Ingessana afterbiths hung in tree

103 x 76 mm | Negative film nitrate

There are records relating to alternative images that we do not have scans for in the database:
1998.344.64.2 - Print gelatin silver , (103 x 76 mm)

Date of Print:

Unknown

Previous PRM Number:

EP.D.64

Previous Other Number:

I 10

Accession Number:

1998.344.64.1

Description:

A gammeiza tree (possibly a Ficus sycamorus) with the remains of human afterbirths hanging from a branch by cords. The gourds that once contained the afterbirth have mostly fallen away. It is uncertain why afterbirths were treated in this manner.

Photographer:

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Date of Photo:

1926 November - December

Region:

Blue Nile Tabi Hills Soda

Group:

Ingessana (Gaam)

PRM Source:

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Acquired:

Donated 1966

Other Owners:

E. E. Evans-Pritchard Collection

Class:

Religion , Ritual

Keyword:

Vessel Gourd

Documentation:

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

Primary Documentation:

PRM Accession Records - Accession Book Entry [p. 98] 1966.27 [1 - 24] G[ift] PROFESSOR E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD; INST. OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 51 BANBURY RD. OXFORD - 1966.27.19 - S. SUDAN, DARFUNG. VARIOUS TRIBES. Box of negatives in envelopes, [1 - 242] & 1966.27.20 - Box of prints of these negatives [refers to object 1966.27.19] [1 - 242], in envelopes.

Manual Catalogues [typewritten, entitled "Ingassana"] - 64. After-births on tree. I.10

Note on negative scratched - "I-10"

Other Information:

In A Preliminary Account of the Ingassana Tribe in Fung Province, Sudan Notes and Records X, 1927, page 81, E. E. Evans-Pritchard notes that 'A woman returns to her father's home to give birth to a child. The cord is cut with a piece of dom palm leaf, and the afterbirth is not buried but placed in a gourd, which is hung from one of the branches of a gammeiza tree.' [Chris Morton 4/2/2004]

Recorder:

Christopher Morton 4/2/2004 [Southern Sudan Project]