The Bandiagara Escarpment is a majestic run of sandstone cliffs that slices across present-day central Mali between the Niger River and the Burkina Faso border. Rising over 1,500 feet in sections, the Bandiagara is one of the most dramatic land formations of sub-Saharan Africa and provides a natural protective barrier against foreign incursions and natural shelters for wood sculptures produced by successive interrelated cultures. The Dogon people arrived in the region circa the 15th century and since then, have thrived by constructing their villages on the steep cliff face along the escarpment. Old american collection