The sandstone cliff in Bandigara Escarpment rises about 500 meters high and has a length of approximately 150 kilometers. The area of the escarpment is inhabited today by the Dogon people, but small houses attached to the cliff face were built by the Tellem people, who were pygmies or "small red people". Tellem people dissapeared for unknown reason before the area was discovered by Europeans. Dogons describe the Tellem as possessing the power of flight.