1884.82.28

Collection type

Object

Description

Narrow iron anklet with wide open ends [RTS 16/3/2004].

Long description

Narrow anklet made from an iron rod, slightly oval in section, that tapers slightly to one end. This has been bent into an oval loop with wide open ends, 31 mm apart. There are several fine oblique tool marks across the surface and also across both flat ends, possibly indicating use of a file; the surface has been polished. Complete and intact, with the metal in good condition and currently a silver gray colour (Pantone 421C). Length across anklet 108 mm, width across anklet 85.5 mm, maximum diameter of rod 7.5 x 7.3 mm, and weight 92.1 grams [RTS 22/3/2004].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Cultural groups

Dinka

Shilluk

Jur

Bongo

Person

Maker Unknown Maker

Field collector John Petherick

PRM source Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1865?, uncertain

Date collected

1853 - 1859 or 1861 - 1865

Acquisition information

Donated: 1884

Materials and processes

Material Iron Metal, Process Polished

Dimensions

Length 108 mm, Width 85.5 mm, Thick 7.5 mm, Weight 92.1 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1884.82.28 PR Cat other PR nos: 104

Research and responses

Petherick was based in Khartoum between 1853 and March 1859, during which period he mounted five trading expeditions into Southern Sudan, and encountered several groups of Shilluk, Dinka, Raik Dinka, and 'Djour'. His collections from this time were shipped back to London in 1859. Petherick then returned to Khartoum in 1861, and travelled south via the Bahr el Abiad, Bahr el Jebel and then overland to Gondokoro, passing through further likely Dinka (the 'Kytch' = Cic Dinka?) and Jur territories. Any material obtained at this time would have returned to England with Petherick in 1865 [RTS 21/1/2004].

A similar type of object, but described as a Djibba woman's bracelet, was published by Wood (J.G. Wood, 1868, The Natural History of Man Volume I, pp. 521-2). The object illustrated formed part of his own collection [RTS 22/3/2004].

The Accession Book and Collectors Miscellaneous XI book entries both give the PR number as 106/1619. However the object itself is marked with the reference PR 104, which is part of a group of iron neck collars and bracelets, associated with the Dor (= Bongo), or Dor, Mundo, Dinka, Nuer or Shilluk groups (Black Book 1620 and Delivery Catalogue II p. 305). This leaves the cultural attribution of this object to a particular group in doubt. The database record was amended on 2/4/2004, with the Black and Delivery Catalogue references changed to the correct entries, and the original Accession book and Collectors book entries updated [RTS 2/4/2004].

Search terms: Ornament, Leg Ornament