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1884.82.38

Thin, penannular iron bracelet with round section [RTS 2/4/2004].

1884.82.38

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Collection type
Object
Description
Thin, penannular iron bracelet with round section [RTS 2/4/2004].
Long description
Penannular arm ornament made from a thin iron rod with slightly oval section, bent into an oval loop with tapering, open, flat-cut ends, 20 mm apart. The surface has been polished. The object is complete and intact, and currently a metallic gray colour (Pantone 420C). It measures 74 by 62.7 mm across its outside edges, 67 mm across the inside length, and the rod from which it has been made is 2.8 mm wide and 3 mm thick, with a weight of 14.5 grams [RTS 5/4/2004].
Geographical reference
South Sudan
Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan
Cultural groups
Bongo
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1865?, uncertain
Date collected
1858
Acquisition information
Donated: 1884
Materials and processes
Material Iron Metal, Process Forged (Metal), Process Hammered, Process Polished
Dimensions
Length 74 mm, Width 62.7 mm, Width 2.8 mm rod, Thick 3 mm rod, Weight 14.5 g
Object numbers
Accession number: 1884.82.38 PR no.: 103/ 1621
Research and responses

This object is said to have been collected in 1858; in that year Petherick led a trading expedition through Bongo territory, an account of which is given in his 1861 volume, Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa; he refers to this group as the Dor. The expedition entered Bongo territory on January 25, 1858, visiting villages called Djau, Kurkur, Maeha, Mura, Umbura, Modocunga, Miha, Nearhe, Gutu, Mungela, Ombelambe and Lungo. Later in February they passed back through the Bongo villages of Djamaga and Lungo again. This material was shipped back to England in 1859 [RTS 20/1/2004].

In Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa, 1861, p. 401, Petherick describes Bongo women as wearing numerous iron bracelets on their wrists. See also J.G. Wood, 1868, The Natural History of Man Vol. I, p. 499. “On their wrists they wear bracelets, made simply of iron bars cut to the proper length, and bent round the wrist.” [RTS 14/1/2004].

Search terms: Ornament, Arm Ornament

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