The Bullroarer Atlas

SAFR-004 - ethnographic attestation

|Xam !goin !goin bee-control bullroarer

South Africa - Northern Cape - |Xam Bushman source region - Southern Africa

Weather / fertility magic

Two |Xam !goin !goin blades with the short handle and measured cord, Bleek and Lloyd 1911, plate 19.
Two |Xam !goin !goin blades with the short handle and measured cord, Bleek and Lloyd 1911, plate 19. · Public domain Image source
Representative—not this record's object: a San Schwirrholz from Oas with its cord and winding stick.
Representative — not this record’s object. · a San Schwirrholz from Oas with its cord and winding stick. · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Image source

!goin !goin English

Source term: bullroarer

!goin !goin (|Xam): a bullroarer — a blade of wood on a little stick, whirled in the hand to produce a buzzing sound likened to bees.

The |Xam beat the !goin !goin — a wooden blade on a little stick, whirled to a low whirring likened to swarming bees — so bees would grow abundant and move into other people's places, leaving honey to be cut, bagged, carried home, and shared. Its buzzing opened into a dance: the men danced, one woman drummed, and the other women clapped.

the bees may go into the other people's places, that the people may eat honey

Bleek and Lloyd 1911:353-359, quoted in Rusch et al. (Doring River bullroarers); cf. Kumbani et al. 2019
Object
Two measured wooden !goin !goin blades, 32.3 and 34 cm long, attached by a once-twisted 40.5 cm cord to a short hand-held stick; the exact |Xam plate preserves the complete rig.
Function
Whirled so bees would move elsewhere, leaving honey to cut, bag, carry home, and share; a separately sourced tradition also links it with rain.
Map confidence
medium_high - representative coordinate; archaeological/ethnographic source does not warrant a precise ritual locality
Source location
Page references

Lloyd 1889 item 191, p. 18; Bleek and Lloyd 1911:353–359, plate 19

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