The Bullroarer Atlas

PNG173 - ethnographic attestation

Pororan Island

Papua New Guinea - Bougainville - Oceania - Sahul

Sacred / spirit

A Nggela (Florida Islands) bull-roarer, central Solomons, its pale blade lashed to a dark wooden staff by a thick winding of cord; accessioned...
Representative image. A Nggela (Florida Islands) bull-roarer, central Solomons, its pale blade lashed to a dark wooden staff by a thick winding of cord; accessioned 1916. Pororan Island lies in the same chain far to the northwest; no Pororan bullroarer has been photographed. Världskulturmuseerna / SMVK (1916.01.2327), CC BY 4.0 CC BY 4.0 Image source

Source term: bullroarer / sacred flute / slit-gong flags

Pororan is a small reef island in the Buka Passage, off the west coast of Buka in northern Bougainville, home to Petats-speaking "saltwater people" who live by fishing and trade rather than gardening. A bullroarer and a slit-gong are recorded here in K. A. Gourlay's 1975 survey of esoteric instruments across New Guinea; no myth, rite, or local name for the bullroarer is set down for the island.

Object
bullroarer occurrence; bullroarer use; slit-gong occurrence; slit-gong use
Function
Gourlay source-catalog row with bullroarer use in PNG/Melanesia.
Map confidence
high - representative on-land anchor at Pororan Island (regional coordinate fell just offshore of the rendered coastline); not an exact findspot
Source location
Table 1, row 173

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  • Buin (incl.Telei, Uisai)Papua New Guinea - Bougainville - Sacred / spirit
  • HakusPapua New Guinea - Bougainville - Sacred / spirit
  • BukaPapua New Guinea - Bougainville - Restricted
  • NasioiPapua New Guinea - Bougainville - Function not recorded
  • SiwaiPapua New Guinea - Bougainville - Function not recorded
  • Astrolabe BayPapua New Guinea - Madang - Sacred / spirit