The Bullroarer Atlas

MUS2026-134 - museum specimen

Evaora

Papua New Guinea - Panaroa (Ivey) River - Port Romilly, Gulf Province - Oceania - Sahul

Weather / fertility magic

Regional stand-in from the same Gulf Province delta complex: a Jare (Purari) bullroarer figured by Stéphen-Chauvet in 1930. The Evaora object...
Representative image. Regional stand-in from the same Gulf Province delta complex: a Jare (Purari) bullroarer figured by Stéphen-Chauvet in 1930. The Evaora object itself has no public museum image. Stéphen-Chauvet, Les arts indigènes en Nouvelle-Guinée (1930), fig. 131; Bibliothèque nationale de France, Gallica (ark:/12148/bd6t5413437s, f378) Public domain Image source

Source term: bullroarer; charm

Nearly a metre long, this Evaora bullroarer was made to help catch fish. The carved wooden blade turned its roar into a fishing charm on the Panaroa River near Port Romilly.

Carved bullroarer, charm (for catching fish) made of wood.

British Museum, Oc1905,0609.38.
Object
Carved wooden bullroarer, 95.1 cm long and 7.2 cm wide; British Museum Oc1905,0609.38.
Function
Fishing charm.
Map confidence
high - Panaroa River anchor; British Museum lists the river as a findspot but does not publish an exact collection location.
Source location
British Museum object Oc1905,0609.38

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