The Tellem (meaning: "those who were before us" or "We found them" in the Dogon language) were the people who inhabited the Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali between the 11th and 16th centuries CE. The Dogon people migrated to the escarpment region around the 14th century. In the rock cells of this red cliff, clay constructions shelter the bones of the Tellem as well as vestiges witnessing to their civilization, which existed well before that of the Dogons.