Rattles for summoning the ancestors

These two rattles were kept in an ancestral shrine, and traditionally used when relatives wanted to summon up the spirits of the deceased. They would grasp them by the handle and shake them so that the rattler in the slit would make a noise.

These carved wooden rattles are shaped like an elongated stylised person, with a head carved at their top. A slit in the 'body' segment contains a wooden rattling bar. The 'body' is decorated with incised zigzag designs. The handle extends below this.

In many parts of Africa, the ancestors are revered as the source of wisdom and authority, and people have various ways of trying to communicate with them. These rattles are what the people who lived in Benin in Nigeria use.

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