No. MUS2026-062
Sawos roarer of the men's house
Papua New Guinea · Torembi, East Sepik · Oceania · Sahul
Function not recorded
Source term: bull-roarer
Whirled on a cord along the Middle Sepik, the bull-roarer spoke with a spirit's voice: its rising drone stood in for the cry of a mythical being. This one was made by the Sawos, farmers of Torembi, who live by clans that each guard their own ancestors and totemic beings as carved figures kept in the men's ceremonial house. No rite survives attached to this particular blade, but that spirit-haunted house of the men is the world it once sounded in.
Particulars
- Object
- Long carved bull-roarer blade from Torembi, East Sepik.
- Function
- Not recorded.
Source
Wereldmuseum (NMVW), WM-54658, 'Zoemhout' (Torembi, Sepik)