We just learned about the Burkina Faso Masks.
Another work of African sculpture is the Akan Goldweights, made around 1400 AD in West Africa.
These are sculptures that were used as weights to measure how much gold someone was trading.
Each sculpture had a different weight, so if someone had found some gold and wanted to trade it in, they would use different weights to figure out how much money it was all worth.
The weights were made as different shapes to tell stories about the Akan people of West Africa.
Each shape had different meanings, like a shield might tell a story about bravery, or swords with two sharp edges might mean that two people were working together for peace.
There are many of these old gold weights in the world in museums, and people even today make them as souvenirs or gifts to keep as a reminder of the past.
(from: wikipedia - akan goldweights)
Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Flying Horse of Gansu
