Calendar staff, long flat rectangle of wood constricted at one end for a grip handle. The year is divided into two with summer (April 14th onward) on one side and winter (October 14th onward) on the other. Along one edge of the flat side days are represented by notches and weeks are shown by grooves on the edge of the staff. Fixed festivals are shown by appropriate symbols incised against the right days and some points in the agricultural year (haymaking at least) are indicated with symbols.
These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.
The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.
If you have any further information about objects in our collections or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk
