Carved arrow with notched ebony point on a damaged, decorated cane shaft with bound and nocked end [RTS 26/5/2005].

Collection type: Object
Description: Carved arrow with notched ebony point on a damaged, decorated cane shaft with bound and nocked end [RTS 26/5/2005].
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 to its base. The upper body below the tip has been decorated with 8 deep-cut notches that alternate down either side, making a total of 4 notches on each face. The surface has been well finished and is very smooth. The base of the arrowhead was originally fitted into the hollowed out top of a cane shaft, at the point where the body began to narrow again, but the arrowhead has been forced further into the shaft through use, splitting the cane body; there was therefore originally more of the point exposed than is currently the case. This junction of tang and shaft would normally be bound with strips of hide, designed to prevent this kind of damage, but the binding has been lost. The shaft itself is made from a length of cane with 5 segments preserved along its length, in a yellowish brown colour (Pantone 729C). The lower part of the body has been decorated with what may be an owner's mark, consisting of a single incised zigzag on one side, and a double zigzag on the other, both coloured with reddish brown pigment (Pantone 4695C). The base of the shaft has been bound round with a hide strip, stained a similar reddish brown colour, perhaps from the use of a fixative; below, the butt is nocked with 2 rectangular notches cut into either side. The arrow is nearly complete, but lacks the binding that was usually be present around the upper shaft; the shaft has also split very badly at this point, and also on the lower body. It has a weight of 51.6 grams and a total length of 1220 mm. The visible area of the arrowhead has a length of 465 mm, but its tang extends for at least a further 80 mm into the body of the shaft, with a diameter of 8.5 by 8 mm, while the wooden shaft is 755 mm long, with a diameter of 9.5 by 8.2 mm and a nock length of 15 mm; the binding around the lower end is 24 mm long and 2 mm wide [RTS 27/5/2005].
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, Material Pigment, Process Carved, Process Notched, Process Socketed, Process Bound, Process Decorated, Process Incised
Dimensions: Length: max 755 mm shaft, Diameter: max 8.5 mm arrowhead, Length: max 1220 mm, Length: max 465 mm arrowhead, Diameter: max 9.5 mm shaft, Weight 51.6 g
Object numbers: Accession number: 1944.10.72
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); for additional Burun arrows, see 1944.10.34-71 [RTS 26/5/2005].

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