1910.4.5

Collection type

Object

Description

Arrow with narrow barbed iron arrowhead on a cane shaft with nocked and bound end [RTS 7/7/2005].

Long description

Arrow consisting of an iron arrowhead with narrow, square sectioned body, left plain at the tip and then with a series of downward pointing barbs chiselled out of each of the four edges; this becomes plain again just above the base, where the tang has been fitted into the top of a yellow cane shaft (Pantone 7510C), with five segments along its length. The junction of tang and shaft has been bound round with a length of plant fibre, stained a pinkish brown colour that probably represents a resin fixative (Pantone 4705C). There is additional binding just above the nocked end, which has the remains of a concave notch cut across the butt. Apart from this, the arrow is complete, but with some splits developing down the shaft body and rust developing on the arrowhead. It has a weight of 35.3 grams and a total length of 773 mm; the arrowhead has a visible length of 250 mm and is 5.3 mm wide and 5 mm thick; the shaft is 523 mm long and has a diameter of 7.4 by 6.8 mm, while the upper binding covers an area 23 mm long, and the lower binding an area measuring 18 mm in length [RTS 7/7/2005].

Geographical reference

Sudan, Republic of

Africa > Northern Africa > Sudan, Republic of

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Person

Field collector Henry Cornwallis Eliot

PRM source Henry Cornwallis Eliot

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1910

Date collected

By 1910

Acquisition information

Donated: 1910

Materials and processes

Material Iron Metal, Material Cane Plant, Material Plant Fibre, Material Resin Plant, Process Forged (Metal), Process Hammered, Process Carved, Process Bound, Process Notched

Dimensions

Length: max 773 mm, Diameter: max 7.4 mm, Length: max 250 mm arrowhead, Length: max 523 mm shaft, Weight 35.3 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1910.4.5

Research and responses

Several groups in the southern Sudan make use of iron arrows hafted into cane shafts with nocked and bound ends, using fibre bindings secured with pinkish fixatives, as seen in this example, including the Zande (see 1934.8.108-117, although with different arrowhead types) and the Moru (using wood instead of segmented cane for the shafts). Moru arrow 1930.86.19.12 also has a similar style of arrowhead [RTS 7/7/2005].

Search terms: Archery Weapon, Hunting, Arrow, Arrow-head, Arrow Shaft, Weapon, Hunting accessory