Kasena Armband, Ghana

A ring of stone, shaped slowly, by hand, from one block. Nobody hurried this.

The Kasena peoples of Ghana ground this armband from granite, and its age is indeterminate. In the savanna regions of West Africa, stone rings like it were worn on the upper arm, ornaments and signs of standing both.

Four inches across, full and rounded, even in its form. The outside is smoothed to a soft luster, a warm olive-brown with darker mottling. Inside, the stone is left slightly rough where it was worked through.

Pick it up. It wants to be held for a minute.