Art Institute of Chicago unveils key findings in African art thanks to medical technology
(PHYSorg.com Archaeology & Fossils)

On February 16, the Art Institute of Chicago announced the results of significant new research on five terracotta sculptures-so named Bankoni after a village in present-day Mali where they were found. The objects date from between the 12th and 15th centuries. This places them `among the oldest surviving sculptures from sub-Saharan Africa and among the oldest works of African art in the Art Institute`s collection beyond Egypt,` according to Constantine Petridis, Chair of the Arts of the Americas and Africa and Curator of African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago.