Sudanese, presumably Ingessana, Throwing Club, Southern Sudan

Anthony Ralph, London
Acquired from the above on December 10, 1984

Sudanese throwing clubs such as the Stone example are exceedingly rare. A closely related throwing club is preserved in the Pitt-Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford, England (inv. no. "1944.10.24").  This club was collects ed by L. Gorringe in the Sudan between 1902 and 1912 and donated to the Pitt-Rivers Museum in 1944.

According to Rachael Sparks (September 30, 2005, quoted after http://southernsudan.prm.ox.ac.uk/details/1944.10.24/), "similar throwing sticks, called luny, were used by the Ingessana in hunting and warfare - see C. Spring, 1993, African Arms and Armour, fig. 69, p. 77 and R. Boccassino, 1960, "Contributo allo studio della ergologia delle popolazioni nilotiche e nilo-camitiche, Annali Lateranensi XXIV, fig. 32a-e. It may also be related in some way to the flat bladed weapon collects ed from the Murle by Petherick ([Pitt-Rivers inv. no.] 1884.12.8)."