Fractals in African architecture

An intriguing post from Ethan Zuckerman on how African architecture and craft seems to have fractal geometry, yet these patterns aren't present in Pacific or native American cultures.

Ron Eglash, whose study it is, an ethnomathematician. What's ethnomathematics?

"The term was coined by Ubiratan D'Ambrosio to describe the mathematical practices of identifiable cultural groups. It is sometimes used specifically for small-scale indigenous societies, but in its broadest sense the "ethno" prefix can refer to any group -- national societies, labor communities, religious traditions, professional classes, and so on. Mathematical practices include symbolic systems, spatial designs, practical construction techniques, calculation methods, measurement in time and space, specific ways of reasoning and inferring, and other cognitive and material activities which can be translated to formal mathematical representation. The ISGEm strives to increase our understanding of the cultural diversity of mathematical practices, and to apply this knowledge to education and development."

I think this requires further reading (here maybe).