A Nuer dance

100 x 75 mm | Negative film nitrate

There are records relating to alternative images that we do not have scans for in the database:
1998.346.43.2 - Print gelatin silver , (100 x 75 mm)

Date of Print:

Unknown

Previous PRM Number:

EP.N.43

Previous Other Number:

31 4 [frame 12]

Accession Number:

1998.346.43.1

Description:

A large number of people gathered at a dance, showing men holding spears. One man wearing thiau (arm-rings) has his arm raised, possibly in imitation of ox horns, and another nearby is wearing a plume in his hair. Some men have smeared ash on their legs, and many are facing to the right where the women seem to be dancing. Dances were more a feature of village life than cattle camps since people had more ready access to other social groups, and often accompanied ceremonies such as marriages. Such events were the main arena for courtship among Nuer youth, and often took the form of mock battles between village groups. The two shadows on the ground in the right foreground suggest that another person wearing a wide-brimmed hat was with Evans-Pritchard as he was photographing the dance.

Photographer:

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Date of Photo:

1930 - 1931

Region:

[Southern Sudan] ?Wahda Yoinyang

Group:

Nuer ?Leek

PRM Source:

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Acquired:

Donated 1966

Other Owners:

E. E. Evans-Pritchard Collection

Class:

Dance , Weapon , Clothing Headgear , Recreation

Keyword:

Dance Accessory , Spear

Activity:

Dancing

Event:

Dance

Documentation:

Original catalogue lists in Manuscript Collections. Additional material in related documents files. [CM 27/9/2005]

Primary Documentation:

Accession Book Entry: [p. 98] 1966.27 [1 - 24] G[ift] PROFESSOR E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD; INST. OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 51 BANBURY RD. OXFORD 1966.27.17 S. SUDAN. NUER TRIBE. Box of negatives each in separate envelope, labelled. (some missing). Nos. 1 - 213. (prints in box 1966.27.18)...1966.27.18 S. SUDAN. NUER TRIBE. Box of prints each in separate envelope. Nos. 1 - 213. (negatives in 1966.27.17.)

Manual Catalogues [typewritten, entitled "Nuer Photographs (E-P)"] - 43. Dance. (L.) [Large size] (31/4)

Note on negative ms ink - "31" & mech. printed "12"

Recorder:

Christopher Morton [25/3/2004] [Southern Sudan Project]