African Poison arrows and quiver

[Kirsten]

I am hoping to find out about the possible identification of the arrow and quiver in the photo. I suspect it is from Nigeria or somewhere in Western Africa?
I think the arrows have poison behind the tips but I might be wrong. The shaft behind the tip there is a clay like substance.

Can anyone help with identifying these? Does anyone know how I would be able to test what the substance is or is it a case of sending it off for testing?

[ariel]

Just do not check whether poison is still there by pricking your finger

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Kirsten,
I will concur with that very astute advice. In the meantime, you have presented a most interesting topic, seldom discussed here. While I am not very familiar with the arrows used by tribes in Africa, I think your assessment to Nigeria would be generally well placed, especially as a good place to begin research. I think several of the members here will hopefully be more specific in identifying the quiver of arrows itself, and I would would like to offer some general research suggestions concerning poison arrows in Africa.

One of the key plants used in sub Saharan West Africa is the 'Strophanthus hispudis' which produces the poison 'inee' (onaye), though there are others such as Acokanthera, oleander and milkweeds.
I always thought the application of materia medica was fascinating in literature, and case in point, the Sherlock Holmes adventures by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Apparantly the governor of Nigeria presented a quiver of poison arrows to Sir Thomas Fraser sometime prior to 1890, and Fraser was a contributor to the British Medical Journal. It is believed that Fraser and Doyle had met and Fraser may have made certain suggestions to him concerning matters of these topics. I am not sure whether the poison arrows of Nigeria ever appeared in the Holmes stories, however, the curare arrows of South America did.

Some good references, which I would suggest obtaining via interlibrary (the way I obtained many over the years):

"Nigerian Panoply: Arms and Armour of the Northern Region"
A.D.H. Bivar, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies"
Vol.29, #13, 1966.

"The Arrow Poisons of Northern Nigeria"
L.W.LaChard 1905-06
"Journal of the African Institute" V
discusses poisons of Central Sudan and Hausaland, as cited in "African Arms and Armour" (Christopher Spring, London, 1993, p.46). These regions would have used primarily the same forms presumably as seen with the expected cultural diffusion.

"Notes on Some Native Objects from Northern Nigeria"
E.F.Martin, "Man" Vol.4, 1904 pp.19-20

Spring notes that sometimes the length of the arrows reflected whether they were poisoned or not, suggesting of course that arrows were not all poisoned. I think some of the references on African weapons, such as Fischer & Zirngibl and others that I hope the African weapons enthusiasts will specify will be the best resources to identify the arrows.

As for testing, I think probably contacting one of the universities and networking through thier chemistry or even better, forensics departments would be best possibilities in beginning. This is how I would begin, though I'm sure others here will have more direct courses to take.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to look into this most interesting topic. It was a very fair and well placed query which I felt deserved a response with some genuine thoughts that might be considered of interest to other readers who will hopefully find this topic as intriguing.

All very best regards,
Jim

[Jim McDougall]

Its really been interesting doing more reading on these poison arrows, so I hope I might add more to the notes I have already posted. There may be someone else interested in this topic either sometime soon or in the future, and if someone is inclined to use the search, the information might be helpful.

Apparantly the use of poison arrows dates well into the 15th century, with one of the first known instances of a European felled by one in 1447 near the mouth of the Gambia river in West Africa ("Alkaloids: Biochemistry, Ecology and Medicinal Applications", Margaret F.Roberts and Michael Wink).

Apparantly the poisons used had often complex and varying mixtures of components, and the authors note that "...the unique variety and complexity of African hunting poisons, together with a secrecy that appeared totally inseparable has made thier identification and investigation difficult".
The poisons mentioned as primary in these compositions seem to have had other substances added for various purposes, such as adherence to the weapon, as well as to increase toxicity, not to mention certain magically regarded properties.
It is noted that the poison was typically placed behind the tip, so that the fresh poison would not be stripped away as it penetrated the skin.
The barb seems to have the obvious purpose of keeping the arrowhead in the victim, even if shaft is broken off leaving the poisonous material in place.

I have not yet been able to find examples of arrows resembling closely enough these examples, however I did find that unfletched arrows are common across the Sudan, and it is noted that the quivers range from simple hide pouches to wood and leather cylinders (Grayson archery collection, University of Missouri, Museum of Anthropology, Columbia, Mo. 2006).
It is noted in this material that without use of powerful poisons, the African arrows tend to be relatively weak and ineffective. This seems like a rather vague statement considering the wide variety of arrows over many tribes covering an entire continent, however it seemed worthy of note.

In "Economic History of Tropical Africa" by Z. Konczacki and J.Konczacki, there are references to early iron arrowheads with single barbs in the Sudan, but the reference was unclear and was made noting that these 'typical' Sudanic iron arrows were not found in archaeology in Meroe regions from 3rd c. AD.

Hopefully some of these references may be found helpful for anyone seriously pursuing study on the topic of poison arrows in West Africa.

[Tim Simmons]

Thanks Jim, I have ordered-"Nigerian Panoply: Arms and Armour of the Northern Region" an old library book with a soft cover described as acceptable condition £20 clearly an uncommon book.

These look quite different from Bushman "San" arrows "also poisoned" as does the scabbard.

[fearn]

Three tid-bits I'd offer:

1. The word "toxic" in English has the same root as "Taxus" (the genus of the yew tree). Yews can be used to make bows, and "toxikon" was a poison used on arrows--possibly from yews, possibly not. Arrow poisons are old in Europe, but they seem to have fallen out of favor around the time of the Roman Empire.

2. There is a three-volume set of books titled The Traditional Bowyer's Bible that discusses various aspects of African archery. There was substantial variation in archery technology across the technology, and there is one anecdote of an east african hunter whose normal hunting bow was as good as the competition bow that a white hunter had brought along to practice with. So some African bows were probably as good as any wooden bow in the world, and others were weak, and depended on arrow poisons for efficacy.

3. It's always worth watching The Gods Must be Crazy again. If you've seen it, you know which sequence I'm talking about. The !Kung-San poison(ed) their arrows.

F

[Jim McDougall]

Thanks very much for responding guys!
Tim, that really is an interesting reference, and I only have photocopies of it. Its been a while since I've seen it, but the material I think has some detail on the arrows. I'm surprised you found it and good move on snagging it!

As I mentioned, I'm not all that familiar with arrows, especially not African and poisoned types, but I've really enjoyed learning in this research. I did see some arrows shown that were similar from Tanzania, and curiously there seemed differentiation with the single downward barb being termed 'male' and the full arrowhead form with of course symmetrical downward barbs being termed 'female'. These head shapes remind me a lot of harpoons, which came up in some interesting research from a number of months ago ( saw "Moby Dick" and my usual curiosity went into overdrive!).

I havent been able to find a reference that provides any comprehensive material on arrowhead typology in African weapons, mostly just bits here and there addressing weapons of specific tribes and regions. I was wondering if any of the references you often cite here might have such detail.


Fearn, absolutely great 'tidbits'! and these really add interesting dimension to this look into these weapons. I always find it fascinating to discover that in many cases the etymology of terms referring to certain weapons often include the names or derivatives of the botanical species used in the components. This is a great addition to notes on that subject. Others I can think of offhand are the 'assegai' which I think has to do with the wood of the shaft, the 'dudgeon dagger' in Scotland with dudgeon being a term for the boxwood used in the hilt. There are quite a few others I believe and that would make for an excellent thread topic.

The Bowyers Bible reference sounds like an oustanding source for in depth study on archery and it seems it came up a couple of times in the reading I did for this.

I haven't seen "The Gods Must be Crazy" but sounds pretty funny, was that a Mel Brooks film?

Thanks again for joining in with me! To me researching weapons is great adventure, and its a lot more fun with company!

All very best regards,
Jim

[Kirsten]

Thanks for all your input, it is much appreciated, and I am pleased that I have sparked a lively topic.
I have to agree that I also considered the quiver and arrows to be from Sudan. There are similar examples in the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford England,
which were obtained by John Petherick in the Sudan in 1858 and shipped back to England in 1859.

I am an MA student at Lincoln University(UK) and have just been given this object to work on and conserve. So I am doing some research on it and trying to find out as much about it as possible.
So all input is very much appreciated.
Kirsten Strachan

[Norman McCormick]

Hello,
Apparently poison was still being used in Europe, specifically Spain, in the 16th and early 17th centuries when hunting game. Ralph Payne-Gallwey in his Book of the Crossbow cites examples from a work on field sports in Spain written by Alonzo Martinez Del Espinar, 1644. The poison in question is made from the root of the White Hellebore, I've actually got some of this stuff growing in the garden !!!!, which should be washed, pounded and pressed to extract the juice which then has to be strained, boiled and reduced to a viscous syrup. To test the poison you get a needle and thread, pass the thread through the poison syrup then pierce the foot of a chicken with the needle until it bleeds then draw the thread through the foot. In the time of saying 'Credo' the bird will nod and in a short time die. This poison seems to have been pretty strong as it was used to kill amongst other beasts, full grown stags. It was known as the 'Crossbowman's herb' and was smeared on the arrow shaft from the point downwards for five or six finger breadths then a strip of thin linen was wound around the poisoned part to which it adhered without the need for glue, there doesn't seem to be an explanation for the linen wrap but I suspect it was to either protect the bowman from the poison or the poison from being deposited in places it shouldn't be until use.
Regards,
Norman.

[Jim McDougall]

This has indeed proven a lively topic Kirsten, and hope the notes posted here will provide useful data to add to the research you are doing. I would really like to hear more as your project develops, and you are fortunate if you have access to the valuable resources at Pitt-Rivers.

I wonder if the clay like substance on the shaft might have been intended as an absorbant to hold the poison?

Norman, thank you for the information on European use of poison in hunting. It does seem that Spain held on to weapons and traditions much longer than most European countries, and it seems even used plug bayonets well into the 19th century. The suggestion of the use of poison in European swords and daggers has always intrigued me, and I've often wondered just how much of it was true and how much was simply hyperbole.

The wrapping of the segment of shaft holding the poison seems like a very plausible way to prevent accidental removal or inadvertant self poisoning as you suggest. It seems like one of the Tanzanian poison arrows I saw in one of the references was wrapped with something in this manner.

All best regards,
Jim