Moru Misa stirrer
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1979.20.22
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Western Equatoria Lanyi
Cultural Group:
Moru Misa
Date Made:
1979
Materials:
Wood Plant
Process:
Carved , Perforated , Burnt
Dimensions:
L = 635, head L = 61.3, W = 71.8, th = 23, diam shaft = 12.2 mm [RTS 17/3/2005].
Weight:
91.8 g
Local Name:
Bari
Other Owners:
Made specifically for the expedition and purchased by Patti Langton for 15 piastres at Lanyi on 5th 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:
5 February 1979
Description:
Wooden stirring stick, made in 2 pieces, consisting of a broad head fitted at right angles onto a long narrow handle.
The head has been carved from a single piece of brown wood (Pantone 7504C), with a narrow flattened tip on a broad head with convex sides and a lentoid section.
The underside has been cut flat in a ^-shape.
This has been pierced through the centre, using a heated tool that has scorched the edges of the hole black.
The handle is fitted into this, made from a stick with its orangey brown bark mostly stripped off (Pantone 4635C), exposing the lighter yellow colour of the wood beneath (Pantone 7509C).
This has been cut flat at its base, and has been shaved to form a tapering upper shaft.
The two elements fit very tightly together.
The object is nearly complete, with a small section of the surface missing at the side of the head.
It has a weight of 91.8 grams, and is 635 mm long.
The head is 61.3 mm long, 71.8 mm wide, and 23 mm thick, while the shaft has a diameter of 12.2 by 11.5 mm.
Made specifically for the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Expedition to the Southern Sudan, and purchased by the project's director, Patti Langton for 15 piastres at Lanyi on 5th February 1979.
These sticks were used for stirring porridge, and are known locally as bari. The staple food across Southern Sudan is a "porridge cake" made from sorghum, sesame, millet or other grains. In nearby Lui, sorghum was the main ingredient.
Rachael Sparks 20/08/2005.
Made specifically for the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Expedition to the Southern Sudan, and purchased by the project's director, Patti Langton for 15 piastres at Lanyi on 5th February 1979.
These sticks were used for stirring porridge, and are known locally as bari. The staple food across Southern Sudan is a "porridge cake" made from sorghum, sesame, millet or other grains. In nearby Lui, sorghum was the main ingredient.
Rachael Sparks 20/08/2005.
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.
[pp 185 - 186] 1979.20.1 - 42 SOUTHERN SUDAN the MORU MISA The Moru Misa live about 100 miles west of Juba, the capital of the Southern Sudan.
Part of the collection was made in Lui, a small town which has had extensive church and missionary activity over the past 50 years (excluding the period of civil war) and which now boasts a church, a hospital and a number of schools.
The rest of the Moru Misa collection was made at Lanyi, 15 miles away, where the paramount chief of the area, Chief Elinama, arranged for people to bring artifacts for us to buy.
Although money is known to the Moru, its use is limited and the concept of selling belongings is foreign to them.
Hence the low prices and the relatively small number of artefacts.
The Moru Misa are a geographical section of the Moru people.
The Moru practice agriculture for subsistence; they do not keep cattle any longer.
[p.
189] 1979.20.22 - Wooden porridge stirrer,
bari
.
The staple food across Southern Sudan is a "porridge cake" made from sorghum, sesame, millet or other grains.
In Lui sorghum was the main ingredient.
L = 64 cm.
Coll.
in Lanyi where it was made for the collectors.
15 pt.
Coll.
no.
67.
Additional Accession Book Entry [in red biro under accession number] - A5-F32-17.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 2/6/2004].
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. Langton's list states that this object was collected on 5/2/79 [RTS 12/1/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan, Lanyi. MORU MISA tribe.. Wooden tool used for stirring porridge, Bari . Purch. P. Langton 1979, Langton No. 67, 1979.20.22 [plastic coated tag, tied to object; RTS 17/3/2005].
Written on object - S. SUDAN MORU MISA, Porridge stirrer. Pat Langton coll. 67, 1979.20.22 [RTS 17/3/2005].
Additional Accession Book Entry [in red biro under accession number] - A5-F32-17.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 2/6/2004].
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. Langton's list states that this object was collected on 5/2/79 [RTS 12/1/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan, Lanyi. MORU MISA tribe.. Wooden tool used for stirring porridge, Bari . Purch. P. Langton 1979, Langton No. 67, 1979.20.22 [plastic coated tag, tied to object; RTS 17/3/2005].
Written on object - S. SUDAN MORU MISA, Porridge stirrer. Pat Langton coll. 67, 1979.20.22 [RTS 17/3/2005].
