Northern Larim spoon

Other views of this artifact:

Accession Number:

1979.20.151

Country:

Sudan

Region:

[Southern Sudan] Eastern Equatoria Tiringot

Cultural Group:

Northern Larim

Maker:

Made by 'specialist men' [RTS 14/6/2004].

Date Made:

By 1979

Materials:

Wood Plant

Process:

Carved , Polished

Dimensions:

L = 340 mm, L bowl = 93 mm, W bowl = 62 mm, Ht bowl = 20.3 mm, W handle = 4.5 mm, Th handle = 4 mm, diam hole = 5 mm [RTS 14/6/2004].

Weight:

50 g

Local Name:

lowolol [titiboch]

Other Owners:

Purchased by Patti Langton for 50 piastres on 23rd March 1979 at Tiringot for the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Expedition to the Southern Sudan [RTS 12/5/2004].

Field Collector:

Patti Langton

PRM Source:

Patti Langton

Acquired:

Purchased 1979

Collected Date:

23 March 1979

Description:

Spoon carved from a single piece of light yellowish brown coloured titiboch tree wood (Pantone 7510C) and then polished. This has been cut almost flat at the top, and has a long handle with irregularly oval section. The side of this are quite irregular, giving the handle a slight curvature, and there are several indentations in the surface where the craftsman has encountered knots in the wood. The handle has been pierced just below the top with a circular hole, bored at a slight angle; presumably this is 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. A flat notch has been cut into the upper face of the handle where it joins the bowl. The spoon is complete and intact, weighs 50 grams, and is 340 mm long. The handle measures 4.5 by 4 mm; the hole through the top has a diameter of 5 mm, while the bowl of the spoon is 93 mm long, 62 mm wide and 20.3 mm high.

Purchased by Patti Langton at Tiringot for 50 piastres on 23rd March 1979 at Tiringot for the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Expedition to the Southern Sudan. This is part of the Koyok clan area.

This spoon was made by specialist men, and used for eating food such as porridge and ground nut; the local name for it is lowolol, and it was made from the wood of the titiboch tree. It is very similar in size and design to 1979.20.171, from the southern Larim.

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 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 "∆". 1979.20.149 - 154 NORTH LARIM/BOYA; KOYOK CLAN AREA, TIRINGOT VILLAGE; 23-3-79. [p. 208] 1979.20.151 Light-colored [sic] wooden spoon used for eating porridge, groud [sic] -nut, etc., lowolol . Made from the titiboch tree. L = 34 cm. Coll. no. PL 27. Cost 50 pt.
Additional Accession Book Entry [below accession number in red biro] - A5-F35-13.

Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 25/5/2004].

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 'Purchased in Koyok clan area, Tiringot village', as 'wooden spoon used for eating porridge, groundnut etc. Made by specialist men. Spoon LOWOLOL . Made from the Titiboch tree '. This object appears on a packing list, under 'Box 2. Longarim. [one of] 3 spoons' [RTS 12/1/2004].