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

Collection type: Object
Description: Carved arrow with incised and notched ebony point on a cane shaft with blackened decoration and bound and nocked 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 third of this has been covered with shallow incised crosshatching, over which 6 groups of deeper incised lines have been cut in pairs running down the length, which each pair at right angles to those above and below it. There are clear shaving marks down the rest of the body, the base of which has been fitted into the socketed top of a cane shaft with a slightly oval sectioned body made up of 4 segments along its length. The shaft has been stained an orange brown colour (Pantone 7516C). The junction of tang and shaft is obscured by binding, made from a narrow strip of animal hide that was designed to prevent the wood splitting on impact. There is similar binding around the shaft just above its nocked butt, which has 2 deep rectangular notches cut into either side. The shaft has been decorated just above the lower binding with 2 bands, either incised and filled with black pigment or burnt into the surface. Each band has a line line around the shaft at top and base, and is vertically divided by what appear to be broader stripes, but closer examination shows that these are columns of either herringbone or chevron decoration, with the lines having largely merged with one another. The arrow is complete, but the lower binding was loose and has now been fixed, while the shaft has split along its length just below the point, and midway down the body. It has a weight of 44.6 grams and a total length of 1076 mm. The visible area of the arrowhead has a length of 491 mm and a diameter of 9.2 mm, while the wooden shaft is 585 mm long, with a diameter of 9.3 by 8.7 mm and a nock length of 13 mm; the binding is 30 mm long around the upper part, and 10 mm long around the lower end [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 Decorated, Process Pyroengraved Pokerwork, Process Incised
Dimensions: Diameter: max 9.3 mm shaft, Diameter: max 9.2 mm arrowhead, Length: max 491 mm arrowhead, Length: max 585 mm shaft, Length: max 1076 mm, Weight 44.6 g
Object numbers: Accession number: 1944.10.60
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