Dinka Tuich jar
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1979.20.114
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Northern Bahr el Ghazal Mayen
Cultural Group:
Dinka Tuich
Date Made:
By 1979
Materials:
Gourd Plant
Process:
Hollowed , Dried , Decorated , Burnt , Pyroengraved Pokerwork
Dimensions:
Max Ht = 290, rim diam ext. = 85, diam int. = 75, rim th = 6, body diam = 265 mm [RTS 25/3/2005].
Weight:
294.3 g
Local Name:
rong myok
Other Owners:
Purchased by Patti Langton for £1 on 24th February 1979 as part of the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Expedition to the Southern Sudan [RTS 14/5/2004].
Field Collector:
Patti Langton
PRM Source:
Patti Langton
Acquired:
Purchased 1979
Collected Date:
24 February 1979
Description:
Gourd jar consisting of an inturned rim with bevelled edge sloping down to the mouth, on a deep globular body with convex sides and slightly flattened base; the vessel sits at a slight angle.
To shape this vessel, the pulpy interior of the plant was removed and the neck cut off, with the outer pale yellow surface skin removed from the exterior except for a few patches on the base (Pantone 7401C).
The walls are smooth and a deep orange colour (Pantone 7511C).
The rim has been blackened using a heated tool, and has a glossy surface (Pantone black 6C).
Further decoration was added to the upper body below this using a heated blade to cut a series of blackened motifs.
These are composed of short jagged lines, with groups of horizontal lines making up 3 bands around the circumference, each 3 to 6 lines thick.
The area between the upper 2 groups has also been filled with a zigzag, also made of multiple cuts.
The execution is somewhat irregular throughout.
The jar is complete and intact, with numerous bore holes on the interior walls attesting to insect activity.
It has a weight of 294.3 grams and is 290 mm high, with a rim diameter of 85 mm and a mouth diameter of 75 mm; the rim is 6 mm thick, and the body has a maximum width of 265 mm.
Purchased by Patti Langton at Mayen for £1 on 24th February 1979 as part of the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Expedition to the Southern Sudan. For a map showing the distribution of Dinka Tuich groups, see J. Ryle, 1982, Warriors of the White Nile: The Dinka , p. 25.
This vessel was used for storage, and has the local name of rong myok. Nebel defines the term rong as ‘stone of a fruit’, but it appears to be also used with modifying words in a variety of ways, e.g.: ‘rong nyin, eyeball; rong nòk, quill of a feather (A. Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 79). Miok is defined as ‘fat, oil’ (op.cit., p. 58). The term might imply that this gourd was used for storing fat based products. If this vessel was intended for storage, one would expect it to have been originally provided with some kind of lid. However the neck has no perforations for tying such a lid in place, and has not been cut with a serrated edge to fit a jigsaw-style lid; if there was originally a lid, it is not clear how this might have been fitted.
Dinka gourd vessels were decorated by women; the pattern was first marked out in charcoal, then using a type of needle called a with , before scoring over the marks using a heated spear or knife blade. The museum collection also includes an iron with, 1979.20.59.
Rachael Sparks 17/8/2005.
Purchased by Patti Langton at Mayen for £1 on 24th February 1979 as part of the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Expedition to the Southern Sudan. For a map showing the distribution of Dinka Tuich groups, see J. Ryle, 1982, Warriors of the White Nile: The Dinka , p. 25.
This vessel was used for storage, and has the local name of rong myok. Nebel defines the term rong as ‘stone of a fruit’, but it appears to be also used with modifying words in a variety of ways, e.g.: ‘rong nyin, eyeball; rong nòk, quill of a feather (A. Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 79). Miok is defined as ‘fat, oil’ (op.cit., p. 58). The term might imply that this gourd was used for storing fat based products. If this vessel was intended for storage, one would expect it to have been originally provided with some kind of lid. However the neck has no perforations for tying such a lid in place, and has not been cut with a serrated edge to fit a jigsaw-style lid; if there was originally a lid, it is not clear how this might have been fitted.
Dinka gourd vessels were decorated by women; the pattern was first marked out in charcoal, then using a type of needle called a with , before scoring over the marks using a heated spear or knife blade. The museum collection also includes an iron with, 1979.20.59.
Rachael Sparks 17/8/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
185] - 1979.20 (.1 - 206) P[urchase] MISS PATTI LANGTON, DEPT.
of ETHNOLOGY & PREHISTORY, OXFORD.
Collection made by Patti Langton during the British Institute in East Africa's expedition to the Southern Sudan; Jan.
- April 1979.
The collection was made in three culture areas during the dry season.
The amount paid for each object is listed if the information is known.
In Jan.
1979 £1 is equivalent to 95 piastres (pt.) Sudanese.
This documentation is based largely upon Patti's own list of objects and her notes on these.
Sometimes objects included in the Pitt Rivers alottment of the collection do not appear on her list and have been added here.
See Related Documents file as well.
[p.
191] 1979.20.43-135 SOUTHERN SUDAN the DINKA TUICH.
The Dinka Tuich, a pastoral people, live to the north of Wau, in Bahr el Ghazal province.
This collection was made mostly at Dhangrial, the archaeological site at which we camped.
Other artifacts were collected either at Wun Rog, a small town about a mile south of Dhangrial, or at Mayen, the new administrative centre 12 miles north.
This was a remote area, difficult of access and rarely visited by outsiders.
The Dinka are very aware of the potential of money, which is used either to help family members acquire education or entry into commerce and administration in Juba or Khartoum.
Once it was known we (the collectors) were offering money, the Dinka in surrounding compounds came daily, increasing prices as often as they could! [p.
201] 1979.20.114 Large gourd,
rong myok
; decorated around the rim.
Used for storage.
H = ca.
27.5 cm.; Diam.
mouth = 7.5 cm.
Purchased at Mayen, 24.2.79; £1.
Coll.
no.
291.
Additional Accession Book Entry [below accession number in red biro] - A5-F33-16.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 03/03/2004].
Related Documents File - 1979.20 contains a typed packing list, which has been annotated; a typed list of objects arranged by Langton collection numbers and with pencil and biro annotations, and a handwritten list of objects by museum number, essentially repeating this information and annotated with PRM photo numbers in red. This handwritten list seems to be the direct source for the accession book entry [RTS 12/1/2004].
Written on object - 291 [pencil]; S. SUDAN DINKA, P. Langton Coll. 291, 1979.20.114 [ink; RTS 23/3/2005].
Additional Accession Book Entry [below accession number in red biro] - A5-F33-16.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 03/03/2004].
Related Documents File - 1979.20 contains a typed packing list, which has been annotated; a typed list of objects arranged by Langton collection numbers and with pencil and biro annotations, and a handwritten list of objects by museum number, essentially repeating this information and annotated with PRM photo numbers in red. This handwritten list seems to be the direct source for the accession book entry [RTS 12/1/2004].
Written on object - 291 [pencil]; S. SUDAN DINKA, P. Langton Coll. 291, 1979.20.114 [ink; RTS 23/3/2005].
