Accession No
E 1915.20.16
Description
Wooden tjuringa (churinga) inscribed with sacred designs, which represent a totemic ancestor.
Place
Oceania; Australasia; Australia; Western Australia; Kimberley; Fortescue River
Period
Source
Radcliffe-Brown, Alfred Reginald (Professor) [field collector and donor]
Department
Anth
Reference Numbers
E 1915.20.16; MAA: AR 1915.290.16; 1915.20 L [?display case ref]
Cultural Affliation
Material
Wood
Local Term
Measurements
44mm x 450mm
Events
Context (CMS Context)
Found: Western Kimberley district; Collected by: Radcliffe-Brown.A
Event Date 28/4/1993
Author: maa
Description (CMS Description)
Churinga or bullroarer of dark wood. Churinga are inscribed with sacred designs, which represent a totemic ancestor. Aboriginal women and uninitiated boys are forbidden to see them. Their meaning is only fully divulged to men who are initiated into that totem and who are of elder status. Those with a hole bored in one end (stone ones excepted), for the attachment of a cord, are called bullroarers. When whirled round, they produce a characteristic sound believed to be " spirit talk"
Event Date 28/4/1993
Author: maa
FM:87365
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