Cast of a Zande axehead
Accession Number:
[1907.27.3]
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Bahr el Jebel near Mount Lado
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1907
Materials:
[Haematite Stone]
Process:
Cast , Polished
Other Owners:
Enrico Hillyer Giglioli
PRM Source:
Enrico Hillyer Giglioli
Acquired:
Donated July 1907
Collected Date:
By 1907
Description:
Cast of polished axe blade of haematite from the Niam Niam country, Central Africa, found near Lado.
Collected by Enrico Hillyer Giglioli, who found the original near Lado. Lado is a mountain in the Southern part of Sudan, near the town of Juba, in the modern administrative district of Bahr el Jebel.
According to Larken, the Zande call an axe mongua, which usually has a wedge-shaped blade that is 4 to 6 inches long with a cutting edge of 2 to 3 inches, driven into the thick end of a handle that is around 2 foot long. Using an axe is seen as a man's job (P.M. Larken, 1927, "Impressions of the Azande", Sudan Notes and Records X, p. 118). The material of the original axehead - stone rather than iron - seems odd, and it may be that this was an archaeological artefact rather than a contemporary one, or else belonged to a tribe other than the Zande.
Rachael Sparks 29/9/2005.
Collected by Enrico Hillyer Giglioli, who found the original near Lado. Lado is a mountain in the Southern part of Sudan, near the town of Juba, in the modern administrative district of Bahr el Jebel.
According to Larken, the Zande call an axe mongua, which usually has a wedge-shaped blade that is 4 to 6 inches long with a cutting edge of 2 to 3 inches, driven into the thick end of a handle that is around 2 foot long. Using an axe is seen as a man's job (P.M. Larken, 1927, "Impressions of the Azande", Sudan Notes and Records X, p. 118). The material of the original axehead - stone rather than iron - seems odd, and it may be that this was an archaeological artefact rather than a contemporary one, or else belonged to a tribe other than the Zande.
Rachael Sparks 29/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[IV, p.
57] - 1907 [insert, in pencil] 27 [end insert] [insert] Commendatore [end insert]
PROF.
E.H.
GIGLIOLI
, Museo Zoologica, Via Romana, Florence.
July [insert, pencil] 3 [end insert] - Cast of polished axe blade of haematite from the Niam Niam country, Central Africa, found near Lado.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 10/2/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 10/2/2004].
