FEATURE on terracottas unearthed from illicit excavations rather than those supervised by archaeologists. From the angle of the probe and the location of the damage, it can be deduced that the sculpture was buried in a natural upright 94 position. The radiological examination revealed no other anomaly, but it did disclose detailed information on many aspects that we shall now review. These interpretations are partly informed by our reading of various accounts of the Mande “Epic of Sunjata” as transcribed from oral sources27 and discussed in historical or anthropological publications. Taken from above with no perspective, the 3D views offer a clear picture of the almost physiologically impossible position of the figure’s head, which is turned more than ninety degrees to the left. The scan confirms that it is the original head and the lack of any break in the neck also indicates that it is in the position originally intended. Possible reasons for the artist’s deliberate choice to put the chin out of alignment with the shoulders will be discussed below, but it should be noted that an excessive rotation of the neck is not unknown in the corpus of IND statues. A diseased maternity figure (fig. 7) is a case in point. This kneeling mother and her child are suffering from a pustular disease, perhaps smallpox. The mother is not only twisting her head over her shoulder, possibly turning away, but she is also holding her right forearm behind her back, perhaps demonstrating that there is no longer FIG. 8 (above): CT scans of figure 7, opaque 3D views taken obliquely from the back and front. © Dr. Marc Ghysels, Brussels. FIG. 7 (above left): Diseased maternity figure. IND region, Mali. 13th–17th century. Terracotta with ochre/red slip. H: 26.5 cm. Private collection, Liège. © Dr. Marc Ghysels, Brussels. Photo: Frédéric Dehaen, Roger Asselberghs Studio, Brussels. FIG. 9: CT scans of figure 1, opaque 3D views taken obliquely front left and front right. © Dr. Marc Ghysels, Brussels.
T75E_web
To see the actual publication please follow the link above