This elaborate woolen head shawl is a type worn for weddings. The lower part is decorated in the plangi tie-dye technique, in which the circle motif is created by binding a seed into the textile before dying. Berber women wove and dyed the textiles themselves and then commissioned the colorful embroidery from female or male specialists (possibly of Jewish origin) in urban centers. North African woolen weaves were very much sought after in West Africa, and Portuguese merchants traded along the coast for local produce in the sixteenth century. Prior to the establishment of coastal trade, woolen textiles from the northern part of the continent likely would have been brought south on trans-Saharan caravan routes. Comparable embroidery styles have also been found along the southern fringe of the Sahara.