OMERZEL1998-003 - archaeological find

Potočka perforated mandible

Slovenia - Potočka zijalka - eastern Karawanks - Europe

Function not recorded Candidate only

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

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; the exact object is photographed by Omerzel-Terlep.

Function

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

Map confidence

medium - Potočka zijalka cave entrance anchor; not an object find coordinate.

Source location

printed pp. 171 and 173

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