The Bullroarer Atlas

JUDD1959-001 - archaeological find

Ancestral Puebloan / Chacoan Pueblo del Arroyo

United States - Pueblo del Arroyo - Chaco Canyon - undated within site - North America - Southwest

Function not recorded

The elk-bone blade itself, terminal hole and incised bands, from Judd's Pueblo del Arroyo excavation — the piece his Zuni workmen recognized on...
The elk-bone blade itself, terminal hole and incised bands, from Judd's Pueblo del Arroyo excavation — the piece his Zuni workmen recognized on sight as a bullroarer. Neil M. Judd, Pueblo del Arroyo, Chaco Canyon, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 138 (1959), plate 37 q Public domain Image source

Source term: bull roarer

Digging at Pueblo del Arroyo, Neil Judd's crew turned up a long blade cut from an elk leg bone, pierced near one end and crossed by two incised bands. Zuni workmen on the dig recognized it at once as a bull roarer, though it was bone rather than the usual lightning-riven wood, and bore incised bands rather than lightning symbols. To them it was still a prayer device, twirled on a cord to voice wind and invite rain. No find context or cord survived, so whether Chaco's own builders used it the same way is unknown.

recognized by some of our Zuni workmen as a 'bull roarer'

Judd 1959:133
Object
Long, flat elk cannon-bone blade with nearly parallel sides, a gently rounded distal end, one circular perforation near the opposite end, and two transverse incised bands; no cord or measurements survive.
Function
Specific artifact recognized by Zuni excavation workers as a bullroarer; Judd notes it departs from the usual lightning-riven wood and lightning-symbol markings, and his wind imitation and rain invitation describe historic Zuni analogy, not demonstrated prehistoric use.
Map confidence
medium - National Park Service Pueblo del Arroyo great-house anchor; the artifact's excavation locus is unrecorded.
Source location
printed p. 133; Plate 37 q

View source Open this point on the interactive map