Mandingo Shield

[Conogre]

Duh!!!!
I'm truly sorry....no, the entire shield is carved from hardwood, with the handle integral to the body, meaning that it was all carved in one piece.
That figure with the rifle is rather obvious, eh?
That definitely dates the piece as post European contact no matter how you look at it! **grin**
I suspect that it's early 20th century, possibly late 19th as wood tends to survive longer in arrid and semi-arid regions.
In all seriousness, the fact that it escaped the cooking fires would seem to indicate that it was taken quite some time ago.
Likewise, many such items were buried with the owner as they were percieved as being needed in the afterlife.
In connection with another recent thread on iron, I was also surprised to find that many items, such as spears and axes WEREN'T buried in parts of Africa as it was sometimes felt that the weapon heads, by not disintegrating, such as wood and leather would do, might tie the spirit here and anger them, with no-one wanting an angry ancestor spirit hovering around the vicinity, thus possibly becomming vindictive.
Mike