Thatched dome dwellings of the Xhosa people, between Grahamstown and Port Elisabeth, South Africa

"Generally today the Xhosa favour the cone-on-cylinder dwelling (rontawuli), derived from the Afrikaans rondavel. The wall of blocks of earth, turf or stone slopes inward slightly towards the top and is capped by a conical thatch which is smoothed by a wooden legget and finally trimmed to a neat finish. The walls are smeared with dark grey clay and are often decorated with bands of white or ochre around the doorway and also around the top of the wall." [Oliver P., 1998: Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World. The Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Africa. Cambridge University Press]. During his trip to South Africa, Elisofon traveled from Grahamstown to Port Elisabeth. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from January 8, 1947 to end of June 1947.