Description (Physical description)
Catalogue card description for D 1937.259 reads: 'Ebony throwing-stick, 3'0 1/2" long, pointed at both ends, with swelling at one end.'
Event Date
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Accession Register description for D 1937.259 reads: 'Ebony throwing stick.'
Event Date
Author: Annie Tomkins

Context (Acquisition Details)
The Arkell collection was first deposited at MAA in 1937. In 1954, some material was transferred and gifted to the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. The rest of the original deposit was gifted to MAA. New accession numbers were not assigned to the collection, so Arkell collection objects continue to be known by their D numbers, despite no longer being on deposit.
Event Date 1954
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
A wooden throwing stick made from ebony. Carved in relief from a single piece of wood; both ends are pointed. The head is wider and roughly oval with notched carvings at the base.
Event Date 16/2/2022
Author: Annie Tomkins

Context (Amendments / updates)
Cultural group field has been updated to reflect that while 'Shilluk' is a widely used ethnonym, the people themselves use the name 'Collo'.

Event Date 14/3/2022
Author: Zoe Cormack

Context (Field collection)
Howell describes being given a throwing stick matching this description by Reth Fafiti Wad Yor on 28/07/1937 in Kodok.

‘He [Fafiti Wad Yor] presented me with a throwing stick made of ebony which pleased me much. (The shilluk think you are not dressed properly without a stick)’ (SAD.71/10/14)

Event Date 14/3/2022
Author: Zoe Cormack

Context (Field collection)
This object is part of a group that was donated to MAA by Paul Philip Howell in 1937 following a study trip to Upper Nile Province (Sudan) that was funded by Trinity College, Cambridge (where he was a student).

The trip report shows that Howell was based at the town of Kodok (also known as Fashoda; now in Upper Nile State, South Sudan), where he stayed with his uncle Michael Pumphrey (who was Assistant District Commissioner, based at Kodok). From Kodok, he travelled on foot and by boat to neighbouring villages. He met and interviewed the Reth (Divine King) Fafiti Wad Yor on several occasions and also attended dances and a funeral celebration.

It is likely that most of the objects donated to MAA were acquired in the vicinity of Kodok. In the trip report, Howell mentions in passing acquiring some objects in the Kodok region, but there is no systematic record of what he acquired.

In his memoir (SAD.769/5/2-18), Howell writes that the trip lasted for two months. However, his report only covers a one-month period. Annotations on his photographs from the trip show that he visited other places in Sudan including the town of Wau (now in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, South Sudan).

Event Date 14/3/2022
Author: Zoe Cormack

Context (Related Documents)
A report from the trip on which this object was acquired has been deposited at the Sudan Archive, Durham University (SAD) among Howell’s papers. The trip report covers the period from 04/07/1937 - 02/08/1937 (SAD.71/10/1-24). Photographs from the trip are accessioned as SAD.765/22/1-11; SAD.59/4/1-97; SAD.59/5/1-96.

Fafiti Wad Yor, who may have given this object to Howell, is pictured smoking a pipe in SAD.59/4/90

Event Date 14/3/2022
Author: Zoe Cormack

Context (Amendments / updates)
The Collo name for this object and some additional information on its use was provided by Venansio Ayang (in consultation with Zoe Cormack). Venansio Ayang is a teacher and researcher of Collo culture based in Khartoum.
Event Date 25/3/2022
Author: Zoe Cormack