FEATURE 92 FIG. 4: CT scans of figure 1, opaque 3D views taken from above. Left: complete view. Right: view with a horizontal section through the heel, showing that the restoration is genuine. © Dr. Marc Ghysels, Brussels. thus further this research into a little-known civilization. We are trying to open up leads and also, in many cases, to challenge or refute assertions we feel are mistaken, for example, that the terracottas from the IND were used in funerary practices and rituals or were directly involved in the manner in which the bodies of the dead were treated.19 In the current climate of extreme circumspection, dimensions like these make the objects even more taboo and inappropriate for dispassionate academic research. An Enigmatic Female Figure The starting point in our study was a terracotta figure from the Pierre Harter20 Collection that is now held by the Musée du Quai Branly (hereafter MQB), where it is recorded as an archaeological object: a female statue from the IND region,21 dated between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, use unknown (fig. 1). The raw data from the CT scan made in November 2012 were sent to us in December the same year by the MQB22 so we could interpret them and detect any signs of restoration.23 The radiological analysis revealed a statue with a hollow head and torso, hand-built from coils of homogeneous clay. The bust cavity is pearshaped with superficial yet clear signs of scraping on the smooth inside walls, while the marks left by the artist’s fingers in the wet clay can still be seen inside the head (fig. 3).24 The ear holes and nostrils, now partially filled with soil sediment, were probably used to evacuate gases during firing. Slight damage to the inside of the right upper eyelid and the right eyeball has been repaired. The ankle lying against the right side of the body has been simply glued back into place, but the spatial, densitometric, and structural match between the parts confirms a legitimate repair (fig. 4). While examining this object, we consulted records of tomodensitometric analyses25 we had previously made on more than 200 terracotta figures produced in the IND region in Mali between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries and now in museums and private collections. As well as being scanned, most of these pieces had also been tested by thermoluminescence (TL) to determine the date of the last firing (see sidebar by Olivier Langevin, p. 102). Despite erroneous claims to the contrary,26 CT scanning is not a dating technique. The damage to the right eye of the MQB statue was probably caused by a probe—a pointed metal tool used by excavators to search for artifacts buried in the ground (fig. 6). This type of damage is commonly found FIG. 5 (top right): CT scans of figure 1. Left: transparent 3D view with the terracotta highlighted in blue and the cavity in purple. Right: maximum intensity projection (MIP) in which the black flecks correspond to metal oxide inclusions in the terracotta. © Dr. Marc Ghysels, Brussels. FIG. 6 (bottom right): CT scans of figure 1. Semiopaque lateral and oblique 3D views that reveal restoration around the right eye (in blue). © Dr. Marc Ghysels, Brussels.
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