Antique Copper Necklace – Fon – Benin

Twisted copper wires, prestige elements grams 80,8 (2.85 oz.). Diameter approx. cm. 13,0 (5.12″);

The Fon people are the largest ethnic group in Benin found particularly in its south region; they are also found in southwest Nigeria and Togo.

The history of the Fon people is linked to the Dahomey kingdom, a well-organized kingdom by the 17th century but one that shared more ancient roots with the Aja people. The Fon people traditionally were a culture of an oral tradition and had a well-developed polytheistic religious system. They were noted by early 19th-century European traders for their N’Nonmiton practice or Dahomey Amazons – which empowered their women to serve in the military, who decades later fought the French colonial forces in 1890.

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