Poisoned arrow, Zande?
Accession Number:
1910.4.8
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Eastern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Zande?
Date Made:
By 1910
Materials:
Poison? , Iron Metal , Wood Plant , Plant Fibre , Pigment
Process:
Forged (Metal) , Hammered , Carved , Bound , Notched , Decorated Incised
Dimensions:
Total L = 734; arrowhead L = 127; blade L = 35, W = 16, th = 1.8; tang W = 3; shaft L = 607, diam = 7, nock L = 4; upper binding L = 25, lower binding L = 29; coated tang L = 45 mm [RTS 29/9/2005].
Weight:
27.0 g
Other Owners:
Henry Cornwallis Eliot also known as Earl of St Germans
Field Collector:
?Henry Cornwallis Eliot also known as Earl of St Germans
PRM Source:
Henry Cornwallis Eliot also known as Earl of St Germans
Acquired:
Donated February 1910
Collected Date:
By 1910
Description:
Arrow consisting of an iron arrowhead with triangular blade, rounded at the tip and ending in 2 sharp barbs at the base.
This has an ogee-shaped section, and sits on a long rectangular-sectioned tang.
The upper part of this has been decorated with incised crosshatching.
Part way down the shank, the surface has been coated with a thick black material, that has partially broken away; this material is probably poisoned.
There is a small fibre 'stop' bound around the tang below, with the lower part of the tang fitting into the top of a yellow wooden shaft (Pantone 7510C), made from a roughly straightened branch with some irregularities along its length.
This has been bound round its upper part with fibre strips, with similar binding around its lower end, just above a nocked butt which has 2 concave notches cut into opposite sides.
The binding has been stained a pinkish red colour, probably from the use of a pigmented fixative (Pantone 4705C) that has partially stained the wood around it.
The tip of the arrowhead is damaged, there is some surface rust, and the upper binding has some fraying edges; otherwise the arrow is complete.
It has a weight of 27 grams, and a total length of 734 mm.
The arrowhead has a length of 127 mm, down to its junction with the shaft; the blade is 35 mm long, 16 mm wide and 1.8 mm thick, while the tang has a width of 3 mm.
The shaft is 607 mm long, 7 mm in diameter, and has a nock length of 4 mm; the upper shaft binding is 25 mm long, while the lower binding has a length of 29 mm; the tang area coated by what is probably poison is around 45 mm in length.
Collected in the Sudan by Henry Cornwallis Eliot, who is also known as the Earl of St Germans, along with 5 similar arrows (see 1910.4.4-9), and donated to the museum in February 1910.
Accreted material on the arrowhead tang is similar to that found on a series of Zande arrows collected by Powell-Cotton and reported to be poisoned (see 1934.8.108-117). If it was poisoned, it is unlikely that this arrow was used in hunting for game. The shape of the arrowhead and method of construction of the arrow as a whole is also similar to Powell-Cotton's material, and this example may also be of Zande origin.
Rachael Sparks 29/9/2005.
Collected in the Sudan by Henry Cornwallis Eliot, who is also known as the Earl of St Germans, along with 5 similar arrows (see 1910.4.4-9), and donated to the museum in February 1910.
Accreted material on the arrowhead tang is similar to that found on a series of Zande arrows collected by Powell-Cotton and reported to be poisoned (see 1934.8.108-117). If it was poisoned, it is unlikely that this arrow was used in hunting for game. The shape of the arrowhead and method of construction of the arrow as a whole is also similar to Powell-Cotton's material, and this example may also be of Zande origin.
Rachael Sparks 29/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[IV, p.
133] - 1910 [insert in pencil] 4 [end insert]
THE EARL OF ST.
GERMANS
.
Feb.
- The following specimens collected in the Eastern Sudan.
[insert in pencil] 4-9 [end insert] - [1 of] 6 iron-headed, featherless arrows.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 28/1/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan. Poisoned iron arrow with wooden shaft. d.d. Earl of St Germans, Feb. 1910. 1910.4.8 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 29/9/2005].
Written on object - Eastern Soudan. d.d. Earl St Germans, 1910 [RTS 29/9/2005].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 28/1/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan. Poisoned iron arrow with wooden shaft. d.d. Earl of St Germans, Feb. 1910. 1910.4.8 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 29/9/2005].
Written on object - Eastern Soudan. d.d. Earl St Germans, 1910 [RTS 29/9/2005].
