BRITISH MUSEUM | CARVED HEADS FROM NIGERIA

The metal sculptures of realistic, life-size human heads are so masterfully executed that when Europeans discovered them, they could not believe that ancient black Africans had created such masterpieces.
The heads were made between the 11th and 15th centuries.
Twelve heads were found together in a royal complex in Ife in 1938, and several others have since been discovered, including a pure copper mask.
The kingdom of Ife disappeared in the 16th century AD for reasons that are still unknown to us.
The Yoruba people considered the site of Ife to be the exact place of Creation, i.e. where the gods descended from the sky and created the world as we know it.
This was done by the creator god Oduduwa, who separated the earth from the water and created all living creatures.