Fort McCoy ArtiFACT: Crotal bell

Courtesy Photo | A composite photograph of a sleigh bell or crotal bell found at a Fort McCoy archaeology site is shown above. Crotal bells are hollow, enclosed objects with a pellet within and have at least one slit to allow the pellet to vibrate and create sound. They are often made of broze or brass. Most crotal bells were made from about 1845 to 1920.  

FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES

01.28.2022

Story by Aimee Malone 

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

“Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring ting tingling, too. Come on, it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.” The opening lyrics to the “Sleigh Ride” song paint a picture of a relaxing horse-drawn sleigh ride and maybe you can even hear the sounds made by the sleigh or “crotal” bells as the horse-drawn vehicle moves about.

Crotal bells are hollow, enclosed objects with a hard pellet within and have at least one throat (slit), which allows the pellet to vibrate and create sound, much like how a rattle works. They are often made of bronze or brass and are either hung on a small leather and iron harness bracket above the horse’s collar or are driven into the wooden frame of the wagon or sleigh.

Crotal bells have many other names including pellet bells, rumblers, sleigh bells, horse bells, hawk bells, and jingle bells. The majority of crotal bells were made from about 1845 to about 1920.

Crotal bells were used on horse-drawn vehicles as a warning system to alert other horse-drawn vehicles of their presence.

While surveying a historic farmstead on Fort McCoy, this crotal bell was observed and collected from the ground surface by archaeologists. The dates of the farmstead range from circa 1890s to circa 1930s.

The crotal bell pictured is commonly referred to as a “petal” bell type because of its daisy-like petals. Typically, petal bells have a total of four to eight petals depending on the size of the bell. This artifact has eight petals in total. Each petal has a double line bordering it and a slash mark decorates the center.

All archaeological work conducted at Fort McCoy was coordinated by the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.

Visitors and employees are reminded they should not collect artifacts on Fort McCoy or other government lands and leave the digging to the professionals.

Any person who excavates, removes, damages, or otherwise alters or defaces any historic or prehistoric site, artifact, or object of antiquity on Fort McCoy is in violation of federal law.

The discovery of any archaeological artifact should be reported to the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch at 608-388-8214.

(Article prepared by the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.)

• Date Taken: 01.28.2022
• Date Posted: 02.03.2022 15:06
• Story ID: 413944
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US