Southern Larim cup

1979.20.169

Sudan

[Southern Sudan] Eastern Equatoria Loryok

Southern Larim

23 March 1979

Gourd Plant , Charcoal

Hollowed , Dried , Decorated , Incised , Inlaid

Ht = 71, L = 135, W = 113, th walls = 2 mm [RTS 24/3/2005].

20.7 g

Made on 23rd March 1979, and purchased by Jill Goudie for 13 1/2 piastres from the base camp at Loryok for the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Expedition to the Southern Sudan, headed by Patti Langton, between 23rd and 25th March 1979 [RTS 12/5/2004

Jill Goudie

Patti Langton

Purchased 1979

23 - 25 March 1979

Hemispherical gourd cup with a narrow flat-topped rim, slightly pinched in on one side with a small spout opposite, following the natural shape of the original gourd's base and neck. This is roughly oval in plan view. The interior is a matt yellowish cream colour (Pantone 7507C), with some black discolouration, while the exterior is a smooth orangey yellow colour (Pantone 1355C). The upper part of the outer walls have been decorated with incised decoration, inlaid with charcoal to make the pattern stand out from the lighter coloured body. These consist of two rows of decoration, with each row comprising a horizontal line with a triangle pendant from it, point facing downwards and filled with crosshatching. These rows are mostly parallel, but come closer together near the spouted edge of the rim; the execution is irregular, with some hatching lines spilling beyond their triangular frames. The cup is complete, but damaged on one side where it has been badly burnt, removing part of the surface skin, with some minor scorching elsewhere. The black marks on the interior could have come from the fingers of the craftsperson as they held the vessel while applying the charcoal infill for the decoration; it is noticeable that these tend to occur around the upper part of the interior walls rather than the centre of its base. It has a weight of 20.7 grams, and is 71 mm high, 134 mm long and 113 mm wide; the walls are 2 mm thick.

Made on 23rd March 1979, and purchased at Loryok sometime between 23rd and 25th March 1979 by Jill Goudie, an archaeologist who was part of the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Expedition to the Southern Sudan, headed by Patti Langton.

This vessel was used as a drinking cup; its local name was not recorded. It is similar in style to handleless drinking cup 1979.20.164, which is also from the Southern Larim and said to be used by men, women and children for drinking water. Gourd vessels are decorated by Larim women, who incise the patterns into the surface with a needle then rub charcoal over the lines to colour them. This differs from Dinka gourd decoration, where charcoal is used to mark out the designs, which are cut in with an iron needle then scored using a heated spear or knife blade, as seen on examples such as 1979.20.91.

Rachael Sparks 17/8/2005.

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 [210] 1979.20.169 Drinking gourd, made on 23.3.79. L = 13.5 cm. Coll. no. ∆13; Cost 13 1/2 pt.
Additional Accession Book Entry [below accession number in red biro] - A5-F35-6.

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' [RTS 12/1/2004].

Written on object - 13 [in triangle, in pencil]; S. SUDAN, S. LARIM, P. Langton COLL. 13 [in triangle], 1979.20.169 [ink; RTS 23/3/2005].