{"id":"MUS2026-183","label":"Lithuanian brūklys herders' bullroarer","people_or_site":"Lithuanian herders","country_current":"Lithuania","historic_region":"Lithuania (country-level)","macroregion":"Europe / Baltic","local_name":"brūklys","source_term":"brūklys / rhombe","source_language":"Lithuanian / French","object_description":"Thin slat about 15 x 5 cm whirled in free air on a threaded cord. Two exact Mucem specimens survive: a curved blade of flat bone, perhaps rib (DMH1989.5.7), and a small thick wooden slat (DMH1989.5.8), each with a vegetable-fibre cord, perhaps hemp.","function_summary":"Herders' pastime and working tool: whirled for pleasure and in contests, to frighten animals, to fend off a bull, and in fights.","attestation_type":"museum_specimen","source_key":"vle_karaska_bruklys","source_type":"national_encyclopedia_plus_museum_records","source_url":"https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/bruklys/","page_or_plate":"VLE s.v. brūklys; Mucem DMH1989.5.7-.8; Dournon 2007 p. 861","map_confidence":"high","plot_status":"plot_with_caveat","coordinate_basis":"Lithuania country centroid (OSM relation 72596): the encyclopedia attests a country-wide herding practice and neither Mucem record preserves a subnational locality.","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"Lithuanian herders whirled the brūklys — a thin slat on a cord — until it gave out the roar of wind, the sputter of a windmill, or the drone of swarming insects. They relished the noise, competed at it, and put it to work: scaring animals, holding off a charging bull, even serving in fights. The practice lasted into the early twentieth century, and in 1978 Arvydas Karaška rebuilt brūkliai for Vilnius University's folklore ensemble Ratilio. Two survivors rest in the Mucem in Marseille: a curved bone blade and a stubby wooden slat, each on its vegetable-fibre cord.","pull_quote":"Už virvelės ore sūkuriuojamas brūklys skleidžia į vėjo ūžesius, vėjo malūnėlio plerpimą, vabzdžių zvimbimą panašius garsus.","pull_quote_translation":"Whirled in the air on its cord, the brūklys gives out sounds like the roar of wind, the clatter of a windmill, or the buzzing of insects.","pull_quote_cite":"Arvydas Karaška, 'brūklys', Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija","term_gloss":"brūklys = the Lithuanian name for the herders' whirled slat; VLE classifies it as a free whirling aerophone (laisvasis sūkurinis aerofonas).","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":"Arvydas Karaška, “brūklys,” Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (2018, revised 2022)","url":"https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/bruklys/","archive":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260129084652/https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/bruklys/"},{"citation":"Mucem, Marseille, object DMH1989.5.7","url":"https://mucem.org/notice/c/37064","archive":"https://web.archive.org/web/20261013022942/https://mucem.org/notice/c/37064"},{"citation":"Mucem, Marseille, object DMH1989.5.8","url":"https://mucem.org/notice/c/30473","archive":"https://web.archive.org/web/20261013023111/https://mucem.org/notice/c/30473"},{"citation":"Geneviève Dournon, world-instrument classification (2007), p. 861","url":"https://jalonedit.unice.fr/ethnomusicologie/cours/fichiers/dournon.pdf","archive":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190915185010/https://jalonedit.unice.fr/ethnomusicologie/cours/fichiers/dournon.pdf"}],"source_citations":"Arvydas Karaška, “brūklys,” Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (2018, revised 2022); Mucem, Marseille, object DMH1989.5.7; Mucem, Marseille, object DMH1989.5.8; Geneviève Dournon, world-instrument classification (2007), p. 861","source_display":"Arvydas Karaška, “brūklys,” Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (2018, revised 2022); Mucem, Marseille, object DMH1989.5.7; Mucem, Marseille, object DMH1989.5.8; Geneviève Dournon, world-instrument classification (2007), p. 861","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"Thin slat about 15 x 5 cm whirled in free air on a threaded cord. Two exact Mucem specimens survive: a curved blade of flat bone, perhaps rib (DMH1989.5.7), and a small thick wooden slat (DMH1989.5.8), each with a vegetable-fibre cord, perhaps hemp.","function_display":"Herders' pastime and working tool: whirled for pleasure and in contests, to frighten animals, to fend off a bull, and in fights.","confidence_display":"high","attestation_label":"museum specimen","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"lithuanian herders","display_name":"Lithuanian brūklys herders' bullroarer","image":{"full":"assets/objects/MUS2026-183_mucem_dmh1989_5_8_wood.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/MUS2026-183_mucem_dmh1989_5_8_wood_thumb.jpg","alt":"Lithuanian wooden brūklys, Mucem DMH1989.5.8: a smooth rectangular blade with rounded corners and a thick hemp cord knotted through one end.","credit":"Mucem, Marseille (DMH1989.5.8)","license":"Rights not stated — Mucem documentation photograph; rehosted low-res for non-commercial research","source_page":"https://www.mucem.org/notice/c/30473","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"Wooden Lithuanian brūklys with its hemp cord, Mucem DMH1989.5.8.","also":[{"label":"Its bone companion, Mucem DMH1989.5.7 (notice c/37064) — a curved rib slat on the same kind of cord","page":"assets/objects/MUS2026-183_mucem_dmh1989_5_7_bone.jpg","credit":"Mucem, Marseille (DMH1989.5.7)","license":"Rights not stated — Mucem documentation photograph; rehosted low-res for non-commercial research"}]},"slug":"mus2026-183-lithuanian-herders"}