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Article: Early ceramics from Calabar, Nigeria: towards a history of nsibidi.
- Article from:
- African Arts
- Article date:
- March 22, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 The Regents of the University of California. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Recent excavations in the region of Calabar, Nigeria, have brought to light an important corpus of archaeological ceramics, including vessels, headrests, and anthropomorphic objects. Interpretation of these ceramics bears upon our understanding of the graphic system known as nsibidi (or nsibiri), a central and defining characteristic of Cross River visual culture still employed by men and women throughout the region today. Considered one of the indigenous African scripts, nsibidi records, transmits, and conceals various kinds of information using a wide, fluid vocabulary of geometric and naturalistic signs placed on objects including calabashes, brassware, textiles (FIGS. ...