Cornrows
Small braids woven flat against the scalp in straight or curved rows, a style of African origin.
Also: canerows, Ghana braids
Cornrows are narrow braids made close to the scalp in continuous rows, each picking up hair as it goes, with the underhand stitch of the Dutch braid. The rows can run straight back or form curves, spirals and patterns. The style comes from Africa, where its patterns have marked region, age, status and occasion for many centuries, and it travelled with the African diaspora. In the Caribbean they are called canerows. Thicker, larger versions are often called Ghana braids.