1979.20.95

Collection type

Object

Description

Fishing spear with narrow socketed iron spear-head with twisted and barbed body; of Arab manufacture [RTS 13/7/2005].

Long description

Fishing spear consisting of an iron spear-head with sharp, narrow point, tapering out to a thin body with twisted upper part, a short, undecorated segment with round section, then a rectangular area with a series of short, downwards pointing barbs chiselled out from each of the four edges. A shallow line has been incised around the circumference below, then the lower third of the spear-head consists of a cylindrical socket that gradually expands towards its base, with an open seam running up part of the front. Tool marks are visible over much of the surface, which is a metallic gray colour (Pantone 877C). This has been fitted onto the top of a long but lightweight wooden shaft with slightly irregular surface, with a yellow coloured surface (Pantone 7509C) that has been polished. This tapers slightly to a slightly rounded butt. The spear is complete; there is some rust on the spear-head, and some scorch marks on the shaft where subsidiary branches have been burnt away. It has a weight of 163.7 grams and a total length of 1628 mm. The spear-head is 293 mm long, with a diameter of 5.5 mm around the twisted area, and 13.5 mm around the base, while the shaft has a diameter of 13.5 by 11.5 mm around its upper part, and 7.7 mm at its lower end [RTS 13/7/2005].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Northern Bahr el Ghazal Dhangrial Wun Rog Mayen

Cultural groups

Dinka Tuich

Arab

Person

Field collector Patti Langton

PRM source Patti Langton

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1979

Date collected

20 February 1979

Acquisition information

Purchased: 1979

Materials and processes

Material Iron Metal, Material Wood Plant, Process Forged (Metal), Process Hammered, Process Socketed, Process Twisted, Process Carved, Process Polished

Dimensions

Length: max 1628 mm, Length: max 293 mm spearhead, Diameter: max 13.5 mm, Weight 163.7 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1979.20.95 Other numbers: Langton Collection 226

Research and responses

For an essay on the variety and cultural significance of spears in South Sudan, particularly among the Dinka and Nuer, see ‘“Spears” that are not Spears’, by Jok Madut Jok, in Pieces of a Nation: South Sudanese Heritage and Museum Collections, edited by Zoe Cormack and Cherry Leonardi (Leiden: Sidestone Press, 2021), pp. 110–114.

At the time this object was collected, the Bahr el Ghazal province was bordered by the Upper Nile Province to the east and Western Equatoria to the south; this area is now divided into the districts of Western Bahr el Ghazal, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and parts of Warab and El Buheyrat. Dhangrial, Wun Rog and Mayen lie within Northern Bahr el Ghazal. For a map showing the distribution of Dinka Tuich groups, see J. Ryle, 1982, Warriors of the White Nile: The Dinka, p. 25.

Nebel defines the term bith as ‘fishing spear’ (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 16), lal as ‘spear without barbs’ (p. 47); anerich does not appear in his dictionary. The use of the term ‘lal’ here seems odd, as the spear concerned is barbed .

For photographs of the Dinka using fishing spears, see J. Ryle, 1982, Warriors of the White Nile: The Dinka, pp 106-109; for a variant type of Dinka fishing spear, see 1979.20.109. Domville Fife describes the use of this type of fishing spear by the Dinka: "He uses, for fishing, a javelin attached to the arm by a long string. When the bubbles of a large fish are seen on the surface, this sharp little saw-edged weapon is thrown with wonderful dexterity and force. The impaled fish is hauled out of the water by the attached thin but strong line" (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, p. 129) [RTS 16/8/2005].

Search terms: Fishing, Tool, Weapon, Fishing Accessory, Spear, Spear-head