1884.99.3

Collection type

Object

Description

Iron hoe blade with socketed base, used as a form of currency [RTS 15/6/2004].

Long description

Iron hoe blade, made from two pieces of iron joined together. The body consists of an almost circular blade with flat upper and lower surfaces, the edges of which curve in at the base to meet a round sectioned socket, almost as long as the blade itself. This socket is open along the length on one side, with the opening gradually widening towards the end. Where the socket overlaps the blade, it has been hammered flat and then welded into place. This has left a slightly raised, triangular ridge that tapers towards the centre of the blade on one side. The object is complete and intact, with hammering marks visible on most surfaces, and is currently a dark metallic gray colour (Pantone 425C). It has a length of 226 mm; the blade is 130 mm long, 122 mm wide and 1 mm thick; the socket is 23.6 mm wide and 21.6 mm thick. The object has a weight of 344.2 grams [RTS 15/6/2004].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Cultural groups

Dinka

Shilluk

Jur

Person

Maker Unknown Maker

Field collector John Petherick

PRM source Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection

Date / Period

Date made: Possibly before 1858

Date collected

1858

Acquisition information

Donated: 1884

Materials and processes

Material Iron Metal, Process Forged (Metal), Process Hammered, Process Welded

Dimensions

Diameter: max 23.6 mm socket, Width 122 mm blade, Length 226 mm, Length 130 mm blade, Weight 344.2 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1884.99.3

Research and responses

This object is said to have been collected in 1858; in that year Petherick led a trading expedition south from Khartoum, down the Bahr el Abiad, Bahr el Ghazal, Jur and part of the Bahr el Jebel rivers. This route took him through Shilluk territory (the villages of Kaka and Gova), Raik Dinka territory (the villages of Coq-quel-a-ken, Moi Chin, Agoig, Affoock), and Jur territory, among others. This material was shipped back to England in 1859. An account of this expedition is given in his 1861 volume, Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa. A similar object, used as a hoe and mounted onto a wooden handle, was illustrated in his 1869 volume, Travels in Central Africa and Explorations of the Western Nile Tributaries, on p. 249, where it is attributed to the Jur. He also describes how the Jur manufacture such items and trade them on to the Dinka (See J. Petherick 1861, pp 395-6). The implication of this is that this even although this object may have been used by Dinka or Shilluk individuals, it was probably manufactured by the Jur. However the same type of object appears to be more widespread. Schweinfurth illustrates an almost identical blade, collected from the Bongo, which he calls 'loggoh' and says functions as currency; and from the Jur, where it is described as a hand spade for weeding (G. Schwienfurth, 1875, Artes Africanae, pl. IV figure 14; pl. II figure 20; see also 1873, The Heart of Africa Vol. 1, p. 279). J.G. Wood also talks about the use of hoe blades, or 'molotes' amongst the Latuka for both agriculture and as currency (J.G. Wood, The Natural History of Man Volume I, 1868, p. 508, and figure on p. 475). [RTS 15/6/2004].

This object was subsequently acquired by Pitt Rivers, presumably at auction, as the accession book entry bears the note 'lot 42' [RTS 15/6/2004].

Search terms: Tool, Agriculture and Horticulture, Currency, Trade, Hoe, Agricultural Tool, Token