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The Falaise de Bandiagara The Dogon live in south-eastern Mali in a region termed the Falaise de Bandiagara. This area is characterised by a large rocky plateau to the west, an escarpment (falaise) of several hundreds of metres height extending c. 250 km in a roughly north-east/south-west direction, and an extensive sandy plain to the east. Well known are the Dogon villages of the eastward facing Bandiagara cliffs, where houses of natural stone plastered with clay and granaries constructed out of layers of clay perch on the vertical rock faces. Hundreds more Dogon villages are located on the Bandiagara plateau and the Seno plain towards Burkina Faso.
Most of the Falaise de Bandiagara is dry and rocky, with only one permanent stream traversing the area. The lack of water and the limited availability of arable soil have long been a characteristic feature of the region. These natural conditions make the area rather inhospitable on one hand, but on the other, provide a natural defence, as history has shown. Map of the Dogon settlement area | |
