Dinka Tuich bracelet
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1979.20.122
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Northern Bahr el Ghazal ?Dhangrial ?Wun Rog ?Mayen [Omdurman Juba]
Cultural Group:
Dinka Tuich
Date Made:
By 1979
Materials:
Animal Ivory Tooth , Grass Fibre Plant
Process:
Carved , Perforated , Polished , Twisted , Tied
Dimensions:
L = 143.8 mm, W = 139.6 mm, Ht = 53.6 mm, diam of central hole = 60 mm, diam perforations = 5 mm, diam cord = 2 mm [RTS 1/6/2004].
Weight:
786.1 g
Local Name:
tung achen
Other Owners:
Purchased by Patti Langton for £4.50 between 17th and 26th February 1979, as part of the British Institute in East Africa's expedition to the southern Sudan [RTS 1/6/2004].
Field Collector:
Patti Langton
PRM Source:
Patti Langton
Acquired:
Purchased 1979
Collected Date:
17 - 26 February 1979
Description:
Annular bracelet made in three separate segments, each with a flat inside face where the object would fit around the wrist, with narrow, flattened upper and lower surfaces, and sides that slope convexly down and up to meet at an angle on the outside edge, producing a roughly triangular section.
Each piece has been cut flat on either end, with two holes bored through from the flat end to the inside face.
These have been fastened together by tying twisted grass fibre cords across the join and through each horizontal pair of holes.
On two of the three joins a cord has also been wrapped vertically across the ties and knotted off, fixing them very firmly in place.
One of these sets of ties is also coated in an unidentified substance, possibly mud or dung, traces of which are visible around the inside face of the object.
The third section is securely fastened across the top pair of holes, but the cord passing through the bottom pair is loose and has not been tied off.
Considering how firmly the other two sections are tied, it seems likely that this third tie was the one that would be loosened when taking the bracelet off the wrist.
Overall, the object is roughly triangular in plan view, while the central hole is circular.
It is complete, but there are several long cracks running across the surface.
A series of small, shallow, circular depressions have been bored at intervals along these cracks; according to Langton, this was done as it was thought to prevent the object breaking (for similar techniques applied to other ivory arm ornaments, see 1903.16.106, from the Shilluk, and 1925.62.1, which may be Nuer in origin).
The outer surfaces have been well polished, and are currently a deep yellow colour (Pantone 7403C), while the cord is a paler light brown (Pantone 7507C).
The bracelet measures 143.8 by 139.6 mm across its outside edges and is 53.6 mm high, while the central hole has a diameter of 60 mm; the holes through each end have diameters of 5 mm, and the cord passing through them has a diameter of 2 mm.
The total weight is 786.1 grams.
Purchased by Patti Langton for £4.50 sometime between 17th and 26th February 1979, as part of the British Institute in East Africa's expedition to the Southern Sudan. The place of collection was not specified, but would have been either Dhangrial, Wun Rog or Mayen, all of which like in the modern administrative district of 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.
Langton recorded that the Dinka Tuich purchased ivory from Baggara Arabs in Omdurman, and sometimes a whole tusk would be taken into Juba to get made into bracelets, with each bracelet being worth one cow. When an arm band breaks, it is recycled into narrower bracelets, rings and earrings by the local ivory worker. This type of three-piece bracelet is known in Dinka as tung achen , and is made in Juba or Omdurman. They may be worn around the wrists by girls and boys of marriageable age; after marriage, they are only worn by old men. Like tem (see 1979.20.121), they are given by the father's brother, or sister's husband, or a boy might buy one himself. They cost a small bull or five goats.
Segmented bracelets of this type are mentioned by Fisher as being worn on the wrist, particularly by girls of marriageable age. She gives them the local name afiok, and suggests that their use is confined to particular Dinka groups (A. Fisher 1984, Africa Adorned, p. 45, pp 56-57). Note that what is probably the same term, afjok, is used by Domville Fife as the word for ivory bangles worn by Dinka men who had speared an elephant (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, p. 129); he does not give any specifics as to the actual form of the armlet. This is probably the term that appears in Nebel as apiok, meaning an ivory armlet. An alternative term is given as atum (ivory, round), while he defines the term Tung, plural tuong, as ‘horn, small ivory bracelet’, and ivory as tung akòòn (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, pp 106, 85, 153).
For a similar bracelet, see 1979.20.123. John Mack has a slide of a Dinka chief, also an ivory carver, wearing ornaments of this type around his wrist, and pushed above his elbows (shown at a public lecture, 'Peoples of the Southern Sudan', at the British Museum on 8th October 2004.
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, Case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 15/9/2005.
Purchased by Patti Langton for £4.50 sometime between 17th and 26th February 1979, as part of the British Institute in East Africa's expedition to the Southern Sudan. The place of collection was not specified, but would have been either Dhangrial, Wun Rog or Mayen, all of which like in the modern administrative district of 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.
Langton recorded that the Dinka Tuich purchased ivory from Baggara Arabs in Omdurman, and sometimes a whole tusk would be taken into Juba to get made into bracelets, with each bracelet being worth one cow. When an arm band breaks, it is recycled into narrower bracelets, rings and earrings by the local ivory worker. This type of three-piece bracelet is known in Dinka as tung achen , and is made in Juba or Omdurman. They may be worn around the wrists by girls and boys of marriageable age; after marriage, they are only worn by old men. Like tem (see 1979.20.121), they are given by the father's brother, or sister's husband, or a boy might buy one himself. They cost a small bull or five goats.
Segmented bracelets of this type are mentioned by Fisher as being worn on the wrist, particularly by girls of marriageable age. She gives them the local name afiok, and suggests that their use is confined to particular Dinka groups (A. Fisher 1984, Africa Adorned, p. 45, pp 56-57). Note that what is probably the same term, afjok, is used by Domville Fife as the word for ivory bangles worn by Dinka men who had speared an elephant (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, p. 129); he does not give any specifics as to the actual form of the armlet. This is probably the term that appears in Nebel as apiok, meaning an ivory armlet. An alternative term is given as atum (ivory, round), while he defines the term Tung, plural tuong, as ‘horn, small ivory bracelet’, and ivory as tung akòòn (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, pp 106, 85, 153).
For a similar bracelet, see 1979.20.123. John Mack has a slide of a Dinka chief, also an ivory carver, wearing ornaments of this type around his wrist, and pushed above his elbows (shown at a public lecture, 'Peoples of the Southern Sudan', at the British Museum on 8th October 2004.
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, Case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 15/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
185] - 1979.20 (.1 - 206) P[urchase] MISS PATTI LANGTON, DEPT.
of ETHNOLOGY & PREHISTORY, OXFORD.
Collection made by Patti Langton during the British Institute in East Africa's expedition to the Southern Sudan; Jan.
- April 1979.
The collection was made in three culture areas during the dry season.
The amount paid for each object is listed if the information is known.
In Jan.
1979 £1 is equivalent to 95 piastres (pt.) Sudanese.
This documentation is based largely upon Patti's own list of objects and her notes on these.
Sometimes objects included in the Pitt Rivers alottment of the collection do not appear on her list and have been added here.
See Related Documents file as well.
[p.
191] 1979.20.43-135 SOUTHERN SUDAN the DINKA TUICH.
The Dinka Tuich, a pastoral people, live to the north of Wau, in Bahr el Ghazal province.
This collection was made mostly at Dhangrial, the archaeological site at which we camped.
Other artifacts were collected either at Wun Rog, a small town about a mile south of Dhangrial, or at Mayen, the new administrative centre 12 miles north.
This was a remote area, difficult of access and rarely visited by outsiders.
The Dinka are very aware of the potential of money, which is used either to help family members acquire education or entry into commerce and administration in Juba or Khartoum.
Once it was known we (the collectors) were offering money, the Dinka in surrounding compounds came daily, increasing prices as often as they could! [p.
202] 1979.20.121 - 124 Ivories are purchased from Baggara Arabs in Onedurman.
Sometimes a whole tusk is taken to Juba to be made into bracelets.
The exchange value for a bracelet is one cow.
The black circle decorations are made with a special instrument along cracks in the ivory, as it is thought to prevent them breaking.
They can also be purely decorative.
When the arm band breaks it is used to make narrower bracelets, rings and earrings by the local ivorymaker.
[p.
203] 1979.20.122 Three-piece bracelet,
tung achen
, tied together by string.
Worn on the wrist by girls and boys of marriageable age, but after marriage only by old men.
Like
tem
(1979.20.121) they are given by the father's brother or sister's husband, or a boy might buy one himself.
They cost a small bull or five goats.
Diam.
of central hole = 6 cm., H = 4.8 cm.
Cost £4.50.
Coll.
no.
161.
Additional Accession Book Entry [below accession number in red biro] - A5-F33-1.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 9/3/2004].
Related Documents File - 1979.20 contains a typed packing list, which has been annotated; a typed list of objects arranged by Langton collection numbers and with pencil and biro annotations, and a handwritten list of objects by museum number, essentially repeating this information and annotated with PRM photo numbers in red. This handwritten list seems to be the direct source for the accession book entry. The typed list seems to refer to this item and 1979.20.122 in the entry: '[insert] 2 [end insert] Three piece bracelets TUNG ACHEN are worn on the wrist by girls and boys of marriageable age. After marriage they are worn only by old men. They are given by FB or ZH as the upper arm bracelets, or a boy may buy one himself. They cost a small bull, or 5 goats, and are made in Juba or Omdurman', annotated '£4.50'; it is not clear if they cost this much each, or for the pair [RTS 12/1/2004].
Additional Accession Book Entry [below accession number in red biro] - A5-F33-1.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 9/3/2004].
Related Documents File - 1979.20 contains a typed packing list, which has been annotated; a typed list of objects arranged by Langton collection numbers and with pencil and biro annotations, and a handwritten list of objects by museum number, essentially repeating this information and annotated with PRM photo numbers in red. This handwritten list seems to be the direct source for the accession book entry. The typed list seems to refer to this item and 1979.20.122 in the entry: '[insert] 2 [end insert] Three piece bracelets TUNG ACHEN are worn on the wrist by girls and boys of marriageable age. After marriage they are worn only by old men. They are given by FB or ZH as the upper arm bracelets, or a boy may buy one himself. They cost a small bull, or 5 goats, and are made in Juba or Omdurman', annotated '£4.50'; it is not clear if they cost this much each, or for the pair [RTS 12/1/2004].
Display History:
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, Case 26A [RTS 15/9/2005].
