IDNO

N.102192.MF

Description

Distant view of a Tallensi compound consisting of round adobe and pointed thatched huts walled in. In the centre of the photo is a man and in the background are hills.

Place

W Africa; Ghana; Upper East Region [Gold Coast; Northern Territories]

Cultural Affliation

Tallensi

Named Person

Photographer

?Fortes, Meyer

Collector / Expedition

Fortes, Meyer

Date

?September

Collection Name

Fortes Collection

Source

Drucker-Brown, Susan

Format

Glass Negative Halfplate

Primary Documentation

Other Information

N.102188.MF - N.102198.MF were kept in the box now numbered C552/.

Context: Fortes describes the landscape of the Tallensi, “The district of Zuarungu is a typical portion of the Trans-Volta Plateau. A number of bouldery hills from 100 to 500 feet high are scattered over is undulating surface. The most conspicuous are the Tong Hills, a small range stretching for about four miles just north of the river. It adds an attractive touch to an otherwise uninspiring landscape. A fringe of uninhabited bush, the home of a fair amount of game, follows the course of the two Voltas. From the Tong Hills the area of close settlement and perennial cultivation spreads out like a fan to the west, north and east. Gernerally speaking this settlement is relatively sparse and recent along the periphery of the area, except in the north to north-west segment, and densest and most ancient in the middle.” (Fortes, 1945, pp.3-4). [Alicia Fentiman, 29/4/2008].

Context: Fortes describes the architecture of a Tallensi homestead, “ The homesteads are solidly constructed of pile (puddled mud, tan), and they are built to last. Erecting the circular walls tier by tier, plastering them, roofing the rooms, stamping the floors, adding the small contrivances and the decorations that increase the comfort and attraction of a homestead, are all the tasks requiring considerable skill, care and cooperation...The conventional division of labour involves both sexes equally in the building of a homestead. Building and thatching is men’s work; plastering, drawing the crude lines and geometrical designs that decorate the walls, and stamping the floors into smooth, hard surfaces are all women’s work. According to its size and the number of workers available, from the commencement to the final touches, it takes from three weeks to two months of intermittent but often strenuous labour build a homestead. This falls chiefly on all its future occupants. All the members of the family, including the children, lend a hand. But co-members of the owner’s clan, especially of his own local segment and their wives, as well as kinsmen, affines, and friends, lend their services too, and this involves considerable expenditure of foodstuffs to reward them. (Fortes, 1949, p. 48) [Alicia Fentiman, 23/4/2008].

Bibliographical Reference: Fortes, Meyer, 1945. Dynamics of Clanship Among the Tallensi (London: Oxford University Press).

Bibliographical Reference: Fortes, Meyer, 1949. The Web of Kinship Among the Tallensi (London: Oxford University Press).

Bibliographical Reference: Fortes, Meyer, 1987. Religion, Morality and the Person: Essays on Tallensi Religion (London: Oxford University Press).

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Alicia Fentman, 29/4/2008]