DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49517#0396
304
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
red or green. The rawhide in the case of the sandals was sometimes decorated with an im-
pressed pattern of rocked dots and lines. The diagonal bed-stringing was done with narrow
strips of ox-hide without the hair. The stool-stringing was usually of strips of goat-hide
with the hair on, and in some cases of strips of both black and white or brown and white
so strung as to present a checkered effect.
(1) Skirts of leather
The leather skirts were of thin well-cured skin which was originally very pliable, as was
shown by a few well-preserved bits. I was unable to determine the animal from which the
skin was taken, but among the animals known to these people, the goat, the sheep, and the
gazelle would have yielded skins suitable to the production of this leather. The skirt
reached from the waist to about the knees and was gathered at the waist by a string passed
through a hem. The waist-hem was often cut out in little gores to show the drawstring,
and in each of the gores one or two beads of shell, gold, or silver, were threaded on the
string. In other cases the hem was decorated externally with strings of beads of various
kinds, and at least one skirt was ornamented with a network of beads down the front and
sides.
The skirts appeared to have been made in two ways, but the fragmentary condition of
most of them left some doubt as to the second of these two ways: (i) consisted of narrow
strips of leather and (ii) consisted of one or two pieces of leather. In the former skirt the
strips were about 1 to 2 cm. wide at the waist and widened gradually to 4 to 6 cm. at the
lower edge; they were sewn with fine thread in a very neat under and over stitch; the gores
for the beads on the waist-band appeared to have been left between the strips of leather.
Some of the strips bore a reddish stain and either the skirt was stained red or alternate
strips were red with the intervening strips of another color. Some of the large-piece skirts
were decorated with a punched or cut pattern, but as the pieces found were small, the ex-
tent of the skirt covered by the pattern is uncertain. The recovered pieces were on the
pelvis and appeared to be from the side of skirts.
The leather skirt seemed to be the common garment of the Kerma woman just as the
leather rahat (or string-skirt) at the present day is the usual garment for unmarried girls.
Certainly a large part of the female sacrifices, even the principal ones, wore this garment;
and a great many more examples are to be inferred than are listed below.
(a) Skirt of sewn strips.
The certain examples are given here, but some of those listed under (&) below, were
probably also of sewn strips. (Pl. 66, 1, Nos. 4, 5.)
1. K X B: 165, 169, 200, on thighs of bodies ZB, CC, JC; stained red.
2. K 1012, K 1014, K 1025, K 1053. Four skirts.
3. K 1802: 3. Skirt with beaded drawstring.
(b) Leather skirts.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
K 332: 4, 7. Fragments of two skirts associated with bead girdles.
K 334: i. Fragments of skirt associated with many beads.
K 403: 1. Large-piece skirt, puckered at drawstring, no beads.
K X B. On bodies HC, PC, PG, LI, IK, DL.
K 1015, K 1032 (two), K 1036, K 1091 (three).
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
red or green. The rawhide in the case of the sandals was sometimes decorated with an im-
pressed pattern of rocked dots and lines. The diagonal bed-stringing was done with narrow
strips of ox-hide without the hair. The stool-stringing was usually of strips of goat-hide
with the hair on, and in some cases of strips of both black and white or brown and white
so strung as to present a checkered effect.
(1) Skirts of leather
The leather skirts were of thin well-cured skin which was originally very pliable, as was
shown by a few well-preserved bits. I was unable to determine the animal from which the
skin was taken, but among the animals known to these people, the goat, the sheep, and the
gazelle would have yielded skins suitable to the production of this leather. The skirt
reached from the waist to about the knees and was gathered at the waist by a string passed
through a hem. The waist-hem was often cut out in little gores to show the drawstring,
and in each of the gores one or two beads of shell, gold, or silver, were threaded on the
string. In other cases the hem was decorated externally with strings of beads of various
kinds, and at least one skirt was ornamented with a network of beads down the front and
sides.
The skirts appeared to have been made in two ways, but the fragmentary condition of
most of them left some doubt as to the second of these two ways: (i) consisted of narrow
strips of leather and (ii) consisted of one or two pieces of leather. In the former skirt the
strips were about 1 to 2 cm. wide at the waist and widened gradually to 4 to 6 cm. at the
lower edge; they were sewn with fine thread in a very neat under and over stitch; the gores
for the beads on the waist-band appeared to have been left between the strips of leather.
Some of the strips bore a reddish stain and either the skirt was stained red or alternate
strips were red with the intervening strips of another color. Some of the large-piece skirts
were decorated with a punched or cut pattern, but as the pieces found were small, the ex-
tent of the skirt covered by the pattern is uncertain. The recovered pieces were on the
pelvis and appeared to be from the side of skirts.
The leather skirt seemed to be the common garment of the Kerma woman just as the
leather rahat (or string-skirt) at the present day is the usual garment for unmarried girls.
Certainly a large part of the female sacrifices, even the principal ones, wore this garment;
and a great many more examples are to be inferred than are listed below.
(a) Skirt of sewn strips.
The certain examples are given here, but some of those listed under (&) below, were
probably also of sewn strips. (Pl. 66, 1, Nos. 4, 5.)
1. K X B: 165, 169, 200, on thighs of bodies ZB, CC, JC; stained red.
2. K 1012, K 1014, K 1025, K 1053. Four skirts.
3. K 1802: 3. Skirt with beaded drawstring.
(b) Leather skirts.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
K 332: 4, 7. Fragments of two skirts associated with bead girdles.
K 334: i. Fragments of skirt associated with many beads.
K 403: 1. Large-piece skirt, puckered at drawstring, no beads.
K X B. On bodies HC, PC, PG, LI, IK, DL.
K 1015, K 1032 (two), K 1036, K 1091 (three).