Huis Dever snorrebot

snorrebot

snorrebot: Dutch for a 'whirring bone'; here, an end-holed blade swung freely on a cord.

Children once made the air hum above Huis Dever with a pale ivory blade, probably cut from walrus tusk. A cord through the end hole let the toy spin on its long axis as it circled overhead; faster turns raised its note, slower turns lowered it. In Dutch this was a snorrebot — literally a 'whirring bone' — a name also used for quite different pull-string buzzers. This long, end-holed form is the true free-flying kind. Not everyone agrees: a 2024 survey of Dutch bone objects takes strips like this for bone folders, used to crease paper and cloth.

Waarschijnlijk ontstaan als rituele objecten, maar bij ons verworden tot kinderspeelgoed zijn de snorrebotten.

The snorrebotten probably began as ritual objects, but among us they have degenerated into children's toys.

Van Vilsteren, Het Benen Tijdperk (1987), p. 52

Particulars

Object

A long, narrow blade of probable walrus ivory, 18.6 cm long, with a single small cord hole near its squared end, found at Huis Dever in Lisse.

Function

A children's humming toy: swung overhead on a cord, spinning on its long axis and changing pitch with the speed of the swing.