burial blankets The strip-woven cloths are some of the earliest extant examples of this type of West African fabrics In the 11th and 12th centuries ritual terra-cotta pottery decorated with a plaited roulette Possibly before and definitely beginning in the 13th century utilitarian terra-cotta pots were made by the paddle-and-anvil technique and decorated with impressions from woven mats Other Tellem art objects include finely knotted plait work (natural vegetable fiber weavings of skirts, belts, and mats); leather objects (sacks, sandals, and boots painted with geometric designs); and iron hairpins, spears, arrowheads, and hoes Southern Africa Southern Africa is the region encompassing the countries presently known as Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, and South Africa As elsewhere in Africa, much of the art history of the region remains obscure Around the third or fourth centuries a gradual southern migration of peoples produced settled farming communities and show evidence of iron smelting Seven terra-cotta Lyndenburg heads, named for the burial site where they were found, are the earliest known works of art produced by the culture that emerged in the eastern Transvaal at the beginning of the Common Era Dating to the sixth century, these heads were produced by a culture in the Lyndenburg Valley and represent the oldest known artworks from the Iron Age south of the equator in Africa Slag in the area is evidence of the local forging of metal and firing of clay The heads were found buried in a pit along with animal bones, pottery shards, beads, and metal ornaments Although not identical, all the Lyndenburg heads show similar characteristics They are hollow terra-cotta constructions with protruding noses, eyes, and mouths Decorative details made with incised lines represent facial scars, hairstyles, and wide neck rings White pigment residue suggests that the heads originally may have been painted The heads are group in terms of size The two larger ones differ from the smaller ones by a stylized animal figure surmounting the top The function of these heads is unknown Speculation is that they may have been used in ritual ceremonies associated with initiation and perhaps were worn Two are large enough to fit over a human head and neck and may have been worn as helmet masks The five smaller ones have small holes on both sides of the neck, which suggest they may have been attached to a structural support Although scholars have connected small pottery figurines to initiation rites throughout southern Africa, it is unclear whether the Lyndenburg heads served a similar function The Americas by J ulia Marta Clapp Mesoamerica The art of Mesoamerica from the fifth century to the 16th century is exceptionally rich Variations in climate and types