Arrow, Burun?

Other views of this artifact:

Accession Number:

1944.10.53

Country:

Sudan

Region:

Blue Nile ?Darfung

Cultural Group:

?Burun

Date Made:

By 1912

Materials:

Cane Plant , Ebony Wood Plant , Animal Hide Skin

Process:

Carved , Notched , Socketed , Bound , Incised , Decorated

Dimensions:

Total L = 1064; arrowhead visible L = 297, diam = 9.2; shaft L = 767, diam = 9.3 x 8.6, nock L = 11, upper binding L = 20 mm [RTS 5/7/2005].

Weight:

34.7 g

Other Owners:

L. Gorringe and Mrs L. Gorringe

Field Collector:

L. Gorringe

PRM Source:

Mrs L. Gorringe

Acquired:

Donated October 1944

Collected Date:

1902 - 1912

Description:

Arrow consisting of a dark brown ebony arrowhead (Pantone black 4C), with a narrow, elongated body that tapers out slightly along its length before narrowing again at its base. The upper part of the arrowhead has been decorated with 6 obliquely cut notches that alternate down either side of the body, while shaving marks are visible down the sides below. At its base, the tang has been fitted into the hollowed-out top of a yellow oval sectioned cane shaft (Pantone 7509C), with 5 segments along its body. A narrow strip of hide has been wrapped around to cover the junction of arrowhead and shaft, probably to prevent the latter splitting on impact; this has a pinkish red surface colour that may be traces of a fixative (Pantone 4715C). There is usually a similar binding around the lower shaft, but in this instance it is missing. The butt of the shaft has been nocked, with 2 deep rectangular notches cut into opposite sides. The arrow is nearly complete, lacking only its lower binding, and is in good condition. It has a weight of 34.7 grams and a total length of 1064 mm. The arrowhead has a visible length of 297 mm and a diameter of 9.2 mm, while the wooden shaft is 767 mm long, with a diameter of 9.3 by 8.6 mm, a nock length of 11 mm and an upper binding 20 mm long.

Collected by L. Gorringe at some time between 1902 and 1912, possibly from Darfung, and donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum by his wife, Mrs L. Gorringe.

For a group of bows collected by Gorringe, and possibly from the Burun, see 1944.10.28-34; for additional Burun arrows, see 1944.10.34-71.

Rachael Sparks 29/8/2005.

Primary Documentation:

Accession Book Entry [p. 375] - Mrs L. GORRINGE, Rosaries Farm, Ngong, Kenya . Specimens collected by her late husband, Captain L. Gorringe, M.C., in the ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN between 1902 and 1912. Undocumented. [p. 383] 1944.10.34-71 - [1 of ] Thirty-eight arrows, all of the same type: cane shafts deeply notched, not feathered, the heads ebony spikes tanged into the shaft and tapering to the point. Above the notch, which is almost immediately below a joint in the cane, and at the opposite end where the head is inserted, the shafts are bound with a narrow strip of thin membrane. The ebony heads are round in section and varying in length, the extremes being, from above the shaft binding to the tip, 4 1/4" (with long shaft) and 24 5/8" (with short shaft); all are carved towards the tip end, either with an all-over criss-cross pattern more or less shallowly incised, or with two rows of oblique notches cut alternately on the two sides of the point so as to give it a spiral turn. In a few specimens the shaft is incised in various patterns (owner’s marks?). Lengths varying between 3' 6 3/4" and 3' 1". Same data [Probably the BURUN of DAR FUNG]. (In some specimens the tips of the ebony heads are broken or the shaft bindings loose or missing).
Added Accession Book Entry [p. 382] - A21.F16.17-18 [red biro].

Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the object catalogue cards ['Weapons - offensive - Archery - Arrows' RTS 23/7/2004].

Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan. Probably Burun tribe of Darfung. Cane arrow with ebony head. Don. Mrs L. Gorringe. 1944.10.53 [plastic label, tied to object; RTS 5/7/2005].

Written on object - BURUN, DAR FUNG, A.-E. SUDAN. 1944.10.53 [RTS 5/7/2005].