The recent discoveries of terracotta sculptures, first those of the Nok culture, followed by those of Djenné, and in 1997 those of the Bura culture on the left bank of the Niger River, identified and recognised as having developed more than 2000 years ago, has definitely changed those ideas on Africa and its inhabitants disseminated during the colonial period.

Like the other terracotta objects, these consist of funerary offerings and were found buried with their openings facing down and filled with the belongings of the dead, teeth and some of the main bones.