In the central part of the West African state of Mali, a mountainous region known as the Bandiagara Plateau or Dogon Country stretches in a narrow strip along the middle course of the Niger in the middle of a vast savanna. The only passable road leading here from the "African Venice" of Mopti to the main city of the Dogon Country, Bandiagara, winds between low hills covered with thorny bushes and coarse grass. A completely different impression is created for the traveler when entering the Dogon Country from the south: among the flat, like a flat table, the Gondo plain suddenly grows a majestic stone wall a hundred meters high, which stretches from southwest to northeast for 200 kilometers. On the plateau, surrounded by a chaotic jumble of rocks, on ledges and at the foot of a stone ridge, there are picturesque villages of one of the most interesting peoples of Africa - the Dogon.

Dogon (self - named-dogo) received from their Muslim neighbors-Fulbe the name habe (singular-kado), that is, pagans. It was as a hub that they became known to Europeans. Now the term "dogon" is generally accepted. The question of the Dogon language identity has long been debated. Some experts attributed their language to the Mande group. Others, recognizing the significant cultural and possibly ethnic affinity of the Dogon with Mande, nevertheless included their language in the Voltian language family1 . Now their language is considered to belong to the Mosigur group, which is spoken by the majority of residents of Upper Volta 2 . But there are also other points of view3, especially since the inhabitants of remote Dogon villages do not understand each other, and they have to explain themselves in the languages of their neighbors - Fula and Bamana.

The number of Dogons cannot be determined with sufficient accuracy due to the lack of statistical data. The existing sources are quite contradictory .4 The closest thing to reality

1 Н. Baumann, D. Westermann. Les peuples et les civilisations de l'Afrique. P. 1970, p. 406.

2 B. V. Andrianov. The population of Africa. (Ethnostatistical review), Moscow, 1964, p. 31; L. Ratajski. Afryka. Warszawa. 1966, str. 105.

3 G. Calame-Griaule. Dictionnaire Dogon. Dialecte Toro. P. 1968, p. IX; D. A. Olderogge. Japanese studies on the ethnography of Africa. "Soviet Ethnography", 1974, N 3, p. 176, etc.

4 В. N'Diaye. Groupes ethniques au Mali. Bamako. 1970, p. 244; "Encyclopaedia

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the figure of 300 thousand people is presented. The Dogon live compactly in a relatively small area; hence, despite the mountainous terrain, the Dogon Country has a population density of 50 people per square kilometer.

The Dogon country has served as a mecca for French ethnographers for decades. Even at the dawn of this century, shortly after the French conquest of Western Sudan, field ethnographic research was conducted here. But ethnographic works on the Bandiagara plateau were especially widespread in the 1930s, when a large amount of factual material was collected, which was the basis for the formation of the scientific school of M. Griol. Based on the study of only one ethnic group, he tried to create a general theory of the spiritual culture of the peoples of Tropical Africa. Griol and his school (J. Dieterlen, J. Calam-Griol, D. Zaan, D. Pom, S. de Gane, etc.), little interested in the real history of the Dogon and their modern life, paid all attention to their rich mythology, and it was interpreted idealistically and metaphysically, since Griol's spiritual culture was not only detached, but also directly opposed to material culture. The Griol school created an atmosphere of sensationalism around the Dogons, which B. I. Sharevskaya rightly called the "Dogon mirage" .5 It was a new myth-making around ancient mythology. Today, the most serious of Griol's students tacitly reject a number of theoretical propositions of the teacher, while others bring his delusions to the point of absurdity. For example, in his book on Dogon cosmogony, E. Guerrier tries to prove that their myths contain veiled scientific knowledge such as the atomic theory of the structure of the world and the infinity of the universe; that they knew the moons of Jupiter, the ring of Saturn, the rotation of the Sun around its axis, and the main characteristics of the Sirius 6 star system .

The study of the historical past of the Dogon has long remained in the shadows, and their ethnogenesis is not sufficiently clarified. One of the local legends tells about the migration of the Dogon ancestors who lived in the area of the capital of ancient Ghana, Kumbi (on the border between modern Mali and Mauritania): a severe drought led to clashes over the possession of the oases, as a result of which many farmers emigrated to the south, and among the migrants were white people, led by women; after a series of intermediate stops, the Dogon ancestors settled on the high ground of Bandiagara .7 The most common Dogon tradition tells of the migration of their ancestors from the area along the upper Niger River (on the border between Mali and Guinea), known as the Mande Country, or the Manding Mountains . Other Dogons place Mande, on the contrary, to the east of their present homeland. Such a shift in geographical concepts is found in a number of peoples of Western Sudan, although many of them consider Mande to be their ancestral homeland. The Dogon themselves trace their genealogy back to four families of immigrants from Mande, who, along with their household goods, took a handful of earth with them. When they arrived at Bandiagara, they divided the new territory, and immured the sacred land in the altar-lebe. So far, 12 such altars exist in the Dogon Country, being a place of worship. 9 The natives are called tell ("found here") by the newcomers; they, according to legend, went to the plain, where they gave rise to the Kurumba people, who still inhabit Upper Volta.

Most scientists have accepted the migration theory of Dogon ethnogenesis, and archaeological data have brought the scientific base under the oral tradition. In 1960-1962, the Dutch amateur archaeologist G. Gaan walked along the southern slope of the Bandiagara plateau, studying the caves and grottos in which the Dogons put the dead with their bodies.-

Universalis". Vol. 5. P. 1970, p. 741; p. Lefevre. Pays Dogon. P. 1972, p. 13; " Africa. Encyclopedic dictionary", Vol. 1. M. 1963, p. 350; "Peoples of Africa", M. 1954, p. 293; I. Lyubenova. Мали. Sophia. 1970, p. 56, et al.

5 See: B. I. Sharevskaya. Problems of spiritual culture of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa in the concept of Marcel Griol. "Vestnik istorii mirovoi kul'tury", 1961, N 4; ee same. "The Ethnographic Method" by Marcel Griol and questions of methodology in modern French ethnography. "Soviet Ethnography", 1962, N 6.

6 "Afrique Contemporaine", 1975, N 78, p. 44; "Jeune Afrique", 28.III.1975. IB. N' Diaye. Op. cit., p. 247.

8 G. Dieterlen. Les ames des Dogon. P. 1941, pp. 20 - 22.

9 "Histoire et tradition orale. L'Empire du Mali". Actes du Colloque de Bamako. P. 1975, p. 56.

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washing utensils. He designed a lifting mechanism that could be used to reach any point on the mountain. Since 1965, the University of Utrecht has organized five archaeological expeditions to study the distant past of the Dogon10 . Research by Dutch scientists has allowed us to take a fresh look at the history of the Dogon. A large amount of archaeological material was collected, which was well preserved in the dry air of mountain caves: thousands of skeletons, wood products, ceramics, weapons, figurines, various metal and stone ornaments. The objects found were dated using radiocarbon dating.

It is established that the caves of Bandiagara were inhabited by people no later than in the III-II centuries BC. Little remains of the material culture of these first inhabitants, conventionally called "tolst". More can be said about the Tellems, who lived here around the XI-XV centuries. They were engaged in hunting (bones of buffaloes, antelopes and turtles were found in caves), raised cattle and sheep; their main occupation was agriculture, and the main grain was African millet. Hoes were found in many graves. The appearance of the Tellem here is associated with the migration to the south and east after the defeat of the Gana Empire in the XI century 11 . Since the 15th century, there has been a dramatic change in funerary rites and architectural elements; the pottery and fabric remains found do not resemble the previous ones either. This indicates the appearance of new aliens on Bandiagar 12 . It can be assumed that the aggressive policy of the lords of Mali and the violent Islamization forced the Dogon ancestors to move to the east. After reaching Bandiagara, they first settled on the plain, and later, under the pressure of warlike neighbors, went into the mountain steeps. The fate of the former inhabitants of the mountain caves remains unclear, but it is proved that the Tellem are not the ancestors of either the Dogon or the modern Kurumba. Thus, this hypothesis of French ethnographers was not confirmed. The same can be said about the time when the Dogon appeared in the rocks: this happened not in the X, but in the XV century. This concept is generally accepted by specialists, although its details are not shared by all 13 .

In the Middle Ages, the Dogon had to withstand the onslaught of neighboring peoples who had reached a higher level of socio-economic development and already had statehood. In the great bend of the Niger, there were continuous wars between the rulers of the Songhai state and mine. Both of them repeatedly made trips to the Dogon Country, which is poor in natural resources, but rich in people. Later, nomadic Fulbe tribes also attacked Dogon villages. Dogon slaves were found in the slave markets of Timbuktu and Jenna, Gao and Segou, and in the cities of North Africa. However, protected by impregnable mountains and hidden in caves, the Dogon managed to repel many attacks, defending their independence, although some of them who were in contact with the Song-y began to convert to Islam. In the village of Borko, there is a legend that Askia Muhammad himself founded a mosque here, who gave local Muslims the Koran, which the elders do not show to anyone.

The detailed history of the Dogon remains poorly understood. The Dogon are not mentioned in the Sudanese chronicles. It is known that in 1864, in one of the caves of the Dogon Country, the conqueror of Western Sudan, El-Haj Omar, who was defeated in the fight against the Fulbe Masiny, died. His son Ahmadu turned Bandiagara into the capital of his state, and on April 26, 1896, French troops captured the city. [14 ] They, however, failed to conquer the bulk of the Dogon Country. The colonialists hoped for a "peaceful" entry, but the locals stubbornly refused to recognize the new administration and pay taxes. This is what one of the colonial officials reported to the governor in Western Sudan: "I passed through the villages of Khogi and Gitran, but I didn't see any natives. For four years, these villages have refused to meet all our demands: to pay taxes, to allocate stretchers.-

10 See R. Bedaux, H. Haan. Tellem. 10 jaar onderzoek in West-Afrika. Utrecht. 1975.

11 R. M. A. Bedaux. Tellem, reconnaissance archeologique d'une culture de l'Ouest African au Moyen Age: recherches architectoniques. "Journal de la Societe des Africanistes", vol. 42, 1972, N 2, p. 113.

12 J. Huizinga, R. M. A. Bedaux. Recherches sur l'histoire malienne. "Etudes Maliennes", 1974, N 10, p. 16.

13 "Bulletin de l'lnstitut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire", ser. B, t. 36, 1974, N 2, p. 439.

14 "Histoire generate de l'Afrique Noire". T. II. P. 1971, pp. 102 - 103; J. Ki-Zerbo. Histoire de l'Afrique Noire". P. 1972, pp. 419 - 421.

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kov, etc. As soon as they see a European or our soldier, they immediately hide in the mountains. " 15
In 1909, the colonialists, having prepared an impressive military force, launched an offensive. The National Archives of Mali contain documents that eloquently testify to the courageous resistance of the Dogon to the conquerors. Here is one of them: "In the name of the French people, we, Gabriel Bonnacier, Administrator of the Colonies, Commandant of Bandiagara District, in accordance with the law, order Major Cazaux, Commander of operations against the rebellious Habe people, to ensure the complete and final obedience of the Caza region." Pointing out further that this population has refused to submit to the French authorities for many years and has been attacking the punitive forces, the commandant demanded that the population of the villages of Antaga De and Antaga Lei surrender their weapons, pay a fine, pay off their tax arrears from previous years, and hand over 40 hostages 1b . Similar ultimatums were sent to residents of other villages. Soon, two months of military operations with the use of artillery began. The Dogons defended fiercely, suffering huge losses. The population left their homes and, taking their household goods, hid in mountain caves. The settlements captured by the colonialists were ruthlessly destroyed and. The French official reported that the Habe were being defeated and that the punishers would soon complete their task .18 In February 1910, most of the mountain villages were destroyed, and their inhabitants were forcibly relocated to the plain. The final" pacification " of the Dogon Country lasted for more than 10 years, until the last center of their resistance fell in 1922 - the village of Tabi, located in the inaccessible mountains .19
By the time of the colonial conquest, Dogon society was at the stage of disintegration of the tribal system. The population was divided into several socio-professional groups: priests-Hogons, farmers, artisans and slaves united in castes (the Dogons had debt slavery). The main unit of society remained a large patriarchal family, sometimes numbering up to 50 people, headed by the oldest man. Cultivated land was considered common property, and the harvest was shared among all family members. Now such families are no longer often found, and the land is divided between adult married sons for eternal use, without the right to sell it and rent it out, and redevelopments are made less and less often when the patriarch is replaced.

Here is a description of a modern family living in Borko, in the eastern part of Bandiagara District, and typical of the Dogon Country 20: it consists of a middle-aged man, three wives and eight children, occupying a 4-coal farmstead of about 80 square meters, fenced off by a stone embankment; three one-room huts with a flat roof are built of clay and the vestibule where the owner of the house rests and the whole family gathers; three tall narrow barns with a conical roof, covered with straw, store supplies of millet, sorghum, onions and tobacco; in the opposite corner of the yard there is a pen for sheep and goats. The inhabitants of the village of Borko (there are about 2500 of them) are divided into farmers (they are the majority, and their occupation is considered noble) and artisans-blacksmiths and tanners; artisans live in separate quarters and cannot marry farmers; apart from all there are several families of descendants of slaves who perform the dirtiest work for the rural society.

The Dogon Country has not had a central government for many centuries. The heads of large families formed a council of elders, who elected a priest whose authority was based on the moral and religious norms and customs of their ancestors. He lived in a sacred hut, and was only approached in extreme cases. There was also a high priest who represented the Sun and fire god, but without any prerogatives of power. Another part of the Dogon who converted to Islam lived according to the norms of Muslim law.

The main occupation of the population is agriculture.-

15 Archives Nationales du Mali (ANM). Revolte des Habbe. Correspondence et Rapports, 1906 - 1913, N 412 bis. This archive fund was partially used by D. N. Filipenko (D. N. Filipenko. Broken shackles. From the history of the anti-colonial struggle of the Malian people. Kyiv. 1974).

16 ANM, Requisition N 1, 6.XII.1909.

17 Ibid. Telegrammes et Corresppndances relatifs aux operations de police, N 29.

18 "Le Temps", 11.1.1910.

19 G. Brasseur. Les etablissements humains au Mali. Dakar. 1968, pp. 367 - 368.

20 S. A. Guindo. Monographie d'un village dogon: Borko. Bamako. 1975, p. 15.

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liye. The lack of fertile land has led to the use of the smallest piece of it. Everything that is not stone turns into a field, and the soil is often brought from afar. Allotments are so small that they rather resemble a garden bed. "We were standing by a field," said the first Soviet person to visit the dogons, " which was no longer than the span of a man's hands; the entire field was framed by a barrier of stones so that the ground would not be blown away during the rainy season."21 To increase the fertility of the soil, farmers apply organic fertilizers, build terraces, and carefully hoe each plant. They grow several types of African millet, sorghum, corn, rice, beans, peanuts and tobacco. Mango and papaya (melon tree) grow in low places. The economy is mostly natural in nature. The penetration of commodity-money relations has so far been expressed only in the expansion of onion crops for sale, and the Dogons have found an original way to preserve it: cut into narrow slices, it is dried, and then it is made into fragrant balls. These balls are highly prized in the Mopti and Bamako markets, the Upper Volta and the Ivory Coast 22 .

The arid climate forces farmers to take care of harvesting water. In the mountains, huge stone bowls are built, in which rain moisture accumulates. Rare villages with dams use irrigation. So, in the village of Borko, which was mentioned above, dams were built to provide residents with water all year round. Agricultural machinery is archaic. Two types of hoes are most widely used: bulu-for loosening the soil and weeding, kendyu - for digging holes in which grains are planted. The plow has not been used in mountainous terrain, and the hoe (in numerous variants) has so far proved to be the most suitable tool for local conditions .23 Mature ears of millet are cut with a sickle.

The spiritual culture of the Dogon is rich. The art of sculpting has gained worldwide fame, Dogon products adorn the best museums in the world. Experts note the direct influence of their sculptures on the work of such masters as Picasso, Modigliani, Giacometti and the German Expressionists .24 Dogon wooden figurines depicting figures of ancestors and various animals attract with their severity and expressiveness 25 . In architecture, the only building material used with skill is clay. The facades of the houses, like swallows ' nests, are decorated with niches of 4-angle shape, which are symbolic dwellings of the ancestors. Wooden doors, locks and chests are decorated with decorative carvings with figures of people, antelopes, birds, crocodiles, geometric ornaments. Jewelry is devoid of religious symbolism and carries only an aesthetic load 26 . A strong impression is made by Dogon masks, of which there are up to 80 varieties. Some of them (for example, the Great Whitefish Mask) can reach 9 m in height. The most common is the ka-naga mask, which is crowned with a double cross with the ends bent in opposite directions. According to one version, this mask embodies the idea of the origin of the Universe27, according to another-a mythical crocodile, a symbol of fertility 28. Dancing in masks is an indispensable part of all festivals and official ceremonies.

Dogon folklore is diverse. In myths, most often there are cosmogonic plots that tell about the deeds of the gods; they say a lot about the adventures of the "first people". Everyday life is less well reflected in myths. Soviet scientists did a great deal to give a scientific interpretation to local folklore, to purge it of the mysticism with which it was artificially saturated in the writings of bourgeois ethnographers .29
Complex phenomena are now taking place in the Dogon social life. IMU process-

21 "Around the world", 1362, N 7, p. 25.

22 J. C. Arnaud. Occupation du sol en pays dogon. "Melanges geographiques" (Abidjan), 1971, N2, p. 90.

23 D. A. Olderogge. Western Sudan in the XV-XIX centuries. M.-L. 1960, pp. 19-20.

24 J. Laude. African art of the Dogon. N. Y. 1973, p. 12.

25 See " Art of the peoples of Africa. Essays on artistic culture from antiquity to the present", Moscow, 1975.

26 F. N'Diaye. Contribution a l'etude de l'architecture du pays dogon. "Objets et Mondes", t. XII, 1972. N 3, pp. 269 - 287.

27 J. Maquet. Civilization of Sub-Saharan Africa, Moscow, 1974, p. 112.

28 P. Ahui. Reflexions sur des symboles d'art negre. "Bulletin de l'lnstitut d'enseignement superieur du Benin" (Lome), 1969, N 4, pp. 31 - 39.

29 See Folklore and Literature of the peoples of Africa. Collection of articles, Moscow, 1970; E. S. Kotlyar. Myth and Fairy Tale of Africa, Moscow, 1975.

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The social stratification among them is deepening, albeit at a slow pace, due to the relatively low level of productive forces, the underdevelopment of commodity-money relations, and the presence of many remnants of the ancestral era. The social stratification of Dogon society is poorly understood. Nevertheless, there is reason to speak of the emergence of a small commercial bourgeoisie among the Dogons, and in some villages - well-to-do peasants who benefit from the disintegration of the community. Priestly and Muslim clergy - the Hogons and Marabouts-continue to hold strong economic positions. Traditional relations are gradually giving way to class relations. At the same time, population growth leads to further fragmentation of land plots. Therefore, some young people are forced to go to the cities in search of earnings. Thus, there is a migration from mountain villages to the Gondo Valley. Urban life accelerates the decay of antiquity.

Signs of the new are visible in various spheres of social and spiritual life, in the very everyday life of the inhabitants of the " land of stones "(although Dogons still amaze with their exoticism)30 . You can see in many villages, along with traditional dwellings, more spacious rooms that house schools and medical centers. In some places, especially well-groomed crops stand out in the fields - experimental plots designed to bring farmers agronomic knowledge and teach them more rational methods of cultivating the land. Changes for the better are also noticeable in the field of culture. More and more children are going to school. In the lyceums and universities of Bamako, you can meet a lot of young Dogon boys.

Malian authorities see the Dogon Country as an area with great prospects for the development of international tourism. In this regard, it is planned to build an airfield in Mopti, improve the road network, and expand hotels. There are already a lot of foreign tourists here. The authorities encourage the development of both new and traditional forms of Dogon culture. Traditional art is continued and enriched by young artists. An exhibition of the famous artist L. Dolo was successfully held in Dakar in April 1975. Of the 50 works he exhibited, the painting "Yugo Village", depicting the colorful whitefish festival celebrated in the Dogon Country once every 60 years, attracted the most attention .31 The Dogons are proud to say that they were born to a specialist in cancer, S. Dolo, and a writer, J. Ouologem (author of the novel "In the Grip of Violence", which won one of the highest literary awards in France) .32
The Dogon are a hardworking and talented people. Like other citizens of the Republic of Mali, he works hard to build a better future.

30 See, for example, P. Maigne. Mon premier voyage au Mali. "Fraternite-Matin" (Abidjan), 13 - 14.IX.1975.

31 "Essor" (Bamako), 28.IV.1975.

32 Pravda, 22. III. 1974.

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