1979.20.106

Collection type

Object

Description

Brass bracelet, worn around the wrist by married men and women, decorated with parallel grooves [SM 15/05/2007].

Long description

Penannular bracelet made of a narrow piece of brass, rectangular in section, that has been bent into an oval loop with open ends, 14 mm apart. This is flat on both inner and outer faces. The inner face was originally decorated with at least three parallel grooves around the circumference, probably of an original four grooves, but these have largely been worn away - confirming the collector's comments that the particular example was said to have been over three generations old. The outer face is also decorated with four parallel grooves; these have also been worn smooth in some areas. Complete and intact; the surface is cracked down the outer face, and there are several patches of discolouration over the surface, although elsewhere the metal is still strongly brass coloured (Pantone 871C). Length across bracelet exterior 67.4 mm, length across bracelet interior 61 mm, width across bracelet 58.3 mm, thickness of metal 1.5 mm, height 22 mm and weight 95.7 grams [RTS 22/3/2004].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Northern Bahr el Ghazal Dhangrial Wun Rog Mayen

Cultural groups

Dinka Tuich

Jur Luo

Person

Field collector Patti Langton

PRM source Patti Langton

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1979

Date collected

25 February 1979

Acquisition information

Purchased: 1979

Materials and processes

Material Brass Metal, Process Incised, Process Polished, Process Decorated

Dimensions

Length 67.4 mm, Width 58.3 mm, Height 22 mm, Weight 95.7 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1979.20.106 Other numbers: Langton Collection 268

Research and responses

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 [RTS 9/8/2004].

The term malang does not appear in Nebel’s Dinka-English dictionary, which gives the term for a brass bracelet as kièr, gur (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English, English-Dinka Dictionary p. 113). Is malang a Jur word? [RTS 9/11/2004].

Search terms: Ornament, Status, Arm Ornament