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

Originally posted by skalla
reply to post by Harte

 

i'm not disagreeing with you, i'm enjoying a rare rational exchange of ideas/opinions on ats

It is rare, ain't it? Must be a blue moon.

Anyway, I doubt that the Scottish stones date to the early mesolithic and I'm waay too lazy to go back and check.

People were drilling holes in shells and stones a looong time ago. Now that I think of it, if these were mace heads, they would be ceremonial or something because they wouldn't be as useful as ones that were drilled.

I like the fishing net weight idea too.

At any rate, they appear to be carved to accept cords lashed onto something, whatever that something might be.

Harte

a reply to: shaneBMD

Not sure if you still come here, but if you do, did the hemispherical stones (with grooves) your family dug up while farming look anything like these ones?



These are 9th century gaming stones or pieces, made from amber found in a Swedish burial mound around 2005.

Perhaps what you found were another example of gaming counters or pieces?

The river next to your land may well have been the source of all the artifacts you're now finding on your farmland..rivers change course almost constantly, over a period of time the course can change dramatically...perhaps the river once ran through what is now your farm?

Apologies this reply is months after your post, but i'm afraid i've neglected this thread a little. (a lot actually)

Thanks.

originally posted by: punkinworks10
For the balls with cord grooves ,
hunting net or fish net weights are a possibility.

Thanks for your input, but honestly, i have a hard time accepting these ornate stones were used for fishing net weights.

When i imagine how many long days must have been spent on making and decorating these things, it seems unlikely the makers would risk all that effort being snagged on something and lost under the waves, just to weigh down a net.

Many other stones just picked up laying around would seem a less risky option to use on fishing nets...if they're were lost, which probably happened quite often i'd think, it wouldn't be a great loss.

Losing something ornate and highly decorative, which must have taken a lot of effort and time to produce would be a great loss to whoever carved it.

I certainly wouldn't have risked losing these stones that way.

But...who knows, perhaps the more ornate the fishing weight, and the more effort put into producing them might have been thought to bring luck on the fishing trip?

Maybe if they thought their gods were pleased with the work on the spheres, they would help them to catch lots more fish?

Still...it's would have been heartbreaking to have lost these on an afternoons fishing trip.