Posted on 05/07/2018 8:36:02 AM PDT by BenLurkin
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 -- from soft sandstones to hard granitics. The numbers of projections or knobs range from between three and 160, with six knobs being by far the most common. They display varying degrees of workmanship. A few, like the remarkable Towie Stone, display beautifully intricate carvings, while others are unadorned. All but five of the stones have been found in Scotland, with the majority discovered in the Aberdeenshire area.
Along with its vitrified forts and Loch NessMonster, these carved stone balls take their place as one of Scotland’s most enduring mysteries, and never fail to excite the inquisitive mind. Although many theories have been presented, no one is sure who made them or why. In her exhaustive study of the balls, published in the 1976-77 Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries in Scotland
Dorothy N. Marshall reports their distribution “is much the same as that of the Pictish symbol stones which led to the original idea that the balls were of Pictish origin,” but goes on to say that the small collection found while excavating Skara Brae, a stone-built settlement in the Orkney Islands, place them firmly in the later Neolithic or New Stone Age period, which is too early for the Iron-Age Picts. Marshall also says, however, that the area where the majority of the balls were found “is also the area of good land which today, as well as in antiquity, can support the largest population,” an observation we’ll get back to later.
First... let’s look at the various theories about how the balls were used....
(Excerpt) Read more at academia.edu ...
Vitrified Forts ping
Wow, looks NEW!
I think that’s a cgi rendition.
In before.....
AC - DC song.......................coming up!..............
It may be too late for Scotland to find it’s long-lost balls....
Actually considering that the Young brothers and Bon were Scots, it is appropriate.
I’m not sayin’ it’s aliens, but.....It’s aliens!
Always wondered what they had under those kilts...
The Swedes are looking for their lost meat balls, as well.
Too bad Scottish men don’t have stone balls like the Braveheart highlanders.
Or worse.
How do they know there are 4000 if they’ve only found 400?
You could not resist could you ?
Oops! Read it wrong. 4000 years old.
Not only golf originated in Scotland. Baseball did too. Each of those various carved balls automatically produced a special result; curve, slider, cutter change-up, and some we never knew. That “Towie” ball was invisible to the hitter. TOWIE! I never even saw it coming! Wow!
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