Große Grabstele aloala der Mahafaly.
Tall Mahafaly, Madagascar, grave post aloala, placed on a high base with a standing female figure at the bottom, surmounted by various carved geometric elements, the top crowned by a pair of seated birds; relics of white pigment, various heavy damages due to long standing in open air. The use of wooden sculptures known as aloala ( shadow of death ) to honour the dead is found only among the southern and western groups of Madagascar; the equally known figurative erotic grave monuments are used only by the Sakalava in the north.
