Australian Aboriginal Idiophone (Clappers): "Bilma"
Collection: Spiritual Connections
Object Category: Music and Noisemakers
Object Type: Percussive Instruments, Clappers
Country: Australia
Continent: Oceania
Geographic Region: Australia and New Zealand
Materials: Wood
height: 8.5 in;
Clapsticks are the traditional instrument for song, dance and ceremony of the Kulin people.
They are a percussion instrument played by both men and women in Indigenous communities across Australia. Their main purpose is to maintain rhythm in voice chants and are often heard as part of an Aboriginal ceremony. The clapsticks can be played by themselves, but are also played during social dancing and can accompany other instruments.
Like many of the objects designed by First Nations people, these artifacts can serve more than one purpose - in this instance for digging the earth or used as trade items.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_primitive_and_non-Western_trumpets