Revealing the secrets of ancient Africa: 1,400-year-old clay models of 'healing' chameleons and two-headed humans are displayed

Clay figurines made by people living in Ghana 1,400-years ago, have gone on show in Britain for the first time, The Daily Mail reports.

The figurines, which include two-headed humans, a chameleon, crocodile and man on horseback, are thought to have been used to invoke the help of ancestors to cure illnesses, archaeologists said.

The clay models measure up to 31cm in height and show the costumes and weapons worn and used by the people living in Ghana at the time.

The precious clay figurines were excavated by archaeologists from the universities of Ghana and Manchester and the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB).

They have just gone on show at the Manchester Museum - the first time they will be seen publicly outside Ghana.

The team of experts believe the figurines were used to invoke the help of ancestors to cure illnesses.

Using computed tomography scanning techniques at the University of Manchester, the experts revealed hidden channels within the objects.

They believe these channels had a medicinal function and were used for liquid ritual offerings.

Professor Insoll from the University of Manchester, told MailOnline: 'The figurines seem to have been offered libations - perhaps of blood or beer - and perhaps had sacrifices made to them.

'They might have been used to make herbal medicines more powerful, which might then have been drunk or applied to the body. It is still relatively early in the research so we cannot say for certain.

The figurines show people with congenital conditions including anencephaly (the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull and scalp that occurs during embryonic development,) which still affects children in Africa today - while others show clothes and symbolic animals that had symbolic roles.

Some figurines in the collection were also possibly ‘scapegoats’ and were intended as the focus or recipient of disease and misfortune rather than their human keepers.

The figures have been dated to between the 6th and the 14th centuries.

'The representations of the people in the figurines suggests that both men and women used them - but not children perhaps - as they are very rarely represented and might not have had the ritual status and maturity to use them,' Professor Insoll told MailOnline.