{"id":"MUS2026-112","label":"Mesbilja blade, bare essentials","people_or_site":"Mesbilja","country_current":"Mexico","historic_region":"Mesbilja, Oxchuc, Chiapas","macroregion":"North America / Mexico","local_name":"","source_term":"summetre / brummer","source_language":"Norwegian / English API","object_description":"Flat wooden blade with a single cord attached at one end; Kulturhistorisk museum Oslo UEM41249/b.","function_summary":"A toy, kept for play and for the learning of a skill as much as for music.","attestation_type":"museum_specimen","source_key":"dimu_uem41249b_mesbilja","source_type":"museum_collection","source_url":"https://api.dimu.org/artifact/uuid/ded1e019-47b3-47ea-8796-045010e8b293","page_or_plate":"DiMu UUID ded1e019-47b3-47ea-8796-045010e8b293 / UEM41249/b","map_confidence":"high","plot_status":"plot_with_caveat","coordinate_basis":"Mesbilja locality in the museum’s use-place hierarchy.","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"This bullroarer is reduced to its bare essentials: a straight, hand-cut strip of wood, blunt at one end and pierced at the other, with a long twisted cord still knotted through the hole. It is a toy — a thing of play and games and of learning a skill as much as a musical instrument. Mesbilja lies in Oxchuc, Tzeltal Maya country.","pull_quote":"summetre; leke; brummer; musikkinstrument — Lek og spill; Musikkinstrumenter; Trearbeid; Innlæring av ferdigheter","pull_quote_translation":"bullroarer; toy; whirring instrument; musical instrument — play and games; musical instruments; woodwork; learning of skills","pull_quote_cite":"Kulturhistorisk museum Oslo","term_gloss":"summetre / brummer: Norwegian names for the bullroarer; summetre is literally 'humming wood'.","cls":"play_practical","class_label":"Play / practical","color":"#24766D","is_candidate":false,"flags":["toy_survival"],"f_jade_complex":false,"f_women_taboo":false,"f_women_special":false,"f_snake":false,"sources":[{"citation":"Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, UEM41249/b (Mesbilja, Chiapas)","url":"https://api.dimu.org/artifact/uuid/ded1e019-47b3-47ea-8796-045010e8b293","archive":"https://web.archive.org/web/20261013021117/https://api.dimu.org/artifact/uuid/ded1e019-47b3-47ea-8796-045010e8b293"}],"source_citations":"Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, UEM41249/b (Mesbilja, Chiapas)","source_display":"Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, UEM41249/b (Mesbilja, Chiapas)","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"Flat wooden blade with a single cord attached at one end; Kulturhistorisk museum Oslo UEM41249/b.","function_display":"A toy, kept for play and for the learning of a skill as much as for music.","confidence_display":"high","attestation_label":"museum specimen","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"mesbilja","display_name":"Mesbilja blade, bare essentials","image":{"full":"assets/objects/MUS2026-112_uem41249b_mesbilja.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/MUS2026-112_uem41249b_mesbilja_thumb.jpg","alt":"Mesbilja bullroarer UEM41249/b from highland Chiapas: a flat wooden blade with scattered small punctures, a narrowed end and a cord tied at that end.","credit":"Kulturhistorisk museum, Universitetet i Oslo, UEM41249/b; photo Kirsten Helgeland","license":"CC BY-SA","source_page":"https://api.dimu.org/artifact/uuid/ded1e019-47b3-47ea-8796-045010e8b293","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"The Mesbilja bullroarer UEM41249/b: a flat wooden blade with a single cord attached at one end.","additional":[{"full":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_18/MUS2026-112_khm_uem41249a.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_18/thumbs/MUS2026-112_khm_uem41249a_thumb.jpg","alt":"A plain wooden slat on its long cord, from Mesbilja in Chiapas, Mexico.","credit":"Kulturhistorisk museum, Universitetet i Oslo, UEM41249/a; photo Kirsten Helgeland","license":"CC BY-SA","source_page":"https://api.dimu.org/artifact/uuid/f7880df9-00e8-459b-b639-d29ea5291551","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"The second Mesbilja whirler, UEM41249/a: a plain tapered slat on its long cotton cord."}]},"slug":"mus2026-112-mesbilja"}