The Dogon are modern day Afrikan people who live at the border that is between Mali and Burkina Faso, alongside the cliffs of the Bandiagara escarpment, south of the Sahara desert, near Timbuktu and not far distant from the Niger River in Mali West Afrika. They moved to their current location during the 14th or 15th century from a prior home along the Niger River as stated as a way of avoiding conversion to Islam. The Dogon are farmers who demonstrate a facile understanding of agriculture, which is a key life skill that forms the very foundation of their economy. This knowledge is evidenced in their many different methods of soil cultivation and in their careful plantings, many of which are commonly found in the difficult rocky settings dictated by their location along the steep cliffs of the Bandiagara escarpment in Mali.

To bring these agriculture plots closer to the limited water supplies afforded by their desert environment, the Dogon commonly build man made terraces that is supported by low stone walls. They have learned to cultivate a variety of grains, such as millet, sorghum and rice and also to grow onions, tomatoes, red peppers and tobacco. Like many other Afrikan cultures, the Dogon especially are very well known to historians as keen observers of the sky. They have named and tracked the movements of many of the stars, planets and other bodies of the heavens, and they time their annual plantings and harvestings to the rising and setting of key star groups.

Much of these astronomical events regulate the Dogon agricultural cycle, in fact the agricultural cycle can be seen to govern the Dogon calendar, which begins midway through October, with the millet harvest. They have evolved a highly developed arboriculture by which they cultivate a variety of trees and shrubberies. These provide much of the food they eat and many of the building materials that have become essential for Dogon life. In addition, they have also developed a detailed system of zoology with careful categorisation of many of the families and orders of plants and animals with which the Dogon come into contact. This facility with zoology is consonant with their skill as sophisticated herders.

They have also attained a broad understanding of other scientific fields such as geology and metallurgy. They have acquired a fine reputation as skilled metal workers who produce many of the iron tools required to support their own agriculture. They are also accomplished woodcarvers and artisans, whose masks, carved granary doors and wooden gate locks have come to be coveted as precious objects of art.