The entrances to all Akha villages are fitted with a wooden gate adorned with elaborate carvings on both sides depicting imagery of men and women. This feature is known as a 'spirit gate'. It marks the division between the inside of the village, the domain of man and domesticated animals, and the outside, the realm of spirits and wildlife. The gates function to ward off evil spirits and to entice favorable ones. The carvings can be seen on the roofs of the villager’s houses as a second measure against the control of the flow of spirit.