26 March 2021

Check your windowsill for "rock balls" like these


If you find one, Scotland wants it back:
Elaborately carved with patterns of spirals, circles and wandering lines, smooth curves and distinctive ‘knobs’, it would look perfect as a garden decoration, a paperweight or on a windowsill.

And, indeed, a window ledge is where one of Scotland’s most enigmatic and intriguing objects was apparently found: a carved stone ball rooted in prehistoric times, unearthed by curious fingers, dusted down and admired enough to be given a fresh use as a household ornament.

It was one of more than 500 Neolithic carved stone balls, some with intricate patterns, others with expertly carved knobs and tiny pyramids... to have been found in Scotland, and which have sparked endless debate about what exactly they were used for.
More info at The Herald, via Neatorama.

5 comments:

  1. They look rather like modern massage balls marketed to relieve foot cramps.

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  2. What if they were weights to hold down hides during tanning and stretching?

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  3. Used in the process for knitting gloves, pouches and socks apparently.

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  4. Apparently used in the production of wool gloves, soaks and mittens perhaps other garments. Ingenious development probably invented once and adapted quickly over a vast area not unlike the original wheel that spread from one inventor.

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  5. I was thinking finish weights at first, that being a major historical industry in Aberdeen. But looks a bit more like stone mace heads.

    https://www.oceanicartsaustralia.com/art-for-sale/collection-of-stone-headed-club-papua-new-guinea/

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