Polished 5,500-Year-Old Stone Balls Found in Neolithic Scottish Tomb

Livia Gershon/Smithsonianmag.com

Archaeologists excavating a tomb at one of Scotland’s oldest known monuments have discovered two polished, 5,500-year-old stone balls, reports Alison Campsie for the Scotsman.

The team made the find at Tresness, a chambered cairn on the Orkney island of Sanday that dates to around 3500 B.C.E.

“A cracking find from the tomb!” wrote Hugo Anderson-Whymark, senior curator of prehistory at the National Museum of Scotland, on Twitter after the first ball’s discovery. “Only 20 or so Neolithic polished stone balls have been found in Orkney and few have been recovered from secure contexts.”

Anderson-Whymark later posted that the second ball was “the size of a cricket ball, perfectly spherical and beautifully finished. It’s split along bedding in the banded sandstone but will be amazing when conserved.”

Researchers have previously found plain stone balls at other sites in Orkney, including the Neolithic village of Skara Brae and the complex of buildings known as the Ness of Brodgar, reports the Press and Journal’s Ellie Milne. Archaeologists have also unearthed more than 500 carved stone balls, some in Orkney but most elsewhere.

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Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator.

She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescue pups.

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