The Koutammakou landscape is home to the Batammariba (or Tammari people, also known as Somba) whose remarkable mud tower-houses (takienta) have come to be seen as a symbol of Togo. In this landscape, nature is strongly associated with the rituals and beliefs of society. Many of the buildings are two storeys high and those with granaries feature an almost spherical form above a cylindrical base. Some of the buildings have flat roofs, others have conical thatched roofs. They are grouped in villages, which also include ceremonial spaces, springs, rocks and sites reserved for initiation ceremonies. Koutammakou is the name of a large semi-mountainous region located in north-eastern Togo and which extends into neighbouring Benin.
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