Turkana Design: A Roomance with Conic Sections

The Turkana people are camelcattle and goat people living in North Westen Kanya. They are belived to be connected to the Karamojong Cluster of ethnic communities.  Most of the Turkana's material culture is based on and or decorated with hyberboloiids in one and two sheets and with hyperbolic parabolioids, all in 2 or three dimensions. . Having studied this material culture for several decades, the author describes it and her efforts to find meanings and Turkana understandig of why they make everything from conic sections including non functional surface decoration.  A small sample of baffled Turkanas have pointed our that they never noticed the phenomenon until it was pointed out to them.  A great deal of research remains to be cone on the subject.