1944.10.52

Collection type

Object

Description

Carved arrow with short notched ebony point on a cane shaft with nocked and bound end [RTS 5/7/2005].

Long description

Arrow consisting of a dark brown ebony arrowhead (Pantone black 4C), with a narrow, elongated body that tapers out slightly along its length before narrowing again at its base. The upper body below the tip has been decorated with a column of 4 obliquely cut notches down either side, arranged as pairs; the body is slightly waisted below the last pair, as if a further pair was intended, but not completed and then polished smooth. The rest of the body has also been smoothed, but there are faint shaving marks down the lower part. At its base, the tang has been fitted into the hollowed out top of an orangey yellow oval sectioned cane shaft (Pantone 729C), with 6 segments along its body. The top of the shaft has been shaved down, and the surface is a paler yellow where it would have been originally covered by binding strips; these are now missing. The lower binding is however in place, and consists of a narrow strip of very fine grayish brown hide (Pantone 7531C), wrapped around the body above the nocked butt, which has 2 deep rectangular notches cut into opposite sides. The arrow is nearly complete; the lower end of the surviving binding is loose, while the tip of the arrowhead has broken off and is missing. It has a weight of 34.6 grams and a total length of 1063 mm. The arrowhead has a length of 205 mm and a diameter of 9.3 mm, while the wooden shaft is 858 mm long, with a diameter of 9.3 by 8.5 mm, a nock length of 10 mm and lower binding 17 mm long [RTS 5/7/2005].

Geographical reference

Sudan, Republic of

Africa > Northern Africa > Sudan, Republic of

Blue Nile Darfung

Cultural groups

Burun

Person

Field collector L. Gorringe

PRM source Mrs L. Gorringe

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1912

Date collected

1902 - 1912

Acquisition information

Donated: 1944

Materials and processes

Material Cane Plant, Material Ebony Wood Plant, Material Animal Hide Skin, Process Carved, Process Notched, Process Socketed, Process Bound, Process Incised, Process Decorated

Dimensions

Diameter: max 9.3 mm shaft, Diameter: max 9 mm arrowhead, Length: max 1063 mm, Length: max 205 mm arrowhead, Length: max 858 mm shaft, Weight 34.6 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1944.10.52

Research and responses

Dar Fung seems to be the same as Darfung, in the Roseires Dam region of the Blue Nile administrative district (see http://www.calle.com/world/sudan/Da.html). The binding material appears to be animal hide, rather than membrane [RTS 26/5/2005].

Search terms: Archery Weapon, Hunting, Arrow, Arrow-head, Arrow Shaft, Weapon