Men with tails, a West African mining legend

Near Dogbo, in southern Benin, the Gounoudoudji iron mine has a marked industrial feature. It is part of a gigantic steelworks complex that was apparently in operation until the early 16th century, and reminds us that iron production was intense in the region before the arrival of Europeans. A curious legend, still very much alive today, associates it with men with tails who are said to have exploited it and lived there. Their tails were such an embarrassment that they were even forced to dig a hole behind their stalls to hide them in the ground when they came to sell their produce on the market... Similar legends of men with tails can be found elsewhere in Africa and in Asia too. Ascribing a part of animality to those who lived at the edge of the known world or on the margins of society - like the metalworkers because of their disquieting skills - they are, above all, markers of the unknown and otherness. At Gounoudoudji, this legend of men with tails has guaranted the memory of the place passing on to the present day the memories and industrial practices of the miners and metallurgists who worked there some 500 years ago. Read more on the subject and download it from the Publications page of this website: Sur la piste des hommes à queue. Ce que nous dit une légende minière ouest-africaine, published in Subterranea n° 195 (2024).

The hole of the men with tails

On the surface

Radiant galleries

Industrial exploitation

Pillars

Small gallery