Recovering the material and visual cultures of the southern Sudan: A museological resource

Project Description:

The cultures of Southern Sudan have been central to anthropological research and teaching since the publication of Evans-Pritchard’s classic works on the Zande and Nuer in the 1930s and 1940s. A number of collections from Evans-Pritchard and other figures in the history of the study of the cultures of the Southern Sudan are represented in the collections of the University of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum. This website provides access to a detailed catalogue of the collections from Southern Sudan held at the Pitt Rivers Museum, the University of Oxford's museum of anthropology and world archaeology. The Museum's holdings from Southern Sudan comprise more than 1300 artefacts and 5000 photographs. Together, the artefacts and photographs provide a major resource for studying the cultural and visual history of the region. The site also provides a map; annotated lists of cultural groups, collectors, photographers, and people portrayed in the photographs; and a set of further resources (relevant literature, websites, and a site bibliography). It will thus provide the research community with full access to the rich material and visual records held by the Museum and make possible and encourage further research.