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1979.20.21

Triangular iron arrowhead with long tang, set in a wooden shaft with bound and nocked end [RTS 3/6/2005].

1979.20.21

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Collection type
Object
Description
Triangular iron arrowhead with long tang, set in a wooden shaft with bound and nocked end [RTS 3/6/2005].
Long description
Arrow consisting of an iron arrowhead with short triangular blade with barbed shoulders on a long square sectioned tang that narrows slightly to its base. This has been fitted into the socketed top of a long shaft, carved from a soft, lightweight yellow coloured wood with circular section (Pantone 7508C), and a slightly irregular surface that has been stripped of its bark. The junction of tang and shaft has been bound round with strips of plant fibre, with additional binding just above the butt, which has been nocked with 2 rectangular notches cut into opposite sides. In both areas, the binding appears to have been smeared with a reddish material, possibly some kind of fixative (Pantone 4705C). The inside edges of the nock have been burnt, perhaps indicating that the cut was made using a heated tool. The arrow is nearly complete, but has lost one of the barbs on the arrowhead blade. It has a weight of 59.9 grams and a total length of 765 mm. The visible area of the arrowhead has a length of 155 mm in total, including a blade length of 40 mm, width of 18 and maximum thickness of 3 mm, with the tang being 6 by 6 mm wide; the wooden shaft is 610 mm long, with a diameter of 10 mm and a nock length of 13 mm; the binding is 54 mm long around the upper part, and 27 mm long around the lower end [RTS 3/6/2005].
Geographical reference
South Sudan
Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan
Western Equatoria Lui Lanyi
Cultural groups
Moru Misa
Person
Field collector Patti Langton
PRM source Patti Langton
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1979
Date collected
5 February 1979
Acquisition information
Purchased: 1979
Materials and processes
Material Iron Metal, Material Wood Plant, Material Plant Fibre, Material Resin Plant, Material Pigment, Process Forged (Metal), Process Hammered, Process Carved, Process Socketed, Process Notched, Process Bound
Dimensions
Length: max 765 mm, Length 155 mm arrowhead, Length 40 mm blade, Width 18 mm arrowhead, Length 610 mm shaft, Diameter 10 mm shaft, Weight 59.9 g
Object numbers
Accession number: 1979.20.21 Other numbers: Langton Collection 64

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