African dance rattles and plaiting polyhedra: a journey (Q897018)

Dancers from various cultures of sub-Saharan Africa wear rattles composed of chains of capsules, each capsule made by weaving a strip of palm leaf. Depending on the particular culture, the capsules are polyhedra with 6, 8, 9, 10, or 12 faces. The present article discusses these polyhedra and their corresponding knot diagrams. It also provides many color illustrations (18 photographs and 14 drawings) to aid with visualization.