Potočka perforated mandible

brnivka

Source term: totemsko-magični zvočni amulet oziroma brnivka

brnivka: Slovenian bullroarer or whirring sound-maker; totemsko-magični zvočni amulet: totemic-magical sound amulet.

A complete cave-bear jaw from Potočka zijalka, 33.5 centimetres long, was deliberately pierced through the coronoid process. Brodar read the hole as evidence that the mandible had hung from a cord, perhaps as a hunting trophy or totem. Mira Omerzel-Terlep proposed a more startling possibility: a brnivka, whirled as a totemic sound amulet carrying the voice or power of the adult bear. The proposal remains vivid but mechanically unproved — a whole jaw is heavy and irregular, and suspension alone does not show that it was ever spun.

Pristavljam, da bi velika mandibula mogla biti tudi totemsko-magični zvočni amulet oziroma brnivka: instrument, ki simbolizira glas (moč?) odraslega medveda.

I would add that the large mandible could also have been a totemic-magical sound amulet or bullroarer: an instrument symbolizing the voice (power?) of the adult bear.

Omerzel-Terlep 1998:171

Particulars

Object

Complete left cave-bear mandible, 33.5 cm long, with a deliberate round 6 mm perforation through the coronoid process about 20 mm from its edge.

Function

Suspended, likely as a hunting trophy or totem; whirling as a sound-maker is unconfirmed.