Dinka Tuich anklet
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1979.20.69
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Northern Bahr el Ghazal ?Dhangrial ?Wun Rog ?Mayen
Cultural Group:
Dinka Tuich
Date Made:
By 1979
Materials:
Aluminium Metal
Process:
Recycled , Cast , Hammered , Incised
Dimensions:
L = 112 mm, W = 86 mm, inside edges W = 86 mm, W rod 12.8 mm, Th rod = 13 mm [RTS 24/5/2004].
Weight:
94.1 g
Local Name:
baau chok [bau côk]
Other Owners:
Purchased by Patti Langton for £1.75 on 19th 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:
19 February 1979
Description:
Penannular anklet cast from recycled aluminium.
This consists of an oval loop with wide open ends, 38 mm apart, formed from a rod with flat upper surface and convex sides and base.
The ends are flat and roughly finished.
The anklet is decorated with incised designs near either end, mirroring each other; these designs run around the top, outer side and base areas.
They consist of three chevrons running around the circumference, then a band of crosshatching that has worn away on the flat upper surface.
The wear suggests that this anklet may have been worn with the flat surface rubbing against something, possibly a second anklet.
The fact that the other side is convex, not flat might indicate that this was intended to be the uppermost or lowermost anklet in a set of several; note that unlike this example, otherwise similar anklets 1979.20.67 and 1979.20.68 are flat on both of these surfaces.
It was most likely worn with 1979.20.68, which has identical decoration and is of comparable size.
The object has probably been polished but tool marks remain on the curved surfaces, and there are some toothed impressions at either end that may be the result of gripping the soft metal with a tool during the shaping process.
The anklet is complete and intact, with the metal currently a light grey colour (Pantone 420C).
It measures 112 by 86 mm across the outer edges, and 86 mm across the inside edges, while the rod from which the object has been made is 12.8 mm wide and 13 mm thick, with a weight of 94.1 grams.
Purchased by Patti Langton on 19th February 1979 for £1.75, 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.
These type of anklets are made by Dinka blacksmiths from recycled metal containers. They are worn by young girls and sometimes by women; the collector was not aware of any particular significance to the different patterns that are used to decorate them. They are called baau chok, and smaller versions worn as bracelets are called bau chin. Nebel defines the term Bau as ‘aluminium’ and Côk as 'foot'; (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 15, 20); chin is probably the same term as Nebel's ciin, pl. cin, meaning hand or finger (op. cit., p. 19).
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, Case 26A.
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Purchased by Patti Langton on 19th February 1979 for £1.75, 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.
These type of anklets are made by Dinka blacksmiths from recycled metal containers. They are worn by young girls and sometimes by women; the collector was not aware of any particular significance to the different patterns that are used to decorate them. They are called baau chok, and smaller versions worn as bracelets are called bau chin. Nebel defines the term Bau as ‘aluminium’ and Côk as 'foot'; (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 15, 20); chin is probably the same term as Nebel's ciin, pl. cin, meaning hand or finger (op. cit., p. 19).
Currently on display in the Upper Gallery, Case 26A.
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 (the collectors) were offering money, the Dinka in surrounding compounds came daily, increasing prices as often as they could! "1979.20.67-69 Three aluminium anklets,
baau chok
.
Made by a Dinka blacksmith from recycled metal containers.
These are worn by young girls and sometimes by women.
Different patterns on anklets seem to have no significance.
Smaller ones can be worn as bracelets (
bau chin
).
Coll.
19-2-79; £1.75 each.
Coll.
no.
148.
[1979.20].69 L= 11.2 cm.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [MdeA 30/3/1998].
RDF 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. A note in Langton's list for number 148 indicates that bau is the Dinka word for ring [RTS 12/1/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [MdeA 30/3/1998].
RDF 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. A note in Langton's list for number 148 indicates that bau is the Dinka word for ring [RTS 12/1/2004].
