Fishing spearhead
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1942.8.61
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] ?Bahr el Ghazal
Cultural Group:
Bongo? Dinka? Shilluk?
Date Made:
By 1891
Materials:
Iron Metal
Process:
Forged (Metal) , Hammered , Socketed , Decorated , Incised
Dimensions:
L = 392, L blade = 306, L socket = 86, W blade = 14.5, Th blade = 11, diam socket = 16.2 mm [RTS 1/12/2004].
Weight:
279.5 g
Local Name:
[makrigga]
Other Owners:
Bought in Egypt in 1891, collector unknown; entered in PRM records as a donation of Henry Balfour for convenience [RTS 12/11/2004]
PRM Source:
?Henry Balfour
Acquired:
?Donated August 1942
Collected Date:
1891
Description:
Spear-head made from a single piece of iron, hammered to shape, and consisting of a round sectioned pointed tip, that gradually widens until it merges with a narrow elongated body with rectangular section.
The sides of this have been worked into a series of jagged downward pointing barbs, formed by striking oblique chisel blows down the two long edges, one on the upper face of the spear-head, the other on the opposite underside edge.
Between them, the flat upper and lower surfaces have been covered with incised decoration, consisting of a narrow band of cross hatching that runs along most of the length, then a lozenge formed by parallel lines at the base.
Directly below this, 2 pairs of upward pointing barbs has been chiselled to splay outwards from the body, 1 on each corner.
Although these splay outwards from the upper or lower face, the points almost meet one another on the sides.
Chiselling out these base barbs, and the side barbs above them has the effect of creating a lozenge-shaped plane on the flat upper and lower surfaces, that the lozenge-shaped motif incised on top serves to emphasise.
A deep incised groove then runs around all 4 sides of the blade base.
Below this is a solid cylindrical rod that becomes a hollow socket for hafting the spear onto a shaft, with a vertical closed seam running up one side.
Some incised decoration is faintly visible on the surface, consisting of two pairs of parallel lines around the circumference near the blade, and another pair of lines just above the bottom.
The spear-head is complete and intact, and is currently a metallic gray colour (Pantone Cool Gray 11C) with a weight of 279.5 grams.
It has a total length of 392 mm, of which 306 mm belongs to the blade, and 86 mm to the cylindrical socket; the blade is 14.5 mm wide and 11 mm thick at its base, and the socket has a diameter of 16.2 mm.
This spearhead was bought in Egypt in 1891; there is no record of the collector's name, and the collection place is not certain.
For a similar type of socketed and barbed spearhead, but undecorated, see 1961.9.8, a Shilluk fishing spear, while an almost exact parallel to our example is illustrated in Schweinfurth 1875, Artes Africanae, pl. VII.4 - this comes from the Bongo, is socketed, has the same base and body barbing, and is also decorated with incised crosshatching and a lozenge motif. Schweinfurth gives the local name for this type of spear as makrigga , and states that it was often 'merely an article of show' (G. Schweinfurth 1873, The Heart of Africa Vol. I, p. 280). Petherick also illustrates a spear with long barbed point, for which the origin is less certain; it is published in a section relating the to Nuer (J. & K. Petherick 1869, Travels in Central Africa Vol. I, p. 119), and in an article as describing 'the people bordering on the Bahr il Gazal' (J. Petherick, Journal of the Royal United Services Institution IV No. XIII, 1861, fig. 11 p. 174), but was drawn in his sketchbook under the title 'Dinka and Djour', so can probably only be associated with this general region of the southern Sudan. A much later example of this type is represented by 1979.20.109, a fishing spear used by the Dinka Tuich. These parallels suggest that this type of object was, firstly, probably used for fishing, and secondly, unlikely to have come from any of the places or cultures suggested in the Accession book entry (Nubia, Kordofan or Darfur; Hausa, Zande or Mangbetu). At present, an origin amongst the Dinka, Shilluk or Bongo seems most probable.
Domville Fife describes the use of this type of fishing spear by the Dinka: "He uses, for fishing, a javelin attached to the arm by a long string. When the bubbles of a large fish are seen on the surface, this sharp little saw-edged weapon is thrown with wonderful dexterity and force. The impaled fish is hauled out of the water by the attached thin but strong line" (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, p. 129).
This object is currently on display in the Upper Gallery, case 57A.
Rachael Sparks 29/8/2005.
This spearhead was bought in Egypt in 1891; there is no record of the collector's name, and the collection place is not certain.
For a similar type of socketed and barbed spearhead, but undecorated, see 1961.9.8, a Shilluk fishing spear, while an almost exact parallel to our example is illustrated in Schweinfurth 1875, Artes Africanae, pl. VII.4 - this comes from the Bongo, is socketed, has the same base and body barbing, and is also decorated with incised crosshatching and a lozenge motif. Schweinfurth gives the local name for this type of spear as makrigga , and states that it was often 'merely an article of show' (G. Schweinfurth 1873, The Heart of Africa Vol. I, p. 280). Petherick also illustrates a spear with long barbed point, for which the origin is less certain; it is published in a section relating the to Nuer (J. & K. Petherick 1869, Travels in Central Africa Vol. I, p. 119), and in an article as describing 'the people bordering on the Bahr il Gazal' (J. Petherick, Journal of the Royal United Services Institution IV No. XIII, 1861, fig. 11 p. 174), but was drawn in his sketchbook under the title 'Dinka and Djour', so can probably only be associated with this general region of the southern Sudan. A much later example of this type is represented by 1979.20.109, a fishing spear used by the Dinka Tuich. These parallels suggest that this type of object was, firstly, probably used for fishing, and secondly, unlikely to have come from any of the places or cultures suggested in the Accession book entry (Nubia, Kordofan or Darfur; Hausa, Zande or Mangbetu). At present, an origin amongst the Dinka, Shilluk or Bongo seems most probable.
Domville Fife describes the use of this type of fishing spear by the Dinka: "He uses, for fishing, a javelin attached to the arm by a long string. When the bubbles of a large fish are seen on the surface, this sharp little saw-edged weapon is thrown with wonderful dexterity and force. The impaled fish is hauled out of the water by the attached thin but strong line" (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, p. 129).
This object is currently on display in the Upper Gallery, case 57A.
Rachael Sparks 29/8/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
125, August 1942] -
The late Henry Balfour, F.R.S.
, Miscellaneous specimens found unlabelled, entered for convenience as donations of the late Curator.
[p.
135] 1942.8.61
- Socketed iron spear-head, with long multi-barbed and ornamented point.
Same data.
[as 1942.8.56 = "Probably ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN (? NUBIA, KORDOFAN, DARFUR, possibly also from further west; HAUSA, or further South: ZANDE, MANGBETU)."]
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 135, in red biro at end of catalogue details] - A20 F5 27.
Card Catalogue Entry - AFRICA. ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN prob. 1942.8.61. Socketed iron spear-head with long, multi-barbed & ornamented point. Bft in EGYPT in 1891. d.d. Balfour. Ascribed to H. Balfour. [insert] L[ength] = 391 mm.
Related Documents File - In the Related Documents File is a list detailing: "Donors, or probable donors, of material entered under Mr. Balfour's name. ... 1942.8.56-61. No suggestion. (Bought in Egypt, 1891)" [MR 10/5/2000].
Additional Accession Book Entry [p. 135, in red biro at end of catalogue details] - A20 F5 27.
Card Catalogue Entry - AFRICA. ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN prob. 1942.8.61. Socketed iron spear-head with long, multi-barbed & ornamented point. Bft in EGYPT in 1891. d.d. Balfour. Ascribed to H. Balfour. [insert] L[ength] = 391 mm.
Related Documents File - In the Related Documents File is a list detailing: "Donors, or probable donors, of material entered under Mr. Balfour's name. ... 1942.8.56-61. No suggestion. (Bought in Egypt, 1891)" [MR 10/5/2000].
Display History:
Current display label - AFRICA, EGYPT or SUDAN.
Socketed iron spearhead with long multi-barbed and ornamented point.
Purchased in Egypt in 1891.
Ascribed to H.
Balfour.
1942.8.61 [in case U.57.A; RTS 13/12/2004].
