asonably infer from his other
statements that here in the Ilife, as in the Benin region, granite,
quartz and hard stone materials are in their natural state very, very
limited, if not altogether absent. Like Benin, Ilife is in the Niger
delta region, and, as Frobenius points, is of rather a swampy
character. It is a geological fact that hard stone in any quantity is
seldom to be found in such regions. In addition to this, Frobenius, as
was pointed out above, states that the foundations of the ancient
buildings are of burnt brick rather than sun-dried brick or stone. It
is very reasonable to suppose that hard stone, had it been in any way
common to this area, would certainly have been used for building
operations. One seems more or less justified in concluding, then, that
the materials out of which the above-described objects were made were
not of local origin. This circumstance is very important, for it seems
to indicate that either these materials were imported from a distance
and fashioned on the spot or else they were imported already in their
finished form. If the first view be accepted, it would seem in a
measure to account, on the one hand, for the obvious lack of skill on
the part of the African artist as expressed in the archaic human and
animal forms; but, on the other hand, it would, as is seen in the case
of the "stools" mentioned above, seem to indicate a rather remarkable
liberty and grace on the part of the Negro artist, implying his
ability to become a master even when working with a comparatively
unfamiliar material. For as Frobenius says, "the dexterity acquired in
treating quartz and granite is very considerable. There is a quantity
of eminently beautiful examples of such skill in this country."[27]

If we accept the latter view, namely, that the objects were imported
ready made, it would seem to indicate that there must have been a
rather extensive trade with some other Negro folk having a rather
advanced form of culture, for it is obviously apparent from the
distinctively Negro features of the statuettes and the undoubted Negro
influence as expressed in the style of the "stools" that these objects
must have been the products of a Negro people. A slight hint for such
an origin may be gleaned from the finding by Frobenius of the handle
of an antique cup, of which he testifies that the carved figure
thereon resembles very much the effigy of the Ethiopian or Nubian god
Bes,[28] and which, according to Bu