Zande spear-head
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1934.8.129
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Western Equatoria Yambio
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1933
Materials:
Iron Metal
Process:
Forged (Metal) , Hammered , Socketed
Dimensions:
L = 636 mm; socket L = 137 mm, W = 27 mm, Th = 24.2 mm; blade W = 55 mm, Th = 2.5 to 4.6 mm [RTS 28/7/2004].
Weight:
814.5 g
Local Name:
zande
Other Owners:
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Hannah Brayton Slater) on 27th April 1933 during a shooting expedition.
Field Collector:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton & Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Hannah Brayton Slater)
PRM Source:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Acquired:
Donated 1934
Collected Date:
27th April 1933
Description:
Spear-head made from a single piece of iron, hammered into shape and consisting of a socketed base, oval in section, with a narrow open seam running down one side; the edges of this seam gradually come together towards the junction of socket and blade.
The blade is narrow and leaf-shaped, tapering to a sharp point at the end.
A slight, angular ridge runs down the centre of the length on both sides, making the section of the blade very slightly diamond -shaped; the edges are thick and blunt and do not appear to have any use wear.
The spearhead is complete and intact, with some minor surface irregularities in the metal; hammering marks can be seen on the edges where the iron has spread slightly under blows from the side.
It is currently a dark metallic grey colour with traces of reddish brown rust (Pantone 440C).
It has a weight of 814.5 grams, and a total length of 636 mm.
The socket itself is 137 mm long, 27 mm wide and 24.2 mm thick; the blade has a maximum width of 55 mm, which occurs near its lower body, and a thickness ranging from 2.5 to 4.6 mm.
The fact that the edges are blunt suggests that this object was manufactured for use as bride money, rather than as a spearhead in its own right.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Yambio on 27th April 1933, during a shooting expedition.
This type of spear-head was used as bride wealth, and is said to be called Zande. For a different style of spear used in a similar fashion, see 1934.8.130; this is called sabodi.
Evans-Pritchard describes the custom of paying bride wealth to the father of a prospective bride; spears are handed over at intervals after betrothal, which occurs when the girl is a child; at least ten spears would be considered normal before a marriage would take place. Marriage spears continue to be presented to the father as long as the marriage lasts (C.G. and B.Z. Seligman, 1932, Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan, chapter X: The Azande, pp 511-513). Brock, writing in 1918, commented that the Zande of the Meridi district usually preferred to receive spears sold by merchants as bride wealth to locally made ones (R.G.C. Brock 1981, "Some Notes on the Zande Tribe as Found in the Meridi District", Sudan Notes and Records 1, 256).
This object is currently on display in the Lower Gallery, case 76B.
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Yambio on 27th April 1933, during a shooting expedition.
This type of spear-head was used as bride wealth, and is said to be called Zande. For a different style of spear used in a similar fashion, see 1934.8.130; this is called sabodi.
Evans-Pritchard describes the custom of paying bride wealth to the father of a prospective bride; spears are handed over at intervals after betrothal, which occurs when the girl is a child; at least ten spears would be considered normal before a marriage would take place. Marriage spears continue to be presented to the father as long as the marriage lasts (C.G. and B.Z. Seligman, 1932, Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan, chapter X: The Azande, pp 511-513). Brock, writing in 1918, commented that the Zande of the Meridi district usually preferred to receive spears sold by merchants as bride wealth to locally made ones (R.G.C. Brock 1981, "Some Notes on the Zande Tribe as Found in the Meridi District", Sudan Notes and Records 1, 256).
This object is currently on display in the Lower Gallery, case 76B.
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
248] 1934 [insert] 8 [end insert] -
MAJOR P.
H.
G.
POWELL-COTTON
, Quex Park, Birchington, E.
Kent.
Specimens collected by himself & Mrs Cotton, during hunting trips, 1933, viz: [...] [p.
260] - From the
ZANDE
tribe, LIRANGO, YAMBIO, DINGBA & TAMBURA [...] [insert] 129 [end insert] -
Zande
, socketted spear-head with long, leaf-shaped blade with squared, blunted edges, used as ‘bride-money’, ib[idem] [YAMBIO] (871).
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 2/2/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Zande Tribe". This object appears as item 871: "Bride money spear with socket, 2'1" long, 1' 7 1/2" blade, native name Zande , 27/4/33 Yambio, 4.34 N 28.23 E”. Also contains details of a cine film 'some tribes of the Southern Sudan', taken by Powell-Cotton during this 1933 expedition, copies of which are now in the National Film and Television Archive and the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent [RTS 14/3/2005].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - ANGLO EGYPTIAN SUDAN, YAMBIO, (ZANDE). 4° 34' N. 28° 23' E. Bride-money: blunt-edged spear-head. d.d. Major Powell Cotton 1934 (871) [paper label with stuck to socket; RTS 28/7/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 2/2/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Zande Tribe". This object appears as item 871: "Bride money spear with socket, 2'1" long, 1' 7 1/2" blade, native name Zande , 27/4/33 Yambio, 4.34 N 28.23 E”. Also contains details of a cine film 'some tribes of the Southern Sudan', taken by Powell-Cotton during this 1933 expedition, copies of which are now in the National Film and Television Archive and the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent [RTS 14/3/2005].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - ANGLO EGYPTIAN SUDAN, YAMBIO, (ZANDE). 4° 34' N. 28° 23' E. Bride-money: blunt-edged spear-head. d.d. Major Powell Cotton 1934 (871) [paper label with stuck to socket; RTS 28/7/2004].
Display History:
Current display label - ANGLO EGYPTIAN SUDAN, YAMBIO, (ZANDE).
4° 34' N.
28° 23' E.
Bride-money: blunt-edged spear-head.
d.d.
Major Powell Cotton 1934 (871) [in case L.76.B; RTS 28/7/2004].
