Traditional mud brick village at the top of the Bandiagara escarpment, Sanga region, Mali

"Villages in Dogon country along the escarpment are composed in clear-cut social units. A village generally consists of several wards. Each ward includes a few clans, called gina [ginna (gin'na)], meaning literally "big house." Some special buildings mark the wards and clans. Each ward has its dancing square, tei; overlooking the tei is the major togu na, the men's house; a special building, yapunu ginu, is reserved for menstruating women; each clan has an ancestral adobe, called gina. In addition, most wards have one major shrine, standing apart." [Hollyman S. and Van Beek W., 2001: Dogon, Africa's People of the Cliffs. Harry N Abrams, Inc.]. 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 National Geographic and traveled to Africa from January 19, 1972 to mid April 1972.