Horn-tipped spear for comment and discussion

[Araña_del_Sol]

Hi all,

I was able to get my hands on interesting horn-tipped spear presumably from Sudan. I found one other thread in this forum's archives (link below) that discussed similar examples ascribing them to the Dinka, Shilluk, and Mandari peoples of Sudan. These ethnic and regional designations are consistent with the handful of museum specimens I could find (links below). However, my specimen has a faded "Unyoro" label painted on the shaft (third picture) which may suggest a Ugandan origin. Uganda is not too far away from Sudan and Nilotic speaking peoples originating in Sudan have migrated into Uganda over the last 4-5 centuries, such as the Karamojong people. However Nyoro people of the Unyoro (Bunyoro) kingdom are a Bantu people. Does anyone know of any sources suggesting the use of horn-tipped spears by the Nyoro and any other Bantu-speaking peoples? Thanks

Forum reference:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.phpt=24958&highlight=horn+spear

Museum:
https://hoodmuseum.dartmouth.edu/objects/48.66.11056
https://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/southernsudan/details.php-a=1929.58.1&show=1929.58.1_a.jpg.html
https://southernsudan.prm.ox.ac.uk/details.php-a=1936.10.1&show=1936.10.1_a.jpg.html

[Tim Simmons]

Looks good. I think these might well be found over a huge area of related peoples.

[Ian]

AdS,

Thanks for such a nice presentation of your spear, with internal and external references as well. I can't add to the discussion, but have a question. What animal do you think this fairly long piece of horn came from? I'm thinking perhaps an antelope or gazelle.

Ian

[Araña_del_Sol]

Hi Tim, thanks for you comment, it does make sense that material culture items including these spears probably spread far and wide.

Ian, the description of at least one of the museum specimens suggests that oryx antelope horns were typically used. Looking at a picture of an oryx, this seems like a reasonable source.

[AndreasM]

Congratulations. You outbid me at the auction. The length is always an issue for shipping.