The Bullroarer Atlas

DAVIDSON2017-001 - archaeological find

Pig Bay bone kōrorohū

New Zealand - Pig Bay - Motutapu Island - Hauraki Gulf - Oceania - Polynesia

Archaeological datec. 1400–1500 ADPig Bay occupation range from radiocarbon dates; object came from a disturbance in Layer 8.

Play / practical Candidate only

Fig. 9 of Pig Bay bone and shell items; the candidate is no. 1, the flat bone blade captioned as possibly a kōrorohū (child's bull roarer).
Fig. 9 of Pig Bay bone and shell items; the candidate is no. 1, the flat bone blade captioned as possibly a kōrorohū (child's bull roarer). Image source

kōrorohū English

Source term: probable bull roarer / kōrorohū

kōrorohū: Māori term used by the excavators for a child's bullroarer

Among Pig Bay's adze-making debris lay a carefully shaped piece of bone that looked like a child's kōrorohū. Its attachment was the puzzle: instead of drilled cord holes, the maker had cut only shallow notches. Those might never have held a whirling cord, and the object came from disturbed soil. It is a tantalising likeness, not a secure instrument.

In size and shape it resembles a kōrorohū, or child’s bullroarer.

Davidson and Leach 2017:17
Object
Carefully made flat bone object from a disturbance in Layer 8, square B101; its size and outline resemble a child's kōrorohū, but shallow edge notches replace the expected cord perforations.
Function
A possible child's kōrorohū: the excavators compare the bone blade to a toy bullroarer, while doubting that its shallow end notches could hold the cord.
Map confidence
low - Approximate Pig Bay site anchor on northwestern Motutapu Island; not a square-level find coordinate.
Source location
Page references

printed p. 17; Fig. 9.1

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