Zande spear
Accession Number:
[1917.25.24]
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] ?Northern Bahr el Ghazal ?Western Bahr el Ghazal ?Warab ?El Buheyrat ?Western Equatoria
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1917
Materials:
Iron Metal
Local Name:
? baso
Other Owners:
Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson, probably collected in the period immediately before World War I (1909-1914) [RTS 1/6/2004].
Field Collector:
Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson
PRM Source:
Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson
Acquired:
Donated 1917
Collected Date:
By 1917
Description:
Iron spear blade, for hunting elephant.
Collected by Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson, probably between 1909 and 1914, in the Bahr el Ghazal region of the Southern Sudan.
According to Brock, the Zande used to hunt elephants by setting areas of grass on fire, but by 1918 this had been forbidden, and they had begun to spear elephants from trees, using heavily weighted spears, treated with poison (R.G.C. Brock, "Some Notes on the Zande Tribe as Found in the Meridi District", Sudan Notes and Records 1, 1918, 256-7). Larken describes the Zande spear as follows: "A Zande carries a spear ( baso) or a club (kere). The former has a blade from fourteen to eighteen inches long, and about three inches broad at its widest point. It has a socket of four or five inches, into which the haft ( para) fits. Both edges are kept sharp, as it is often used as a billhook or knife, but the blade is not polished, nor is any covering or sheath used. The haft is about six feet long and an inch or less in thickness. It is made from the heart of a tree called bakiwe, though if a young bamboo is available it will be used. A binding of narrow flat bands of beaten brass, copper, or iron is sometimes applied to one end or the other. One end of the haft is cut to a point and inserted in the socket of the spear, and sometimes fixed there by a nail. On the other is usually a small iron shoe, called suguru, which is used to dig up roots, or to make holes for posts when house building. Smaller spears are made for boys, and heavier ones for hunting elephant or buffalo. Only one spear is usually carried" (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p. 39).
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
Collected by Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson, probably between 1909 and 1914, in the Bahr el Ghazal region of the Southern Sudan.
According to Brock, the Zande used to hunt elephants by setting areas of grass on fire, but by 1918 this had been forbidden, and they had begun to spear elephants from trees, using heavily weighted spears, treated with poison (R.G.C. Brock, "Some Notes on the Zande Tribe as Found in the Meridi District", Sudan Notes and Records 1, 1918, 256-7). Larken describes the Zande spear as follows: "A Zande carries a spear ( baso) or a club (kere). The former has a blade from fourteen to eighteen inches long, and about three inches broad at its widest point. It has a socket of four or five inches, into which the haft ( para) fits. Both edges are kept sharp, as it is often used as a billhook or knife, but the blade is not polished, nor is any covering or sheath used. The haft is about six feet long and an inch or less in thickness. It is made from the heart of a tree called bakiwe, though if a young bamboo is available it will be used. A binding of narrow flat bands of beaten brass, copper, or iron is sometimes applied to one end or the other. One end of the haft is cut to a point and inserted in the socket of the spear, and sometimes fixed there by a nail. On the other is usually a small iron shoe, called suguru, which is used to dig up roots, or to make holes for posts when house building. Smaller spears are made for boys, and heavier ones for hunting elephant or buffalo. Only one spear is usually carried" (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p. 39).
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[VI, p.
54] - 1917 [pencil insert] 25 [end insert]
MAJOR R.G.
GAYER-ANDERSON
, R.A.M.C.
The Lodge, Old Marston, Oxon [pencil insert] 24 [end insert] - Blade of elephant spear, of iron, Niam Niam, Bahr-el-Gazal.
Additional Accession Book Entry [page opposite 54] - A gift to the Pitt Rivers Museum in memory of Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson, Pasha, his twin brother Colonel J.G. Gayer-Anderson, C.M.G., D.S.O.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 10/2/2004].
Related Documents File - Two letters dated 30/03/1917 and 13/04/1917 from the donor to Henry Balfour regarding the donation of the collection to the museum [EB 12/11/2001]. These indicate that the material was collected by Robert Gayer-Anderson himself, chiefly from the areas of Nuba, Kordofan and Bahr el Ghazal during 5 years he spent in the Sudan, and that they were given to the museum as an unconditional gift [RTS 5/12/2003]. The note in the accession book calling this gift 'in memory of' R.G. Gayer-Anderson is therefore somewhat enigmatic, as both Robert and his twin brother (Thomas G., not J.G.) were alive at the time of the transfer [RTS 5/12/2003].
Additional Accession Book Entry [page opposite 54] - A gift to the Pitt Rivers Museum in memory of Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson, Pasha, his twin brother Colonel J.G. Gayer-Anderson, C.M.G., D.S.O.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 10/2/2004].
Related Documents File - Two letters dated 30/03/1917 and 13/04/1917 from the donor to Henry Balfour regarding the donation of the collection to the museum [EB 12/11/2001]. These indicate that the material was collected by Robert Gayer-Anderson himself, chiefly from the areas of Nuba, Kordofan and Bahr el Ghazal during 5 years he spent in the Sudan, and that they were given to the museum as an unconditional gift [RTS 5/12/2003]. The note in the accession book calling this gift 'in memory of' R.G. Gayer-Anderson is therefore somewhat enigmatic, as both Robert and his twin brother (Thomas G., not J.G.) were alive at the time of the transfer [RTS 5/12/2003].
