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E35 Toggle, buzzbone
E35 Toggle, buzzbone
E35 Toggle, buzzbone

E35 Toggle, buzzbone

Date13th - 14th Century
Object NameToggle or buzzbone
Mediumbone, pig metatarsal
ClassificationsArchaeology Excavated
LocationView by Appointment
Object numberABDMS034225
About MeCommonly called toggles, these objects, most usually made out of the bones of pigs, may have been 'musical instruments'. A cord is threaded in a figure-of-eight fashion through the perforation and then the object is swung in a circular motion until the cord is twisted.

In Shetland they are described as 'snorie banes', so called from the snoring noise they make while being rotated quickly by means of a twisted cord fastened around them.