Southern Larim spoon

1979.20.171

Sudan

[Southern Sudan] Eastern Equatoria Loryok

Southern Larim

By March 1979

Wood Plant

Carved , Polished , ?Stained

L = 360 mm, L bowl = 90 mm, W bowl = 67 mm, Ht bowl = 23.3 mm, diam handle =14 mm, diam hole = 5 mm [RTS 14/6/2004].

71 g

Collected by Jill Goudie from the base camp at Loryok for the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Expedition to the Southern Sudan, headed by Patti Langton, between 20th and 25th March 1979 [RTS 12/5/2004].

Jill Goudie

Patti Langton

Purchased 1979

20 - 25 March 1979

Large spoon carved from a single piece of light yellowish to reddish brown wood, that is a darker brown colour at the top of the handle (Pantone 730 to 731). This variable colour may indicate that the wood has been stained. The handle has a pointed end with four sloping facets, then a narrow, long body below with a circular section. This has been pierced just below the top with a neat, circular hole, presumably so the spoon can be hung up. At the other end, the handle joins onto a shallow bowl with thin rim, concave hollowed out interior and convex underside. This bowl is lentoid in plan view, the end abutting the handle being quite markedly pointed, and the opposite side less so. On its underside, the handle continues to run along the base of the bowl as a tapering line that becomes a thin raised rib extending to the end of the object. The surface of the wood appears to have been polished. The spoon is complete and intact, weighs 71 grams and has a total length of 360 mm. The handle has a diameter of 14 mm; the hole through the top of this is 5 mm wide, while the bowl is 90 mm long, 67 mm wide and 23.3 mm high.

Collected at Loryok by Jill Goudie for the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Expedition to the Southern Sudan, headed by Patti Langton, between 20th and 25th March 1979.

Similar spoons are found amongst the Northern Larim, where they are made by specialist men and used for eating porridge and ground nut. There, the local name for the type is lowolol (see 1979.20.151-152).

Rachael Sparks 20/08/2005.

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 alootment of the collection do not appear on her list and have been added here. See Related Documents file as well. [p. 204] 1979.20.136 - 193 SOUTHERN SUDAN the LARIM The Larim live about 50 miles west of Kapoeta in the eastern corner of S. Sudan. They are a non-Nilotic pastoral people, living in permanent mountain villages. They are part of the Didinga-Longarim-Murle language group. They live in the Boya Hills - Boya is the Topasa (neighbouring group) name for the Larim, which is also used by the Administration. Longarim is the Didinga's name for them but they call themselves the Larim, and that is used here. [p. 205] The LARIM The collection was made in two parts. The "PL" labelled material was collected during Pat Langton's stay in a village in the Northern Larim area. The "∆" labelled material was collected by Jill Goudie, one of the archaeologists on the Expedition, from the base camp LARYOK, among the Southern Larim. Money is known among the Larim but it is used only for buying beads for women from Kapoeta, or for the few members of the group who would go to Juba. The women especially were more interested in exchange gifts of salt, cloth & soap. The Larim material is documented in three parts: a) General Larim pieces - no information as to which section of the Larim it comes from b) the "PL" Collection from the Northern Larim, from three of the eight Northern Larim clans c) the Southern Larim material collected by Jill Goudie, numbered "∆". [p. 210] 1979.20.163 - 193 SOUTHERN LARIM: Collected by Jill Goudie between 20.3 and 25.3.79 [p. 211] 1979.20.171 Wooden spoon. L = 35.7 cm. Coll. no. ∆19; added to list later.
Additional Accession Book Entry [above accession number in red biro] - A5-F36-2.

Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 26/5/2004].

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. This item appears in Langton's list under the heading 'Southern Larim. These were all collected between 20.3.79 and 25.3.79'; it has been added in by hand as 'wooden spoon'. It also appears at the end of this list as '[one of] 2 extra wooden spoons' annotated 'one is 28, north clan 2, other is south ∆19' [RTS 12/1/2004].

Written on object - 19 [in pencil, within a triangle; RTS 14/6/2004].