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 ...
Old stone balls ping!
I have 67 year old ones and no one is wanting to study them.
But I digress.
One of the first multi-tools.
But they do feel like they’re shaped like that last pic when they’re coming out, don’t they.
SCOTTS HAVE STONE BALLS!
Otzi layed down a bunt.
If you’ll notice, they’re groovy.
Some look like crop circles.
Golf was invented in Scotland.
Have any 4 irons been discovered?
Or curved, snapped tree limbs.
TWB
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Not seeing the image. At least not right now.
Gee, that NEXT to the LAST stone looks just like a street map of my home town. That is the Town Park in the center, the streets radiating outward.
Something an extraterrestrial could have done while exploring this Little Blue Planet?
Someone is going to believe this, I bet.
When i saw the headline “Stone Balls” I thought it was about Trump. He needs em and has em.
Fortune telling stones. Ask a question and throw the ball on the ground. The design that comes face up up will mean...Yes, NO! Maybe, Ask me later.
World’s first fidget spinners.
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