Often referred to as looms, these are actually loom beaters. West African strip looms vary greatly in how the long warp threads are set up and held in tension. Heddles pull out selected alternating warp threads between each pass of the shuttle carrying the weft threads back and forth ( Most looms are single or double heddle looms.) Loom beaters, with numerous flat wood dividers, are threaded with the warp threads when the loom is set up and compact the weft threads after each pass.
Sculpturally, the loom beaters, heddle pulleys and shuttles are the most interesting parts of a very complex weaving loom.
