This intricately decorated black stone ball was found in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The carved ball has an average diameter of 73mm and weighs just over 500g. It dates back over 5000 years and has four discs or knobs, of which three are intricately carved and the fourth is blank.
Over 400 carved stone balls are now known, mainly from Scotland, made from a variety of stone. Few have archaeological contexts and their purpose is still unknown.
Only about 400 of Scotland’s 4,000-year-old carved stone balls have been found. They are of fairly uniform size, with the diameters of most measuring around 2.75 inches. Fitting nicely within the cupped hand, they are made from a variety of stone --
Oh, thank you - will add to my reading list!
Ok folks - #Neolithic Carved Stone Ball idea is turning into a bit of a beautiful crowd sourced experiment! If you've got a replica & some fine sand: get rolling, twisting, moving. What patterns do we get? Please boost.... and add photos of your CSB & the results below. I'll collate all the ones I get from across the different platforms. #Archaeology
The workmanship is exquisite.
@TiciaVerveer
Really cool!
One thing I hate though is that everything in archeology has to have some sort of "purpose", maybe humans have always enjoyed making art and technology just for the sake of art and technology, like today
It's like the way we can't ever see animals as doing something just for the sake of it. - How do you explain a chimpanzee watching a sunset, without just coming to the conclusion that, maybe like us, they enjoy it
@TiciaVerveer @ixi
My theory is that this was done to indicate whose sling stone was whose in the policing up after the hunting party, or whose stone was closest to the target in games, much like golfers mark their balls today.
Good sling stones were a valuable item, and status symbol, of sorts.
@TiciaVerveer Beautiful objects! Thanks for sharing - how mysterious!
Looks a bit like a view of Princess Leia from behind. ;)
Ticia Verveer
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