A Hamar woman at the weekly market at Turmi, where locals purchase items such as gourds for carrying milk; goats; goatskin and jewelry. Her clothes are made of goatskin decorated with Cowry shells, a sea snail that symbolises womanhood, fertility, birth and wealth. The bracelets and cowry shells are also used as instruments to jingle during ceremonies and rituals. One of the reasons Hamar women are so photogenic is the glistening ochre and mud make-up they apply to their face, hair and body, creating wonderful shade of burnt orange and copper. A mixture of red ochre and cow fat is rubbed into their hair, which is carefully braided from the crown to the ends creating crimson-colored dreadlocks called goscha. Red ochre has a strong religious significance, linked to notions such as blood, vitality, fertility and power.