The focus of Bernard de Grunne's volume Djenné-Jeno (old Djenné) is on figurative sculptures and other objects found within the general boundaries of Mali's great Inland Delta of the Niger, an inundation zone the size of the state of Maine. Over the past several decades, this area yielded an impressive array of archeological objects. Foremost among these are magnificent terracotta statues, for the most part anthropomorphic (animals like horses, rams, buffalos, lizards, and snakes are also depicted), produced over a period of a thousand years. Created by Soninke peoples between approximately ce 700 and 1700, they constitute a corpus of exceptional ancient art whose complex meanings and purposes may always remain somewhat enigmatic.
A historian of African art, de Grunne has intensely studied the archeological finds from this region for several decades and published important findings. Here his focus is primarily on ancient terracotta statuary, but he also examines wooden...