Penannular aluminium anklet with incised decoration, worn by young girls or women [RTS 25/3/2004].

Collection type: Object
Description: Penannular aluminium anklet with incised decoration, worn by young girls or women [RTS 25/3/2004].
Long description: Penannular anklet cast from recycled aluminium. This consists of an oval loop with wide open ends, 38 mm apart, formed from a rod with flat upper surface and convex sides and base. The ends are flat and roughly finished. The anklet is decorated with incised designs near either end, mirroring each other; these designs run around the top, outer side and base areas. They consist of three chevrons running around the circumference, then a band of crosshatching that has worn away on the flat upper surface. The wear suggests that this anklet may have been worn with the flat surface rubbing against something, possibly a second anklet. The fact that the other side is convex, not flat might indicate that this was intended to be the uppermost or lowermost anklet in a set of several; note that unlike this example, otherwise similar anklets 1979.20.67 and 1979.20.68 are flat on both of these surfaces. It was most likely worn with 1979.20.68, which has identical decoration and is of comparable size. The object has probably been polished but tool marks remain on the curved surfaces, and there are some toothed impressions at either end that may be the result of gripping the soft metal with a tool during the shaping process. The anklet is complete and intact, with the metal currently a light grey colour (Pantone 420C). It measures 112 by 86 mm across the outer edges, and 86 mm across the inside edges, while the rod from which the object has been made is 12.8 mm wide and 13 mm thick, with a weight of 94.1 grams [RTS 25/3/2004].
Geographical reference: South Sudan
Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan; Northern Bahr el Ghazal Dhangrial Wun Rog Mayen
Cultural groups: Dinka Tuich
Person: Field collector Patti Langton; PRM source Patti Langton
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1979
Date collected: 19 February 1979
Acquisition information: Purchased: 1979
Materials and processes: Material Aluminium Metal, Process Recycled, Process Cast, Process Hammered, Process Incised
Dimensions: Thick 13 mm, Length 112 mm, Width 86 mm, Weight 94.1 g
Object numbers: Accession number: 1979.20.69 Other numbers: Langton Collection 148
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 probably 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.
Nebel defines the term Bau as ‘aluminium’ and Côk as 'foot'; (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 15, 20); chin is probably the same term as Nebel's ciin, pl. cin, meaning hand or finger (op. cit., p. 19) [RTS 9/8/2004].

Search terms: Ornament, Leg Ornament