Caves and rock shelters high in the Bandiagara cliff near Sanga, used by the Tellem as granaries and burial places.
Bedaux's excavations at Pegue date cave D's four-legged cups and cave C's cotton tunics to Tellem phase 2 (eleventh to twelfth centuries) and the unfired-brick granaries of cave P to phase 3 (twelfth to fourteenth centuries): on 1 January 1200 the caves are in full use. Grave goods include cotton clothing, baskets, beads, pots, headrests and wooden figures.
Who holds it
- Title
- Tellem lineages
- Since
- about the eleventh century
- Confidence
- medium
Lord in 1200
None: the Tellem villages governed themselves (Tellem).
How things stand that morning
In use by the Tellem.
Communities
Tellem
Walls and castle
Cave granaries and dwellings built into the cliff face.
Trade and crafts
Cotton weaving, basketry, pottery, wood carving, hoe farming, hunting with the bow, fishing.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Dated archaeology (Bedaux, Leiden excavations of the 1960s-1970s).
Sources and studies
- Tellem (Wikipedia)
- UNESCO General History of Africa IV (1984): Niane ch. 6, Cissoko ch. 8 (the Songhay), Izard ch. 9 (the Niger bend and the Volta basin), Lange ch. 10
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.