The Bullroarer Atlas

DEKONING2011-001 - archaeological find

Groot Olmen antler snorrebot

Netherlands - Zuid-Kennemerland dunes - North Holland - Europe - Low Countries

Archaeological datec. 475–600 ADFeature S108 (=135) context date; object not directly dated.

Function not recorded Candidate only

The perforated antler blade, find 143, from Groot Olmen.
The perforated antler blade, find 143, from Groot Olmen. Image source

snorrebot Dutch

Source term: snorrebot (soort amulet of stuk speelgoed)

snorrebot: Dutch for a 'whirring bone,' a cord-swung humming toy.

A hand-length strip of red-deer antler emerged from a rubbish layer behind the Kennemerland coast, pierced at one end and sharpened like a chisel at the other. It may have been an amulet. It may instead have been a children's humming toy, swung overhead on a cord — the Dutch snorrebot, or 'whirring bone.' No wear, cord, or test reveals which life the object actually had.

Mogelijk is het een soort amulet of een stuk speelgoed, zoals een snorrebot.

Possibly it is a kind of amulet or a piece of toy, such as a snorrebot.

De Vries in de Koning 2011:364
Object
Worked flat fragment of red-deer antler (Cervus elaphus), greatest length 93 mm, weight 13.5 g; one end pierced by an eye, the opposite end flattened to a chisel-like edge. The report records no clear traces of use or wear.
Function
Possibly an amulet or a children's humming toy, the excavation report's own two proposals; no wear or surviving cord confirms either.
Map confidence
high - Centroid of the four Rijksdriehoek research-area coordinates printed in the report colophon (x 99.650-100.200, y 492.800-493.200), converted to WGS84; a dune research-area anchor in Nationaal Park Zuid-Kennemerland, not a trench or feature coordinate.
Source location
Page references

printed p. 364, Afb. 13.15; context table printed p. 575

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