Pueblo del Arroyo elk-bone bullroarer

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 as a bullroarer, 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 Zuñi workmen as a 'bull roarer'

Judd 1959:133

Particulars

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

A prayer device, twirled at the end of a cord to simulate the wind and thus invite rain, as Zuni workmen on the dig identified it.