Case file · Folklore / legend
The Tellem who flew to their caves
The Dogon say that the Tellem, the people who lived in the Bandiagara cliffs before them, reached their caves high on the rock face by flying or with magic ropes. Utrecht archaeologists began excavating the caves in 1964.
1964 CE · 14.47, -3.31 · status: legend
The account
The caves, used from about the 11th to 16th centuries, hold granaries, burials and textiles. Rogier Bedaux's excavations showed the Tellem were a distinct population, and the Dogon still use the old caves for burials.
The sceptical view
Climbing routes and vines, since eroded, explain access; the flight story is an origin tradition, not a report.