Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure, Based

Somewhere in the north of Ghana, a mound. In the mound, a head.

Koma figures of this kind have been recovered from burial mounds in the Koma-Bulsa region, and they are generally linked to funerary rites and the honoring of the dead, though their exact meaning is still studied. This terra cotta head, from the 13th to the 17th century, is boldly abstract: a flat, tapering crown, one large coiled eye, a projecting muzzle-like mouth, and a flared collar of stacked ridges pierced with small openings.

The buff clay is worn and pitted with age. It rises almost eight inches.

The question of meaning stays open. That is allowed.