{"id":"APPLEGATE1974-001","label":"The antap's warning at Ventura","people_or_site":"Ventureño Chumash, the ravine 'antap behind Ventura","country_current":"United States","historic_region":"California, Ventura County, San Buenaventura","macroregion":"North America / California","local_name":"","source_term":"bullroarer","source_language":"English","object_description":"Bullroarer swung by the 'antap, the initiated members of the Chumash ceremonial society.","function_summary":"Swung by the 'antap in ceremonies to warn the uninitiated of supernatural goings-on.","attestation_type":"ethnographic_attestation","source_key":"applegate1974_chumash_placenames","source_type":"scholarly_article","source_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3s34f5ss","page_or_plate":"p. 199","map_confidence":"medium","plot_status":"plot","coordinate_basis":"The ravine 'immediately behind the town of Ventura' named 'antap (p. 199), placed in the hills just north of Mission San Buenaventura; Applegate gives the bullroarer use for Chumash ceremonials generally and the ritual entry for this ravine.","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"When the Chumash held their great ceremonies, the 'antap swung the bullroarer to warn the uninitiated that the supernatural was abroad. The 'antap were the initiates, the members of the society that owned the sacred dances, and their name clung to places. A ravine just behind the town of Ventura was called 'antap: through it many dancers made their ritual entry onto the dancing ground, and ordinary people were wise to keep away while the ceremony lasted. Far inland, a plain between the two sacred mountains at the centre of the world, now Cuddy Valley, bore the same name; there, it was said, spirits lit their fires at dusk and danced, making a whizzing sound.","pull_quote":"in many ceremonials the 'antap would swing the bullroarer to warn the uninitiated of supernatural goings-on.","pull_quote_translation":"","pull_quote_cite":"Applegate, 'Chumash Placenames' (1974), p. 199.","term_gloss":"'antap: Chumash for 'initiate, member of a secret society'; also the name of a ravine behind Ventura and of Cuddy Valley.","cls":"restricted","class_label":"Restricted","color":"#A43C2F","is_candidate":false,"flags":["initiation"],"f_jade_complex":false,"f_women_taboo":false,"f_women_special":false,"f_snake":false,"sources":[{"citation":"Richard B. Applegate, 'Chumash Placenames', Journal of California Anthropology 1(2) (1974), p. 199","url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3s34f5ss"}],"source_citations":"Richard B. Applegate, 'Chumash Placenames', Journal of California Anthropology 1(2) (1974), p. 199","source_display":"Richard B. Applegate, 'Chumash Placenames', Journal of California Anthropology 1(2) (1974), p. 199","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"Bullroarer swung by the 'antap, the initiated members of the Chumash ceremonial society.","function_display":"","confidence_display":"medium","attestation_label":"ethnographic attestation","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"venture chumash","display_name":"The antap's warning at Ventura","image":{"full":"assets/objects/archaeology_four_2026/gunther-loud-full-plate20.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/archaeology_four_2026/gunther-loud-full-plate20_thumb.jpg","alt":"A historical photographic plate displays clay objects and worked bone, with the two decorated Tuluwat fragments numbered 12 and 13 near the bottom.","credit":"L. L. Loud1918, plate20","source_page":"https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/82772","rehosted":true,"representative":true,"caption":"Comparison plate: Tuluwat finds 1–14 alongside Yurok/Klamath River…","pool_id":"auto-archaeology_four_2026--gunther-loud-full-plate20","auto_assigned":true,"last_modified":"2026-10-19"},"slug":"applegate1974-001-ventureno-chumash-the-ravine-antap-behind-ventura"}