Posted on 06/18/2018 10:56:29 AM PDT by BBell
Some of the most enigmatic human-made objects from Europe's late Stone Age — intricately carved balls of stone, each about the size of a baseball — continue to baffle archaeologists more than 200 years after they were first discovered.
More than 500 of the enigmatic objects have now been found, most of them in northeast Scotland, but also in the Orkney Islands, England, Ireland and one in Norway.
Archaeologists still don't know the original purpose or meaning of the Neolithic stone balls, which are recognized as some of the finest examples of Neolithic art found anywhere in the world. But now, they've created virtual 3D models of the gorgeous balls, primarily to share with the public. In addition, the models have revealed some new details, including once-hidden patterns in the carvings on the balls
Hugo Anderson-Whymark, a curator at National Museums Scotland who created the online models, explained that many functions have been proposed for the stone balls over the years.
Such proposals have included the possibility that they were made as the stone heads for crushing weapons, or standardized weights for Neolithic traders, or rollers for the transport of the giant stones used in megalithic monuments.
One theory is that the knobs on many of the carved stone balls were wound with twine or sinew, which allowed them to be thrown like slings or South American bolas. Other theories describe the balls as objects of religious devotion or symbols of social status.
"Many of the ideas you have to take with a pinch of salt, while there are others that may be plausible," Anderson-Whymark told Live Science. "What's interesting is that people really get their imaginations captured by them — they still hold a lot of secrets."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Maybe trying to replicate hemorrhoids.
Ya can Trump’s set from outer space! I stole that from a fellow FReeper lol.
Those are “Look what I can do” objects.
Someone was bored like the sailors who carved the meerschaum pipes?
Could have been. But something not so elaborate and time consuming would have done as well.
Fishing net weights?
Markers for a game like Monopoly.
Models or replicas of a device ? Then again, they look like spores.
I recall reading in a 80+ year old history (Will Durant) that ‘The NEW Stone age’ (versus the ‘Old’ Stone Age) is defined when the makers started Decorating their stone objects was the demarcation -— making them decorative as well as utilitarian (or just decorative in these objects case) .
These look like the business end of a club. Rather likely.
I think Red Badger in post 54 has a clue; they may have been meant to commemorate something - the way we give trophies for accomplishment or a sign of favor, or create memorials to important events.
On second thought, maybe they were something like military ‘medals’.
We think of these ancient folks as all ‘red in tooth and claw’, but they had to also have traditions and folkways that encouraged a cohesive society. I think the carved balls must commemorate something.
Early golf development, aerodynamic ball testing
Pollen under electron microscope...
Snowflakes under electron microscope...
Check on the genealogy sites. Probably can find one of President Trump’s ancestors as belonging to these.
Well, then: there was at least one Scot who could drive the ball all the way to Norway.
(My Daddy always told me that we Scots were special ;-)
found at Skara Brae
Neolithic golf tournament, Scots then branched out into Norway.
Maybe they were something meaningful that would become a family heirloom, sign of accomplishment/status, and kept when the people traveled.
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