The Dogon live in the elevated rocky heights of Mali's Bandiagara Escarpment. They rely on agriculture and manage to wrest subsistence crops from poor soil in an area that receives little rain. This monumental figure is one of the largest Dogon sculptures known. The region's dry climate has preserved Dogon works far longer than is usual for African wood sculpture, and radiocarbon testing of this work suggests that it may date as far back as the fifteenth century. Dogon sculpture is primarily concerned with the spirits responsible for the fertility of both land and people. These include a family's real and mythical ancestors, the souls of women who died in childbirth, and water spirits. While the exact functions and meanings of individual works often remain obscure, scholars agree that Dogon sculptures were created for shrines. Suinting patina! Provenance: old american collection