Dinka Tuich headrest
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1979.20.73
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Northern Bahr el Ghazal ?Dhangrial ?Wun Rog ?Mayen
Cultural Group:
Dinka Tuich
Date Made:
By 1979
Materials:
Wood Plant
Process:
Carved , Stained , Polished
Dimensions:
Ht = 155, seat L = 407, W = 112, leg base L = 95, W = 22 mm [RTS 2/6/2005].
Weight:
>1000 g
Local Name:
thoch [thôc]
Other Owners:
Purchased by Patti Langton for £1.50 on 19th February 1979 as part of the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Expedition to the Southern Sudan [RTS 15/6/2004].
Field Collector:
Patti Langton
PRM Source:
Patti Langton
Acquired:
Purchased 1979
Collected Date:
19 February 1979
Description:
Heavy wooden headrest, also used as a stool, carved from a single piece of yellowish brown wood (Pantone 465C) and consisting of a narrow sub-rectangular seat with rounded corners, slightly concave along its length and convex across its width, with a convex underside.
The seat juts out slightly over the rest of the body, which has four solid legs, carved separately from one another, and with flat-cut sides and base.
These splay down and outwards, and are positioned at either end of the seat in 2 pairs.
Unusually for Dinka stools, the feet rest flat on the ground.
Tool marks are visible over most surfaces, except for the upper part of the seat which has been well smoothed, at least partially through use.
There are also some worn patches on the edge of the seat and legs on one side.
The object is complete and intact, but has some minor cracks running across the legs and seat.
It weighs in excess of 1000 grams, and has a maximum height of 155 mm; the seat is 407 mm long and 112 mm wide, while the legs typically measure 95 by 22 across their bases.
Purchased by Patti Langton on 19th February 1979 for £1.50, as part of the British Institute in East Africa's expedition to the southern Sudan. The place of collection was not specified, but would have been either Dhangrial, Wun Rog or Mayen, all of which like in the modern administrative district of Northern Bahr el Ghazal. For a map showing the distribution of Dinka Tuich groups, see J. Ryle, 1982, Warriors of the White Nile: The Dinka , p. 25.
This object is known as thoch, and is used as a headrest, and by old men and women as a seat. Nebel defines the term thôc, as ‘stool’, and thoc as a verb, ‘sit down’ (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 88).
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Purchased by Patti Langton on 19th February 1979 for £1.50, as part of the British Institute in East Africa's expedition to the southern Sudan. The place of collection was not specified, but would have been either Dhangrial, Wun Rog or Mayen, all of which like in the modern administrative district of Northern Bahr el Ghazal. For a map showing the distribution of Dinka Tuich groups, see J. Ryle, 1982, Warriors of the White Nile: The Dinka , p. 25.
This object is known as thoch, and is used as a headrest, and by old men and women as a seat. Nebel defines the term thôc, as ‘stool’, and thoc as a verb, ‘sit down’ (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 88).
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
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 [insert] (the collectors) [end insert] were offering money, the Dinka in surrounding compounds came daily, increasing prices as often as they could! [p.
195] 1979.20.73 Wooden headrest,
thoch
, also used by old men and women to sit on.
Top L = 41 cm; Center H = 14.5 cm.
Coll.
19.2.79; £1.50.
Coll.
no.
172.
Additional Accession Book Entry [below accession number in red biro] - A5-F34-25.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 03/03/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - S. SUDAN, DINKA TUICH. Headrest/stool. Pat Langton coll., no. 172. 1979.20.73 [plastic label with metal eyelet, tied to object; RTS 2/6/2005].
Written on object - 172 [pencil, collector's mark]; S. SUDAN DINKA, P. Langton coll. 172. 1979.20.73 [white ink; RTS 2/6/2005].
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].
Additional Accession Book Entry [below accession number in red biro] - A5-F34-25.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 03/03/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - S. SUDAN, DINKA TUICH. Headrest/stool. Pat Langton coll., no. 172. 1979.20.73 [plastic label with metal eyelet, tied to object; RTS 2/6/2005].
Written on object - 172 [pencil, collector's mark]; S. SUDAN DINKA, P. Langton coll. 172. 1979.20.73 [white ink; RTS 2/6/2005].
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].
