An interesting history of a "Buzzing Toy"

Figure 1: The ‘buzzing toy’ is in the ‘Ribbon Reeds’ case on the ground floor of the Pitt Rivers Museum. Photo by Liangyu Gao. 

If you have visited the Pitt Rivers Museum, you may have missed the ‘Ribbon Reeds’ case on the ground floor. It is placed right in front of another case and difficult to stand directly in front of. However, once you notice it, you can see a ‘buzzing toy’ (1937.40.7) in the bottom-right corner of the case. This object is a toy bull-roarer from the Transfly region of southwestern Papua New Guinea. It was donated to the Museum in 1937 by Francis Edgar (F.E.) Williams, a government anthropologist who worked in Papua New Guinea for 20 years. The role of a government anthropologist was to conduct ethnographic research in a colony of the British Empire so the government could effectively understand and rule over its colonies that spanned the globe. Whether these ethnographic reports were actually useful and used by the Colonial Office is questionable, but regardless, Williams’ research as a government anthropologist provides ethnographic data on Papua New Guinea in the first half of the 20th century and is why this object is in the Pitt Rivers today. Williams was a Rhodes Scholar who obtained a Diploma in Anthropology, B.Sc., and D.Sc. from the University of Oxford. He conducted fieldwork in several different regions of Papua New Guinea, but his book, Papuans of the Transfly (1936) is the main primary documentation that discusses where this object came from. 

Figure 2: F.E. Williams in Papua New Guinea (from Pacific Islands Monthly). 

Though it is called a ‘buzzing toy’, this object is also known as a bull-roarer. There is a separate case, not too far from the ‘Ribbon Reeds’ case on the ground floor of the Museum, which houses bull-roarers from around the world. These are pieces of wood attached to a string and are played by whipping the string in the air to create friction and sound. This object is smaller than the bull-roarers in that case at the Museum and is not made from wood, but palm and coconut leaf. When you see the other ribbon reeds in the Pitt Rivers, you can see why this object was placed in that case as opposed to the Bull-Roarer case, but it is interesting to note how it could be in either case. Bull-roarers are significant for anthropologists because they appear around the world but take different shapes and forms. These objects are useful to compare similarities and differences across cultures.

Figure 3: F.E. Williams sketched this map of the Keraki region where the object was likely made (Williams 1936: 453). 

This bull-roarer was likely made by the Keraki people who inhabit the Transfly region of Papua New Guinea. They live in an extreme climate with wet seasons that flood the region, and dry seasons with extreme heat. Palm and coconut leaves grow well in this environment and are the materials used to make this object. The actual creator and users of the object are unknown but given the fact that the object is called a toy and that other, similar objects in the same case were used by children, this object was likely used by a child as well.  

Though there are several unknowns about the ‘buzzing toy’, looking through the Pitt Rivers Museum Archives, Rhodes Trust Archives, primary documentation from Williams himself, and similar objects in the Museum have illuminated hidden parts of this object’s biography. This new information can help researchers, curators, and visitors alike understand more about the life history of the ‘buzzing toy’ and make a seemingly hidden object in the museum more visible. 

 

By Maria Murad

DPhil student in Anthropology

University of Oxford

 

Bibliography: 

Pacific Islands Monthly (1935) ‘Awarded Cilento Medal’, 21 March. 

 

Williams, F.E. (1936) Papuans of the Transfly. Oxford: Clarendon Press.