The Dogon people in western Africa store grain and other food and personal items in quadrangular clay granaries. In order to safeguard their contents from pests and rodents, these granaries are elevated from the ground and their openings placed high in the walls, accessible via Y-shaped wooden ladders. The openings are closed with carved wooden doors, often depicting ancestral beings, which physically and symbolically protect the granaries’ contents from harm. This door, which was repaired in the past after it split, has a particularly weathered surface. The door probably fell out of use owing to the extensive damage caused by insects.