Wood identification in objects of Bambuti people from the Congo in the collection of the Slovene ethnographic museum: Identifikacija lesa predmetov ljudstva Bambuti iz Konga v zbirki slovenskega etnografskega muzeja

Katarina Čufar; Hans Beeckman; Marko Frelih; Luka Krže; Wannes Hubau; Maks Merela

doi:10.26614/les-wood.2022.v71n02a04

Authors

Katarina Čufar University of Ljubljana
Hans Beeckman Royal Museum for Central Africa, Laboratory for Wood Biology, Leuvensesteenweg 13, B-3080 Tervuren, Belgium
Marko Frelih Slovene Ethnographic Museum, Metelkova ulica 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Luka Krže University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Wood Science and Technology, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana
Wannes Hubau 4Ghent University, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Gent
Maks Merela University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Wood Science and Technology, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26614/les-wood.2022.v71n02a04

Keywords:

museum objects, wood identification, Musanga cecropioides, Alstonia sp., Autranella congolensis, Nauclea diderichi, Xylopia sp., Africa

Abstract

The African collection of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum (SEM) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, holds objects of everyday life from the Bambuti people from the Ituri forest, in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The items were collected by the anthropologist Paul Joachim Schebesta, possibly during his expeditions around 1930. The objects containing wood were selected for wood identification by using microscopic wood identification, with the help of the InsideWood database and reference samples from the xylarium of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. The investigated musical instrument, a wooden zither, was made of wood of Musanga cecropioides, the handle of the shield of Alstonia sp., the dagger and sheath of Autranella congolensis or another high density species of Sapotaceae, and the crossbow of Nauclea diderichii (bow) and Xylopia sp. (stock). Wood identification helped us to gain additional information on the origin, knowledge of wood, and time of the collection of objects in the Congo.

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Author Biography

Wannes Hubau , 4Ghent University, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Gent

Ghent University, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Gent, Belgium

Royal Museum for Central Africa, Laboratory for Wood Biology, Leuvensesteenweg 13, B-3080 Tervuren, Belgium

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