Pomdo (Pl. Pomtan)

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Kisi name for the ancient stone figure sculptures which they find buried in the soil and which they attribute to their ancestors and place in ancestral shrines. Stylistically they are different from the nomoli sculptures found closer to the coast, being more angular and roughly carved. Many, indeed, are only slightly modified columnar forms. A few of the more elaborate examples appear to be wearing ridged caps (or a high-ridged hair-style) and feature body markings and the so-called 'archaic smile' in which the lips are drawn back to reveal sharply pointed teeth.

  • A.Tagliaferri & A.Hammacher, Fabulous Ancestors (Milan 1974)
  • W.A.Hart & C.Fyfe, 'Stone Sculptures of the Upper Guinea Coast', History in Africa, 1993, 20, 71-87.