Nok terracotta, Nigeria, c. 4th century BC - 1st century AD. Photographs by Ethan Rider.

Among the earliest sculptural traditions of West Africa, Nok terracottas still present us with more questions than answers. This piece was thermoluminescence tested, and dated to the Middle or Late Nok Period, but some sculptures date back as far as the 10th century BC. Nok Culture itself becomes identifiable from ceramic assemblages from c. 1500 BC onwards. 

The purpose behind these sculptures is not known with certainty, but they are thought to have had a funerary function, perhaps ancestral figures or grave markers. Virtually all original Nok sculptures found in-situ, once part of entire bodies, seem to have been deliberately, but carefully broken, indicting a possible ritual purpose.