The archaeological remains of the Neolithic Majiayao culture were discovered in northwestern China in the early 20th century. While more than 2000 sites have been identified, less than 3% of them have been excavated. Painted pieces of pottery are the most famous artifacts recovered from […]
Among the last of the Plains tribes to surrender to the U.S. Cavalry, the Kiowa have shared an Oklahoma reservation with the Comanche since 1868. A member of the Kiowa tribe made this strike-a-light case in the mid-1880s. The small pouch was used to carry […]
This ceramic plate was made by artisan Fidel Avalos Espinosa in the Mexican state of Michoacán. Avalos works in the town of Capula, a noted center for ceramic arts. He is particularly known for his Day of the Dead scenes on plates and tiles with […]
Barkcloth from the Pacific island nation of Tonga, which is known tapa, is made of the pounded inner bark of the Paper Mulberry tree. Raw material is taken from young trees, dried and soaked, and then beaten with a wooden mallet called an ike. Women […]
The Yup’ik people of Alaska use hand-held dance fans, called tegumiak, to emphasize the graceful motions of dancers’ arms during ceremonial dances. Yup’ik dancing is most commonly performed during the winter ceremony known as Kelek, or the Inviting-In Feast. The ceremony, held in the communal […]
Goat horns like this one are used by Zulu healers, known as isangoma, who specialize in divination and mediation with ancestral spirits. Many illnesses are thought to be connected to spiritual troubles, so Zulu healers are valued for their ability to travel between physical and […]