The alarm bells used in Puyama tribe and Rukai Danan tribe is a wooden handle carved as a human face. This alarm bell was hung outside the entrance of their assembling center. Whenever an emergency happened, the younger members were responsible for alertnig their people. They hung the bell onto their waist and alerted their own people with the sound of the bell.

The main elements include the wooden carved handle “tatakran” and the iron bell combined by an iron board and an iron hammer. The wooden handle and the iron bell were tied together by a rope. An oval human face was carved in relief on the top of the handle. The bottom part was like a stick. It was designed to be inserted into their belt.

Department of Anthropology
National Taiwan University