{"id":"MUS2026-351","label":"East Greenland serrated blade-and-handle rig","people_or_site":"Tunumiit (Ammassalik)","country_current":"Greenland","historic_region":"Ammassalik (Tasiilaq), East Greenland","macroregion":"Arctic / Greenland","local_name":"","source_term":"Bullroarer","source_language":"English","object_description":"A 227 × 56 mm serrated wooden blade with separate handle and full connecting cord.","function_summary":"A children's toy: in the Ammassalik district Thalbitzer knew the bull-roarer only as a plaything for children.","attestation_type":"museum_specimen","source_key":"prm_1935_52_7","source_type":"museum_collection","source_url":"https://prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-39587","page_or_plate":"1935.52.7","map_confidence":"low","plot_status":"plot_with_caveat","coordinate_basis":"Ammassalik-area anchor used for the broader East Greenland provenance, with caveat.","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"William Thalbitzer described what East Greenlanders whirled: a lancet-shaped wooden leaf fastened by a short string to a short stick, spun until it roared. That is exactly the three-part arrangement lying here — a blade toothed down both edges, its cord, and the grip it answers to. In the Ammassalik district Thalbitzer knew the thing only as a toy for children, and made a point of saying so, because elsewhere in the world the same object was sacred. On this coast the roaring belonged to whoever was small enough to want it.","pull_quote":"","pull_quote_translation":"","pull_quote_cite":"","term_gloss":"","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":"Pitt Rivers Museum 1935.52.7; blade, handle and cord; Exchanged in 1935 from the National Museum of Denmark, East Greenland, Angmagssalik district; William Thalbitzer, The Ammassalik Eskimo (Meddelelser om Grønland 39, 1914), p. 663","url":"https://prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-39587","archive":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260917174840/https://prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-39663"}],"source_citations":"Pitt Rivers Museum 1935.52.7; blade, handle and cord; Exchanged in 1935 from the National Museum of Denmark, East Greenland, Angmagssalik district; William Thalbitzer, The Ammassalik Eskimo (Meddelelser om Grønland 39, 1914), p. 663","source_display":"Pitt Rivers Museum 1935.52.7; blade, handle and cord; Exchanged in 1935 from the National Museum of Denmark, East Greenland, Angmagssalik district; William Thalbitzer, The Ammassalik Eskimo (Meddelelser om Grønland 39, 1914), p. 663","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"A 227 × 56 mm serrated wooden blade with separate handle and full connecting cord.","function_display":"A children's toy: in the Ammassalik district Thalbitzer knew the bull-roarer only as a plaything for children.","confidence_display":"low","attestation_label":"museum specimen","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"tunumiit","display_name":"East Greenland serrated blade-and-handle rig","image":{"full":"assets/objects/prm/prm_39587.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/prm/thumbs/prm_39587_thumb.jpg","alt":"The East Greenland rig 1935.52.7, with a serrated blade and separate handle stick connected by a hide line.","credit":"© Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford (acc. 1935.52.7)","license":"© Pitt Rivers Museum — non-commercial/educational reuse with attribution","source_page":"https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-39587","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"The East Greenland rig 1935.52.7: serrated blade, handle stick, and hide line.","last_modified":"2026-09-01"},"slug":"mus2026-351-tunumiit-ammassalik"}