Tellem

people

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July 14, 2026

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The Tellem were an ancient population inhabiting the Bandiagara escarpment in Mali, predating the Dogon people. Archaeological findings in caves within this region have uncovered what are believed to be the oldest textile fragments and wood sculptures in West Africa, with some wood sculptures carbon-14 dated to the 15th–17th centuries CE.1

The Dogon people attribute these artifacts to the Tellem. While ethnically distinct, the Tellem's art style appears to have influenced the Dogon. The Tellem figures are typically simplified and elongated, often depicted with raised hands, and are considered prototypes for the ancestor figures later carved by the Dogon on their houses and granaries. The Cliff of Bandiagara, the traditional homeland of the Dogon, is recognized as a World Heritage site.12

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African art
Dogon and Tellem
…to an earlier population, the Tellem. These figures, usually of simplified and elongated form, often with hands raised, seem to be the prototype of the ancestor figures that the Dogon carve on the doors and locks of their houses and granaries; investigations have confirmed that the Tellem were ethnically a…
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…to an earlier population, the Tellem. These figures, usually of simplified and elongated form, often with hands raised, seem to be the prototype of the ancestor figures that the Dogon carve on the doors and locks of their houses and granaries; investigations have confirmed that the Tellem were ethnically a…
Read More