Zande spear-head
Accession Number:
1934.8.121
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Western Equatoria Yambio
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1933
Materials:
Iron Metal
Process:
Forged (Metal) , Hammered , Socketed , Decorated , Incised , Punched
Dimensions:
Total L = 457, blade L = 232, W = 55.6, th = 4.8; upper shank W = 18, th = 17; socket diam = 21.5 x 20 mm [RTS 27/6/2005].
Weight:
595.0 g
Local Name:
? baso
Other Owners:
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife on 27th April 1933 during a shooting expedition
Field Collector:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton & Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Brayton)
PRM Source:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Acquired:
Donated 1934
Collected Date:
27th April 1933
Description:
Heavy iron spearhead made in a single piece, and consisting of a blade with pointed tip and slightly convex sides immediately below, tapering out to a narrow body with very slightly concave sides and angular shoulders.
The blade is thickened to form an angular midrib running down the centre on both sides, with these ribs extending beyond the base of the blade to merge with the solid shank.
The shank itself has four flat faces with bevelled edges, giving it an octagonal section.
Around 80 mm from the end, the iron has been hammered flat and then bent to form a socket with an open seam running down the front.
There is a raised ridge running around the circumference some 10 mm from the end of the socket, and a circular depression just above this that is probably an unfinished hole (see 1930.86.14 for an example with the hole completed).
The base of the blade and upper part of the shank bear simple incised designs on both faces.
These consist of a series of notches cut into the edge of the shoulders and shank, and a row of opposing oblique lines running down the line of the midrib between, with a larger ^-shaped design cut into the base of this section as a framing device.
The object is complete and intact; there are a few minor nicks on the edge of the blade, suggesting the spearhead has seen some use, and traces of rust over the surface, particularly where a label had formerly been attached.
The surface is currently a dark brownish gray colour and largely matt (Pantone 440C).
It has a weight of 595.0 grams and is 457 mm long, with a blade length of 232 mm, width of 55.6 mm and thickness of 4.8 mm; the solid part of the shank is 18 mm wide and 17 mm thick, while the socket has a base diameter of 21.5 by 20 mm.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Yambio on 27th April 1933 during a shooting expedition. It is said to be used for fighting.
An almost identical spearhead to this one was collected by Evans-Pritchard sometime between 1927 and 1930 (1930.86.14). 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 Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Yambio on 27th April 1933 during a shooting expedition. It is said to be used for fighting.
An almost identical spearhead to this one was collected by Evans-Pritchard sometime between 1927 and 1930 (1930.86.14). 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
[p.
248] 1934 [insert] 8 [end insert] -
MAJOR P.
H.
G.
POWELL-COTTON
, Quex Park, Birchington, E.
Kent.
Specimens collected by himself & Mrs Cotton, during hunting trips, 1933, viz: [...] [p.
260] - From the
ZANDE
tribe, LIRANGO, YAMBIO, DINGBA & TAMBURA [...] [insert] 121 [end insert] - Socketed iron fighting spear-head with shouldered blade, ib[idem] [YAMBIO] (896).
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 10/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Fighting spear-head. ZANDE, YAMBIO. 4° 34 N 28° 23 E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (896) [paper label, had been wrapped around object; found with object, in pieces, and removed to RDF for storage]; AFRICA, Sudan, Yambio. ZANDE tribe. Socketed iron spearhead. Coll. P.H.G. Powell-Cotton 27th April 1933 (896), don. 1934 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 24/6/2005].
Written on object - 1934.8.121. ZANDE [white ink; RTS 24/6/2005].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Zande Tribe". This object appears as item 896: “Fighting spearhead, socketed, 1' 5 7/8", blade 9", 27/4/33 Yambio, 4.34 N 28.23 E”. Also contains details of a cine film 'some tribes of the Southern Sudan', taken by Powell-Cotton during this 1933 expedition, copies of which are now in the National Film and Television Archive and the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent [RTS 14/3/2005].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 10/2/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - Fighting spear-head. ZANDE, YAMBIO. 4° 34 N 28° 23 E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (896) [paper label, had been wrapped around object; found with object, in pieces, and removed to RDF for storage]; AFRICA, Sudan, Yambio. ZANDE tribe. Socketed iron spearhead. Coll. P.H.G. Powell-Cotton 27th April 1933 (896), don. 1934 [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 24/6/2005].
Written on object - 1934.8.121. ZANDE [white ink; RTS 24/6/2005].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Zande Tribe". This object appears as item 896: “Fighting spearhead, socketed, 1' 5 7/8", blade 9", 27/4/33 Yambio, 4.34 N 28.23 E”. Also contains details of a cine film 'some tribes of the Southern Sudan', taken by Powell-Cotton during this 1933 expedition, copies of which are now in the National Film and Television Archive and the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent [RTS 14/3/2005].
