The funerary steles, placed over the tombs of persons who had lived into extreme old age, are made of flat stone, and have two main features. Some have a rectangular base, the upper part of which has distinctive carved geometrical forms. Others are rendered in more human contours, and the upper outline has the round shape of a head. The lower part is decorated with incisions, sometimes representing folded arms in a lozenge shape. These stones are of very varied size, and some can measure more than a metre.
Fertility cult statues evoque a human silhouette with carved forms for head, arms, stomach and legs.
Hence the discovery of a number of burial grounds under the mounds of soil in which the steles were anchored. Once looted, it is impossible to localise the burial grounds, and to re-establish the relationship between stolen objects and buried archaeological materials. A significant portion of the information relating to the funerary practices of the population has hence been lost. The thefts of fertility cult statues which took place between 1990 and 1994 in Oure and Taga were dramatic for the local population, who considered them a living part of their cultural heritage. These stone sculptures are extensively and illegally sold in neighbouring countries, as the looters have taken full advantage of the absence of regional agreements.