Monolithes sculptés akwanshi/atal de la Cross River (Nigéria-Cameroun)

Abstract

The tradition of Akwanshi/Atal monoliths seems to have developed in the footsteps of a common regional background of ancient Iron Age megalithic civilization, showing also an assimilation of the standards of wood sculpture and body arts, in link to the establishment around the 16th century of initiatory institutions and agrarian rites of the Ikom group. As exceptional in Africa as the sculpted phallic monoliths of Ethiopia and Mali, these monuments, more or less difficult to move, have nevertheless continued to be prized on the international art market and to fuel museums. Collected in often illegal conditions, in relation to security crises such as those in Biafra, research on the akwanshi/atal poses many problems: that of the archaeological contexts and conditions of production, that of the meaning of representations in the collective memory of ethnic groups in situ, and that of stylistic attributes and classifications. Based on a synthesis of knowledge on the subject, this study offers a diachronic analysis of styles, and an examination of local heritage and international collections.

Keywords

• carved monoliths
• akwanshi/atal