Pellet bell (Fr.: grelot; Ger.: Schelle), despite its name the pellet bell is a *vessel rattle, not a bell. It consists of a small vessel, usually globular or oval, enclosing loose pellets, pebbles, etc., that rattle when shaken. Pellet bells were known to antiquity and probably originated in Asia, where they are still worn as ankle rattles and bracelets, much as they are in many parts of Africa, particularly by dancers. They were also known to pre-Columbian America; in ancient Peru they were…