A Large Chimu Panel
A large Chimu panel. The Chimu were a culture that lasted from around 900 A.D. until 1470 A.D. along the northern coast of modern day Peru when they were conquered by the Inca. This was just 50 years before the arrival of the Spanish and Spanish chroniclers were able to
A Rare Dayak Soul Ship, tiweh
A Rare Dayak Soul Ship, tiweh. Many of the Southeast Asian and Indonesian cultures that practice ancestor worship create soul or spirit ship effigies that were believed to help convey the souls of the deceased to the world of the dead.
A Middle Sepik River Figural Suspension Hook
A middle Sepik river figural suspension hook.
A Holo Buffalo Mask
A Holo buffalo mask. The Holoholo are a Bantu ethnic group with about 15,500 speakers of the Holoholo language today. They use their masks to promote success in hunting and to venerate ancestors.
A Mende or Bassa Helmet Mask
A Mende or Bassa helmet mask. The traditional religion of the Bassa people has a moral and ethical foundation which reveres ancestors and supernatural spirits. The Sande/Bondo helmet masks, worn by a society official during special ceremonies, represent the idealized beauty of a female primordial ancestor spirit, believed to reside
An Ibibio Helmet Mask
An Ibibio helmet mask. This type of Janus helmet mask was made and used by several groups in Southern Nigeria including the Igbo, Ibibio, and the Itzi. The scarification marks and carving of the brow and mouth areas suggest an Ibibio attribution for this one. The Ibibio are a coastal
Two Mende Helmet Masks
Two Mende helmet masks. The Mende are one of the two largest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone and many of their ancestors were captured and sold into slavery. Researchers have discovered that elements of their African culture has been preserved among African-American communities in Georgia.
