Bura is a region in Niger located along the Niger River, bordering Mali, where a local archaeology team has organized excavations since 1971. A hunter’s chance discovery in 1975 of two terracotta heads led the archaeology team from Niger’s University of Niamey to conduct further archaeological research; in 1983 they uncovered a necropolis at Bura-Asinda-Sikka with more than six hundred overturned ceramic urns dating from 300 to 1700. Some of the urns contained human remains, while others had remains buried underneath. Bura vessels are generally ovoid and tubular in shape, and some are surmounted by figures or heads. In some examples, like this one, the head is angled skyward.