Fang Reliquary Guardian Figure (Eyema-o-Byeri) songdynasty Objects of this type were

Objects of this type were traditionally driven into the earth to stimulate agricultural fertility

Families honor them with prayers and offerings of millet beer (lwanga) and cattle dung

While its precise meaning is uncertain

0cm (excluding the frame)

Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals

Fang Reliquary Guardian Figure (Eyema-o-Byeri) songdynasty Objects of this type wereFang people, early 20th century, Cameroon or Northern Gabon, Central Africa Magnificent old male ancestor figure, eyema o byeri (also biyema biyeri or nlo byeri), carved from a single piece of hardwood and originally mounted atop a cylindrical bark reliquary. Shown in a lightly flexed stance, the figure subtly shifts its weight to the proper right, a remnant of its earlier conception as a seated formevident in the abbreviated, powerful thighs