Nuer oxen with trained horn
58 x 55 mm | Negative film nitrate
Date of Print:
Unknown
Previous PRM Number:
EP.N.307
Accession Number:
1998.346.307
Description:
In the centre of the image are two tethered oxen with mottled colouring and exhibiting the training of the left horn over the muzzle (ma gut).
The training of horns was a process carried out by Nuer men on their favourite beasts by cutting away at one side of the horn for aesthetically pleasing effects.
This training is mirrored in the male practice of binding the left arm with metal bands called thiau, both of which are often carried out soon after initiation.
The favourite ox of a man was the subject of his praise songs and from whom he took his ox-name on initiation and thereby his social identity as a man of the tribe.
Photographer:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Date of Photo:
1935 - 1936
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Group:
Nuer
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Donated 1966
Other Owners:
E. E. Evans-Pritchard Collection
Class:
Animal Husbandry
Keyword:
Animal Cattle
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.)
Recorder:
Christopher Morton [29/4/2004] [Southern Sudan Project]
