{"id":"MUS2026-177","label":"Palimbei monumental Iatmul bullroarer","people_or_site":"Central Iatmul / Palimbei","country_current":"Papua New Guinea","historic_region":"Middle Sepik / Palimbei (Parambei; Bragge: Parembei; historic catalog: Palimbai II)","macroregion":"Oceania / Sahul","local_name":"","source_term":"Schwirrholz","source_language":"German; English","object_description":"Carved and painted wooden bullroarer, 129 × 15 × 3 cm and approximately 1.8 kg; Berlin VI 48045, made before 1912 at Palimbai II.","function_summary":"Men's cult instrument, revealed to novices at Iatmul initiation.","attestation_type":"museum_specimen","source_key":"ddb_vi48045_palimbei","source_type":"museum_collection; scholarly_context","source_url":"https://ccc.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/en/item/BIDLMRDRYR5EBDG35TUJESGISQWFKFR6","page_or_plate":"DDB VI 48045; Falck 2016, printed p. 18 / PDF p. 39; Bragge Part I, pp. 232-233","map_confidence":"high","plot_status":"plot","coordinate_basis":"GeoNames/OSM village Parambei (also Palimbei), matching the DDB provenance Palimbai II. Bragge alternates Parembei and Parambei in the same Malingai account, adding a documented historical spelling route without changing the plotted locality.","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"At 1.29 metres and nearly two kilograms, this painted blade is monumental. Its carving runs from a round-eyed face through concentric circles and a procession of animal forms to another staring head. Palimbei is also a name of identity: Central Iatmul people take their name from their mother village, tracing shared ancestry with the other Iatmul communities to the mythical place Mävɨmbɨt. Among the Iatmul the bullroarer belonged to the men's cult — shown to novices secluded in the 'belly' of a spirit house barred to women, and remembered in myth as the instrument whose roar frightened the first women into giving up the flutes.","pull_quote":"","pull_quote_translation":"","pull_quote_cite":"","term_gloss":"","cls":"restricted","class_label":"Restricted","color":"#A43C2F","is_candidate":false,"flags":["spirit_voice","initiation","death_rebirth","women_taboo","female_priority_myth"],"f_jade_complex":false,"f_women_taboo":true,"f_women_special":false,"f_snake":false,"sources":[{"citation":"Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, VI 48045 (Schwirrholz; Palimbai II, before 1912); Christiane Falck, Calling the Dead (PhD thesis, James Cook University, 2016), p. 18; Eric K. Silverman, 'The Waters of Mendangumeli,' Journal of American Folklore 129 (2016), pp. 179-182; Laurie Bragge, Sepik Pre-History, Part I, pp. 232-233","url":"https://ccc.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/en/item/BIDLMRDRYR5EBDG35TUJESGISQWFKFR6","archive":"https://web.archive.org/web/20261013022612/https://ccc.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/en/item/BIDLMRDRYR5EBDG35TUJESGISQWFKFR6"}],"source_citations":"Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, VI 48045 (Schwirrholz; Palimbai II, before 1912); Christiane Falck, Calling the Dead (PhD thesis, James Cook University, 2016), p. 18; Eric K. Silverman, 'The Waters of Mendangumeli,' Journal of American Folklore 129 (2016), pp. 179-182; Laurie Bragge, Sepik Pre-History, Part I, pp. 232-233","source_display":"Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, VI 48045 (Schwirrholz; Palimbai II, before 1912); Christiane Falck, Calling the Dead (PhD thesis, James Cook University, 2016), p. 18; Eric K. Silverman, 'The Waters of Mendangumeli,' Journal of American Folklore 129 (2016), pp. 179-182; Laurie Bragge, Sepik Pre-History, Part I, pp. 232-233","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"Carved and painted wooden bullroarer, 129 × 15 × 3 cm and approximately 1.8 kg; Berlin VI 48045, made before 1912 at Palimbai II.","function_display":"Men's cult instrument, revealed to novices at Iatmul initiation.","confidence_display":"high","attestation_label":"museum specimen","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"central iatmul","display_name":"Palimbei monumental Iatmul bullroarer","image":{"full":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_15/MUS2026-177_palimbei_vi48045_view1.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_15/thumbs/MUS2026-177_palimbei_vi48045_view1_thumb.jpg","alt":"Palimbei monumental bullroarer, Berlin VI 48045, collected before 1912: a 1.29-metre blade carved with animal-like figures, circular motifs, triangular bands and animal heads at both ends.","credit":"Anika Niemeck / Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (VI 48045)","license":"CC BY-NC-SA 4.0","source_page":"https://ccc.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/en/item/BIDLMRDRYR5EBDG35TUJESGISQWFKFR6","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"Palimbei monumental bullroarer, Berlin VI 48045, before 1912. Painted carving across the full 1.29-metre blade.","additional":[{"full":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_15/MUS2026-177_palimbei_vi48045_view2.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_15/thumbs/MUS2026-177_palimbei_vi48045_view2_thumb.jpg","credit":"Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (VI 48045; photographer not named in official metadata)","license":"CC BY-NC-SA 4.0","source_page":"https://ccc.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/en/item/BIDLMRDRYR5EBDG35TUJESGISQWFKFR6","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"The complete carved face of Palimbei bullroarer VI 48045, from one staring terminal head to the other."},{"full":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_15/MUS2026-177_palimbei_vi48045_view3.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_15/thumbs/MUS2026-177_palimbei_vi48045_view3_thumb.jpg","credit":"Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (VI 48045; photographer not named in official metadata)","license":"CC BY-NC-SA 4.0","source_page":"https://ccc.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/en/item/BIDLMRDRYR5EBDG35TUJESGISQWFKFR6","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"Archival full-length view of the Palimbei blade and its carved animal procession."},{"full":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_15/MUS2026-177_palimbei_vi48045_view4.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_15/thumbs/MUS2026-177_palimbei_vi48045_view4_thumb.jpg","alt":"Palimbei bullroarer VI 48045, photographed by Dietrich Graf: a long dark blade deeply carved with geometric and animal-like figures, shown with color and metric scales.","credit":"Dietrich Graf / Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (VI 48045)","license":"CC BY-NC-SA 4.0","source_page":"https://ccc.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/en/item/BIDLMRDRYR5EBDG35TUJESGISQWFKFR6","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"Palimbei bullroarer VI 48045 with scale and colour reference, photographed by Dietrich Graf."}]},"slug":"mus2026-177-central-iatmul-palimbei"}