{"id":"KERSALE2024-001","label":"Gan sᴐrᴐ initiation bullroarer","people_or_site":"Gan (Kaan / Kaansa)","country_current":"Burkina Faso","historic_region":"Southwest Burkina Faso / Loropeni Department","macroregion":"Africa / West Africa","local_name":"sᴐrᴐ","source_term":"rhombe sᴐrᴐ","source_language":"French","object_description":"Oblong slat tied to the end of a string, freely whirled; the string twists and the slat reverses.","function_summary":"Boys' sorgo initiation; the sound is Sᴐrᴐ's voice and non-initiates hide.","attestation_type":"ethnographic_attestation","source_key":"geozik_gan_soro","source_type":"ethnomusicology_web_fieldwork","source_url":"https://www.geozik.fr/kit/g%C3%A9ographie/le-royaume-gan-et-sa-musique-3-3/","page_or_plate":"Le Royaume Gan et sa musique 3/3, Rhombe soro, lines 229-244","map_confidence":"high","plot_status":"plot_with_caveat","coordinate_basis":"Obiré / Opire, traditional Gan royal-centre representative anchor; the sᴐrᴐ entry is Gan-wide.","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"Sᴐrᴐ is the Gan spiritual entity whose name also names the boys’ sorgo initiation and its bullroarer; the word is glossed “direction, path, toward.” Initiators whirl the sᴐrᴐ above the boys, and its roar is understood as Sᴐrᴐ’s voice. Anyone not initiated into the rite must hide when it sounds.","pull_quote":"planchette oblongue attachée au bout d’une ficelle","pull_quote_translation":"an oblong slat attached to the end of a string","pull_quote_cite":"Patrick Kersalé, GeoZik, Le Royaume Gan et sa musique 3/3, Rhombe sᴐrᴐ","term_gloss":"sᴐrᴐ: Gan name shared by the spiritual entity, the boys’ initiation, and its bullroarer; glossed “direction, path, toward.”","cls":"restricted","class_label":"Restricted","color":"#A43C2F","is_candidate":false,"flags":["spirit_voice","initiation"],"f_jade_complex":false,"f_women_taboo":false,"f_women_special":false,"f_snake":false,"sources":[{"citation":"Patrick Kersalé, GeoZik, Le Royaume Gan et sa musique 3/3, 'Rhombe sᴐrᴐ,' field-information reconstruction","url":"https://www.geozik.fr/kit/g%C3%A9ographie/le-royaume-gan-et-sa-musique-3-3/","archive":"https://web.archive.org/web/20250908215946/https://www.geozik.fr/kit/g%C3%A9ographie/le-royaume-gan-et-sa-musique-3-3/"}],"source_citations":"Patrick Kersalé, GeoZik, Le Royaume Gan et sa musique 3/3, 'Rhombe sᴐrᴐ,' field-information reconstruction","source_display":"Patrick Kersalé, GeoZik, Le Royaume Gan et sa musique 3/3, 'Rhombe sᴐrᴐ,' field-information reconstruction","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"Oblong slat tied to the end of a string, freely whirled; the string twists and the slat reverses.","function_display":"Boys' sorgo initiation; the sound is Sᴐrᴐ's voice and non-initiates hide.","confidence_display":"high","attestation_label":"ethnographic attestation","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"gan kaan","display_name":"Gan sᴐrᴐ initiation bullroarer","image":{"full":"assets/objects/review_2026_10_03/rmca_MO1967-17-2_hole_left.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/review_2026_10_03/rmca_MO1967-17-2_hole_left_thumb.jpg","alt":"Tusia iron bullroarer from Burkina Faso, RMCA MO.1967.17.2: a flat rust-brown blade tapering to a point, with a small hole near its rounded opposite end.","credit":"Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren (MO.1967.17.2), via MIMO; rotated 90° counterclockwise by The Bullroarer Atlas","license":"CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 BE","source_page":"https://mimo-international.com/media/RMCA/IMAGE/MO.1967.17.2_WEB_01.jpg","rehosted":true,"representative":true,"caption":"A Tusia Do-society iron bullroarer from Burkina Faso.","pool_id":"west-africa-tusia"},"slug":"kersale2024-001-gan-kaan-kaansa"}