Notch
The so-called “notch” (răvaș or carâmb) is registered in the patrimony of the Transylvanian Museum of Ethnography with inventory no. 19. Part of a sheepfold inventory, this object is also known in some areas. It’s a wooden stick, similar to the shepherd’s club, but shorter (101-cm long and 2-cm wide), made of four-sided hardwood. The object comes from Livăzeni village, Hunedoara county, and it entered the museum’s collection in 1923 following a research campaign. It’s in a very good conservation state (probably smoked after carving), and it can be exposed in a thematic exhibition. The notch was used in the sheepfold to measure each owner’s milk and, later, for milk and cheese distribution. The quantity of cheese given to each sheep owner was determined by the quantity of milk measured from his own sheep; sheep owners’ care for their own sheep during winter time could be seen now. Specialist studies have shown that the system for measuring milk by notch was the most widespread in sheepfolds in our country. At the time of measuring milk, it was poured into a special recipient, and placed perfectly horizontally. The shepherd dipped the notch into the milk, in a perpendicular position, after which he took it out and cut a horizontal line on one side, at the level of the milk. Then the notch was wiped up, the milk poured from the recipient, and the measurement continued until all owners had marked the milk amount on that notch. After this process, they could establish the order in which the sheep owners would come to the sheepfold to get their due amount of milk and cheese, according to a calculation algorithm established by the shepherds based on the notch signs. The shown artifact has several dark horizontal lines, on one side and on the edges, after measuring the milk, and as additional information, the place of origin (Livezini village) is mentioned on one end, as well as the word “sheep”.
Text: Dana Câmpean – museographer
Photo: George Ciupag – photo-video museographer, MET digital image processing