1979.20.135

Collection type

Object

Description

Reddish brown pottery jar with narrow neck, globular body and convex base, decorated with rouletted lines on upper body and rim [RTS 3/12/2004].

Long description

Pottery jar hand made from a moderately well levigated clay, fired reddish brown (Pantone 7526C) with some mottled patches of black across the outer surfaces. This has an upright, irregularly circular rim with convex lip sloping down to the mouth inside, and a narrow flat edge that slopes down on the exterior. This edge and the surface immediately below have been roughened using a roulette to impress a series of oblique marks, creating a textured collar to the outer lip. There is a short neck below with concave sides flaring out slightly to join a globular body with convex sides and base. The shoulder area has been decorated using the same tool to impress a series of bands, each composed of short parallel oblique lines. This tool may have been something like a piece of grass rope or plaiting. The design is composed of groups of 3 horizontal bands acting as frames just below the neck, and just above the maximum width of the vessel, with a series of vertical bands arranged in groups between. These vertical groups consist of between 8 and 14 lines each; the lines are not regularly spaced and sometimes merge with one another. The exterior walls and interior rim have been well burnished, to contrast with the matt, roughened areas of decoration. The underside is not burnished, although it is not clear if this is due to surface wear rather than an omission during manufacture. The jar is complete and intact; there is a patch of black material accreted to one side. John Mack described it as 'fresh', implying that it may not have been used. It has a height of 258 mm, a rim diameter of 107 mm, a maximum width of 264 mm and a weight of 2750 grams [RTS 3/12/2004].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Northern Bahr el Ghazal Dhangrial Wun Rog Mayen

Cultural groups

Dinka Tuich

Person

Field collector John Mack

Field collector Museum of Mankind

PRM source Patti Langton

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1979

Date collected

17 - 26 February 1979

Acquisition information

Purchased: 1979

Materials and processes

Material Pottery, Process Handbuilt, Process Fire-Hardened, Process Decorated, Process Impressed, Process Burnished

Dimensions

Height 258 mm, Diameter: max 264 mm, Diameter 107 mm rim, Weight 2750 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1979.20.135

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. Although no place or date of collection is given for this object, Langton's expedition appears to have been collecting Dinka material from these three sites between 17/2/1979 and 26/2/1979 [RTS 12/1/2004].

Search terms: Vessel, Pottery, Food