Grave Marker (kikangu)

This exceptional kikangu figure is unusual for its rounded head, since most other similar figures have heads that are more plank-like, reflecting the typical kikangu body shape seen here. Originally created to serve as the grave marker of an important Giriama ancestor, this figure stood as a mediator between the ancestral realm and the land of the living. A Giriama individual was typically interred within a day after death, after which point a kikangu figure was commissioned for the grave. If a village relocated while living members still had memories of the individual commemorated, a kikangu figure would travel with the community, though the figure could eventually be abandoned over time.