African masks are made from different materials: wood, bronze, brass, copper, ivory, terracotta and glazed pottery, raffia and textiles. They are often decorated with cowrie shells, colored beads, bone, animal skins and vegetable fibre. The majority ofmasks and sculptures, however, are made of wood for two reasons, It is believed that the earliest masks were used in Africa before Paleolithic era. They represent spirits of animals or ancestors, mythological heroes, moral values or a form of honoring of a person in a symbolic way. They are made from wood, pottery, textiles, copper and bronze.