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5,000 year-old stone balls continue to baffle archaeologists
FoxNews.com/Science ^ | June 18, 2018 | Tom Metcalfe, Live Science Contributor

Posted on 06/19/2018 11:52:09 AM PDT by ETL

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. [In Photos: Amazing Ruins of the Ancient World]

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 ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History; Science
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To: CaptainAmiigaf

The stone in the first pic has a Princess Leia hairdo.


61 posted on 06/19/2018 5:25:39 PM PDT by freepertoo
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To: PhiloBedo

>>>His are pure brass<<<

Yeah.....unreal. Greatest President ever......


62 posted on 06/19/2018 6:16:06 PM PDT by vespa300
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To: MS.BEHAVIN

Lol! You got it!


63 posted on 06/19/2018 6:43:51 PM PDT by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: MS.BEHAVIN; Daffynition

What the hell is THAT?

What the hell IS that?


64 posted on 06/19/2018 6:51:32 PM PDT by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: ETL

Who the heck put that durn thing there?
What the hell IS that?

Thanks for your post, I love it!


65 posted on 06/19/2018 7:09:56 PM PDT by MS.BEHAVIN (Women who behave rarely make history)
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To: ETL
If you're in the wrong EZ-PASS lane, that's what they send out now to get you to move to the correct lane. Gov. Cuomo's idea.;)


66 posted on 06/20/2018 5:51:10 AM PDT by Daffynition (Rudy: What are you up to today? :))
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To: Fred Nerks

Looks like we have duplicate posts as you say.

So here is my duplicate on this thread, LOL:

However they came about, tektites or no, these are weapons. I am pretty certain of that. All of the shapes I have seen are mountable on wooden shafts or hafts as in a club.If they are smaller, they could be mounted on arrow projectiles.Also they would have been used as Slings of David ammunition.

You can see similar objects here:

https://ca.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;?p=native%20american%20stone%20clubs

AND

http://www.lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/2014marchaxestylespage1.htm

The decorative ones would have had ceremonial significance as well as being weapons, for offering animals on altars as well as battle items.The Celts had no hesitation about putting gods into their arms, such as Scathach ( Pron. Skyah).

A lot of controversy surrounding the geology. Some would have been made from Tektites, but most would have involved rounded beach stones incised over time both before and after battles, IMHO. The decorative grooves and incisions would be there to collect power and store it in the weapon.These are high tech weapons of protection and destruction as it was back then.

Just imagine cranially whacking a cobber with a club with these at the head. Even just a 1 pound stone, mounted on the end of a three foot shaft would crack a skull wide open.The more blood in the grooved patterns, the more power the weapon would be gathering.


67 posted on 06/20/2018 6:45:57 AM PDT by Candor7 ((Obama Fascism)http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html)
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To: Candor7

I wasn’t suggesting the items were actual tektites, or pollen, or concretions, just trying to show how the shapes of all of them are similar, thus it might make sense they were all shaped by the same (then) natural forces which shaped the entire landscape.
Buried in the soil, man picked them up, used those that were useful for what-ever purpose, and decorated some. The decorations are an indication of WHEN some were decorated, not when they were created.


68 posted on 06/20/2018 2:38:23 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (fair dinkum!)
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