Statua Superba - Nok - Nigeria

The Nok culture is famous for its anthropomorphic clay sculptures, discovered in the early 20th century beneath thick layers of sediment. This is a decorative Nok sculpture. Pioneers of iron metallurgy, the Nok took advantage of this advancement to develop a varied agriculture (sorghum, legumes), frequently depicted in their works. Their dwellings consisted of circular huts on stone foundations. From a technical standpoint, they used the coulomb method—stacked and smoothed strips of clay—to create hollow, robust pieces, sometimes the size of a human.