Tellem architecture into the caverns of the Bandiagara escarpment, Sanga region, Mali

"The Tellem, thought to be the ancestors of the people of Yatenga known today as the Kurumba, have left many magnificent artistic and architectural vestiges: dwellings, granaries, cemeteries, shrines, statuettes, and wooden headdrests... Some of these artifacts are so inaccessible, even for the Dogon, who are reputed to be skilled climbers, that tradition has it that the Tellem must have been able to fly like birds." [Pataux A., 2004: Dogon, People of the Cliffs. 5 Continents Editions]. During his trip to Mali, Elisofon visited the Dogon people in Sanga (Sangha), a group of thirteen villages lying east of Bandiagara at the top of an escarpment. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Westinghouse Film and traveled to Africa from October 26, 1970 to end of March 1971.