Has The Amazing Purpose Of Petrospheres AKA Neolithic Stone Balls Finally Been Discovered?

I will throw another possible purpose for the balls out for discussion.

Are they possibly 'cooking balls'?

At a place called Poverty Point in Louisiana, they have found clay balls that bear a lot of similarity to the stones in the OP. The clay balls were heated in a fire, then dropped into vessels to cook the food in the vessel.

The Poverty Point Indians cooked their food in a new way. They made clay cooking balls that probably were used like charcoal briquettes for roasting and baking. They rolled clay in their hands, then squeezed or shaped it into one of many forms. These balls were dried and heated in a fire until hot, then up to 200 were placed in a roasting pit. The different shapes may simply indicate the maker's design preference or may have controlled temperature and cooking time.

Go to this link and scroll down, you will see a couple of the cooking balls (with designs).

ETA: Wikipedia page for Poverty Point with photo of many cooking balls.

Isn't it also intriguing that the government began destroying all of the honey bees? Or the honey bees suddenly "disappeared?"

reply to post by butcherguy


Not a bad idea.

That would explain the larger surface area produced with all the ridges/points/etc.

The objects don't have to have a purpose, some may be bolo weights, but the more intricate forms are likely just that ,a form.
In fact some of the forms look like a carving exercise for varying levels of skill for a stone carving apprentice.

As an apprentice machinist I made forms that had no purpose other than to show a variety of skills.

The cooking ball idea OS the least likely as cooking balls are only used by people whom don't use ceramic or metallic cooking vessels. Cooking stones are used by people who use basketry or hide bags or leaves for cooking, but not by metal or ceramic level cultures.

Also they may just be " whittlins" of an experienced stone carver

The one item that is sort of a tri horn shape is a tool of some type, I have seen it before but can't place its purpose, it might be a rope making tool.

Looks like "bola sling" rocks to me, Im not sure the actual name. Outside the box thought, I'll give you points for that much. But I would bet my house on the majority of those images being Bola sling rocks and the other being art forms or another use.

I believe in the ancient lost civilizations theory(s) but I dont think the technology they used was anything on the level your suggesting with this theory.

Originally posted by skalla
reply to post by MysterX

 

very interesting indeed and a superbly put together post

having studied archaeology and both seen these items, and pollen under microscopes i observed this similarity too.

i find it entirely unlike however that the celts posessed the material technology to view pollen in any detail though - we would simply have some evidence of it. of course the celts were excellent metal workers and enamellers amongst other crafts, but i see nothing relating to microscopic viewing ability and that technology would at the very least have related items that we would have found, or that would most likely have been recorded/shared/stolen in some way.

however, as above, so below... there of course may be a mystic reason for the posession of such knowledge.

i look forwards to other replies on this - it should get really interesting

Does anyone know if it is possible to project an image of pollen/ something by using a basic lens/ pinhole in a peice of paper, like when veiwing an eclipse? The lens doesn't have to be made of glass... a drop of water would suffice.
Maybe something similar to a thread I saw on here not too long ago - 'Existence according to Bone' - a photo of the shadow of an Atom.

Just a thought... maybe it doesn't mean they were using microscopes. Maybe they projected the image instead.
I don't know if this is possible but, it would help clarify how the Celts could have gotten these fantastic shapes.
They do after all seem too close just to be a coincidence.


~ CrzayFool

@ op

Brilliant thread.

This is the kind of stuff I originally joined ATS for.

Great to see people still making such threads.

reply to post by butcherguy


Very cool you put this on here. This is not far from me and I am taking my kids there (7&3) this weekend. Also I grew up going to the other site mentioned in one of the linked articles on a regular basis. it is very near to where I was raised. (Fountain Bleu) Those very well could be cooking balls. They have been found on my wife's family farm which has an Indian Mound on the adjacent property. (Less than 1/2 hour from Poverty Point)

Originally posted by butcherguy
I will throw another possible purpose for the balls out for discussion.

Are they possibly 'cooking balls'?

At a place called Poverty Point in Louisiana, they have found clay balls that bear a lot of similarity to the stones in the OP. The clay balls were heated in a fire, then dropped into vessels to cook the food in the vessel.

The Poverty Point Indians cooked their food in a new way. They made clay cooking balls that probably were used like charcoal briquettes for roasting and baking. They rolled clay in their hands, then squeezed or shaped it into one of many forms. These balls were dried and heated in a fire until hot, then up to 200 were placed in a roasting pit. The different shapes may simply indicate the maker's design preference or may have controlled temperature and cooking time.

Go to this link and scroll down, you will see a couple of the cooking balls (with designs).

ETA: Wikipedia page for Poverty Point with photo of many cooking balls.

edit on 7-2-2013 by butcherguy because: (no reason given)

Intriguing. I had never heard of these cooking balls, although was aware that Australian Aborigines for example use hot pebbles in their earth ovens.





Looking at the clay balls you speak of the one at the very front of this picture (wiki) with the symmetrical pattern reminds me of the OP.

reply to post by punkinworks10


Actually, if you would read the link about the Poverty Point Indians and the Tchefuncte Indians, you would find that they did create ceramics and cook with these balls. Your wrong. Again.

Spheres appear frequently in Pictish stonework, and it's always been widely believed they normally represent the Sun and Moon, but some of these look similar to the original objects.

I stopped reading at stone balls.

Terrible condition.

reply to post by MysterX


Nice thread, stone balls have always intrigued me... seriously. I haven't searched ATS or read all the comments here so apologies if this has already been said.

Firstly I am ignoring all embellishments and consider artistic carving as a later reworking of a SIMPLE TOOL into a work of art. In these theories the smooth sphere is used for ROLLING:

1. SMALL UK BALLS..

BALL BEARINGS BUILT STONEHENGE! This is the theory that the small, identically sized, smooth (or carved at a later date?) spheres were placed in grooves on movable oak TRACKS to easily shift stones as large as the Stonehenge Sarson Stones... These balls are found along the proposed route the stones took from Wales and near other stone circles...

news.nationalgeographic.co.uk...

2. LARGE GLOBAL BALLS..

MASSIVE BALLS CLEAR FORESTS! This is MY theory that the large balls (and possibly Olmec stone heads) started life as 'wrecking balls' that rather than swing from a crane are pushed down a mountain (or any route) to clear heavy vegetation and the odd tree, thus creating a TRACK...

The artwork and symbols are perhaps more important to history, but in my opinion, not the reason many of the SPHERES were ROLLED OUT in the first places...???

Originally posted by MrSmith
Looks like "bola sling" rocks to me, Im not sure the actual name. Outside the box thought, I'll give you points for that much. But I would bet my house on the majority of those images being Bola sling rocks and the other being art forms or another use.

I believe in the ancient lost civilizations theory(s) but I dont think the technology they used was anything on the level your suggesting with this theory.

edit on 7-2-2013 by MrSmith because: (no reason given)

I too subscribe to this, as stated a page back. One thing occurred to me later though. Were they used for 'Bolo' projectiles, it seems likely that some would be found chipped or broken in half... ie. an errant target collision thus breaking in the persuit, and hitting something unmovable..... thus destroying all or part of the ball.
I'll agree, a couple seem unfit for Bolos, being hollow and to ornate. Those I'd chalk up to artwork.

Speaking from some experience, I don't think all the balls have the same function. For one thing, they come from many different time periods and are created by a lot of different techniques.

So I don't think there's a single answer. Different cultures used them differently -- some seem to be designed as beads, while others MAY have been used in cooking (grinding things) or in testing kilns or many other things. Some may be related to astronomical features, and others may be related to games -- or something else that the tribe/culture did that we don't do in the same way today.

I don't think answers come from "just looking at them." We also need to do test samples of the surfaces to see what else is there (blood? grain dust? pollen? paint?) to help us decide what they might have been used for.

Originally posted by PrivateSi
MASSIVE BALLS CLEAR FORESTS! This is MY theory that the large balls (and possibly Olmec stone heads) started life as 'wrecking balls' that rather than swing from a crane are pushed down a mountain (or any route) to clear heavy vegetation and the odd tree, thus creating a TRACK...

That's a heck of a lot of work to create something that only crushes plants (which then spring right back up, in my experience.) And it wouldn't be good for paths or tracks, because rolling rocks take the easiest route -- like straight off a cliff. Humans need to zigzag up and down steep slopes.

...and I'm saying this as an experienced hiker.

Awesome! but yet we're still told over and over again that the ancients knew so little and we know so much.

What an egotistical age we live in.

This is a wonderful thread, well done OP S+F to you

I am a little disappointed however that noone took the time to to look at my first post in this thread and give their thoughts on what i found which looks very similar in the link.

Never mind

Kindest respects

Rodinus

Originally posted by yamammasamonkey
reply to post by punkinworks10

 

Actually, if you would read the link about the Poverty Point Indians and the Tchefuncte Indians, you would find that they did create ceramics and cook with these balls. Your wrong. Again.

edit on 7-2-2013 by yamammasamonkey because: (no reason given)

Actually, I'm absolutely right.
The poverty point people cooked in pits, not in ceramic vessels.

Stone cooking balls were used to prepare meals. Scholars believe dozens of the cooking balls were heated in a bonfire and dropped in pits along with food.

en.m.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by Plotus

Were they used for 'Bolo' projectiles, it seems likely that some would be found chipped or broken in half... ie. an errant target collision thus breaking in the persuit, and hitting something unmovable..... thus destroying all or part of the ball.

This is probably the major reason why Bolas weights or mace type weapons as an explanation for their purpose has been pretty much discounted by most Historians....none have been found that have chips or damage consistent with them being used in such a way...not even on the ones made from relatively soft sandstone.

I think it's a great idea though, since the idea was brought up, i can imagine some of these being used as weapons quite easily, but the condition of the spheres doesn't support it...not yet anyway.

Perhaps some will be found at some point that does have damage consistent with being repeatedly struck or thrown.