Masks Versus Cattle

The Ecology of an African Art Form

Bibliographic Data

ID2058348
AuthorsWalter E A Van Beek (0009-0009-2155-5164)
Year2024
Volume52
Issue4
Pages851-865
Publication date2024-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Ecology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0300-7839 • E-ISSN: 1572-9915
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10745-024-00484-7
OpenAlexW4394808564
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited37

Masquerades form an important part of indigenous African religions, and headpieces of masks are found all over the world as an iconic African art form. Contrary to expectation, however, the geographical distribution of masking is very restricted, occurring only in three areas of the continent, mainly situated in the forested zones. I explain this peculiar distribution by tracing the ecological and historical parameters of the societies that harbor mask rituals. The main ecological factors are the absence of cattle and the type of horticulture, while a crucial historical element is the long history of slave raiding and trading to which the continent has been subjected. These factors have led to societies in which both gender and local power arrangements show a marked indeterminacy, operating as internal arenas between men and women, and between different groups of men. Crucial in the explanation of masquerades is the fact that masking is completely absent from societies that practice cattle husbandry with the Bos indicus species (zebu). Since sleeping sickness prohibits cattle husbandry, wherever the tsetse fly thrives, masks appear

Agriculture · Animal husbandry · Biology · Distribution (mathematics · Environmental ethics · Ethnology · Geography · Indeterminacy (philosophy · Indigenous · Power (physics · Situated · Zebu · African history and culture studies · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Ecology