Bandiagara Escarpment
The Dogon are an ethnic group inhabiting the Bandiagara Escarpment in central Mali, one of Africa's most spectacular landscapes. With approximately 800,000 people, the Dogon are renowned for their dramatic villages built into cliff faces, elaborate masked ceremonies, and sophisticated cosmological knowledge. Fleeing Islamization and warfare, the Dogon settled the cliffs around the 14th-15th centuries, building villages accessible only by climbing steep rock faces.
The Dama Funeral Ceremony
The Dama funeral ceremony represents Dogon cultural and spiritual life's pinnacle. Conducted by the Awa society weeks or years after death, the Dama features hundreds of masked dancers performing for days. Each mask type—animal, human, or spiritual—performs prescribed dances. The sirige mask, reaching 15-20 feet tall, requires exceptional skill to dance with. The ceremony guides the deceased's soul to the ancestor realm!
Cliff Architecture: Dogon villages feature extraordinary cliff architecture including granaries perched impossibly on cliff faces! These elevated granaries store millet and other crops safe from moisture, pests, and theft. The granaries have distinctive shapes representing male and female forms, reflecting Dogon cosmological concepts of duality and balance.
This page honors the Dogon—whose ancestors built villages into sheer cliffs, whose masked dancers perform spectacular ceremonies for the deceased, and whose complex cosmology describes the creation of the universe.
Image Gallery
Explore visual documentation of culture, traditions, and daily life through these carefully curated images from Wikimedia Commons.
Dogon village dramatically built into Bandiagara Escarpment cliffs, a defensive position adopted centuries ago
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Dogon masked dancers performing during Dama funeral ceremony, guiding deceased souls to ancestor realm
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Dogon granaries with distinctive shapes perched on steep cliffs, storing millet safe from moisture and pests
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Dogon wooden sculpture depicting ancestors or mythological figures with characteristic elongated geometric forms
Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
Dogon togu na (men's meeting house) with low roof requiring participants to sit, preventing violence during discussions
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The dramatic Bandiagara Escarpment, UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to Dogon people for centuries
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Gallery
Explore visual documentation of culture, traditions, and daily life through these carefully curated images from Wikimedia Commons.
Dogon village dramatically built into Bandiagara Escarpment cliffs, a defensive position adopted centuries ago
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Dogon masked dancers performing during Dama funeral ceremony, guiding deceased souls to ancestor realm
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Dogon granaries with distinctive shapes perched on steep cliffs, storing millet safe from moisture and pests
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Dogon wooden sculpture depicting ancestors or mythological figures with characteristic elongated geometric forms
Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
Dogon togu na (men's meeting house) with low roof requiring participants to sit, preventing violence during discussions
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The dramatic Bandiagara Escarpment, UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to Dogon people for centuries
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Gallery
Explore visual documentation of culture, traditions, and daily life through these carefully curated images from Wikimedia Commons.
Dogon village dramatically built into Bandiagara Escarpment cliffs, a defensive position adopted centuries ago
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Dogon masked dancers performing during Dama funeral ceremony, guiding deceased souls to ancestor realm
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Dogon granaries with distinctive shapes perched on steep cliffs, storing millet safe from moisture and pests
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Dogon wooden sculpture depicting ancestors or mythological figures with characteristic elongated geometric forms
Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
Dogon togu na (men's meeting house) with low roof requiring participants to sit, preventing violence during discussions
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The dramatic Bandiagara Escarpment, UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to Dogon people for centuries
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Gallery
Explore visual documentation of culture, traditions, and daily life through these carefully curated images from Wikimedia Commons.
Dogon village dramatically built into Bandiagara Escarpment cliffs, a defensive position adopted centuries ago
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Dogon masked dancers performing during Dama funeral ceremony, guiding deceased souls to ancestor realm
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Dogon granaries with distinctive shapes perched on steep cliffs, storing millet safe from moisture and pests
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Dogon wooden sculpture depicting ancestors or mythological figures with characteristic elongated geometric forms
Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
Dogon togu na (men's meeting house) with low roof requiring participants to sit, preventing violence during discussions
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The dramatic Bandiagara Escarpment, UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to Dogon people for centuries
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Gallery
Explore visual documentation of culture, traditions, and daily life through these carefully curated images from Wikimedia Commons.
Dogon village dramatically built into Bandiagara Escarpment cliffs, a defensive position adopted centuries ago
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Dogon masked dancers performing during Dama funeral ceremony, guiding deceased souls to ancestor realm
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Dogon granaries with distinctive shapes perched on steep cliffs, storing millet safe from moisture and pests
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Dogon wooden sculpture depicting ancestors or mythological figures with characteristic elongated geometric forms
Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
Dogon togu na (men's meeting house) with low roof requiring participants to sit, preventing violence during discussions
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The dramatic Bandiagara Escarpment, UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to Dogon people for centuries
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)