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[Anew]

The Towie petrosphere was found on Glass Hill in the village of Towie in Aberdeenshire . It is a work of art ; believed to date from around 2850 bce (±350) . Here are links to some photos and pages ––



This page has the best rapidly accessible photograph i've found . Moving the mouse over it brings up a second, magnified, image

Wikipedia's page on the subject

This page is from a blogger

This page is from the National Museum of Scotland

This page is from same

This page, from scotlandsimages.com, has a fine zoom feature based on a 56MB image . (It takes a minute to load)

This page is from ancient-wisdom.co.uk

This page is from Creative Media Consultants Associates, of Edinburgh

This page is from Rebecca Thompson1 of flickr

This page, which shows painted pebbles and a carved disk, is from same

This page, which has other stone balls, is from mikescottnz of flickr

This page, which has some Irish gold balls and torcs, is from same

This page shows three other stone balls, it is from flickr member pashmin@

This PDF, covering two other stone balls, i like for its period language



This item has puzzled me ; as it has many . Now, because i believe that the fly agaric toadstool, (Amanita muscaria), may have been part of prehistoric (temperate Eurasian) religious practice –– particularly as it involved death, the afterlife & (possibly) reincarnation –– i suggest that the broad knobs on the Towie petrosphere were meant to resemble open fly agaric caps . I suggest that the fine carving upon three of, (the four), of these may have been meant to embody some of the magic (i feel was) felt to reside within that toadstool ; and to act as psychedelic art for those nearby while under its influence . I think that it is most probable that these stone balls were used as ritual maces in mortuary practice . If that was the case, the smooth face would have been the working surface ; one, two, photos of a beautiful flint mace from Knowth, (in Ireland's Brú na Boinne), could reinforce that probability . It may also be considered whether some of these were used to play drums, either as mallet-heads or, (less plausibly as the knobs get flatter), in the manner of the cipín with a bodhrán . As a contemplative object, (if it was used this way), the smooth knob may have allowed it to be held without any engraving creating (tactile) distraction . It may (or may not) also have been considered bad luck to cover such designs . I suggest that the reason these balls are classically found by themselves in fields is that they may have been kept at/in the sacred trees/groves about which these toadstools grew –– to be with their magic . The knobs would allow them to be hung from a high branch between uses, if the people wished to do so .



The patterns carved into these knobs are worth considering and comparing with other items . The first comparison drawn, and understandably, is to Newgrange in Ireland, (& the Brú generally) . Recently, i compared the designs on some Greek wine/wine+ pottery to stone carving at the Brú and in Mongolia ; excerpt ––

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Turning now to the kantharos, one Attican example (from about 780 bce) has a number of features which seem to link it to the broader milieu . Left reaching swastikas, (two, possibly four), are prominent in the pattern around its middle . These are accented by grouped chevrons whose orientation is up-down, (more completely and with more emphasis, up) . In doing so, these chevrons are not paralleling the arms of the swastikas, making this choice orientation seem symbolic . Flanking the swastikas are herringbone patterns with a vertical, (2 up, 1 +1/2 +1/2 down), orientation –– again, the emphasis is upward . . . For more, and distant, examples of stacked chevrons one can consider these (one, two) Mongolian deer stones ; again the orientation is up . Deer stones are, (if i have the story right), believed to be funerary monuments depicting the flying-deer-borne ascent of a soul to the above-world –– they're also quite beautiful, as is the Mongol landscape . . . It is said that the serpentine design on this kantharos indicates that it was a "funerary present" . Such would further the similarity between this and those deer stones .

Looking to the Brú Na Boinne, the serpent or serpentine form is present at Knowth, near Newgrange, on this stone and this one . At Newgrange proper, (also a funerary monument), herringbone patterns appear here, and on the lintel above a basin . . . { Question, could that have been a 'singing bowl' ? Could stone do that for them ? } . . . Returning to the kantharos once more, the central design on its belly, between the swastikas and the herringbone, is an eight petaled flower . I know of none, but imagine this may have been linked to the cardinal and inter-cardinal directions –– that the flower itself is both fictitious and charmed . Grouped between the petals are eight triangular trinities of dots . . . Back to Newgrange –– this photo shows a triangular trinity of spirals, (together with a diamond and herringbone) . The triangular geometry between the spirals differs from the dot trinities of the kantharos, (which were roughly equilateral) . On this Newgrange stone, their centers approximate a 7:11:13 triangle, (something which may have held significance in the Isles) . This stone holds, (among other things), a trinity of spirals in a rather isosceles geometry, as does this one . It is not impossible (to my mind) that art which was psychedelic, (if this at Newgrange was, as i believe it may have been), could also have incorporated symbolism which had importance outside the realm of psychedelia .

Some of the same shapes/themes appear on the Towie sphere . Herringbone turns up in the company of spirals on one knob ; together with a few lines that approach being bordered stacked chevrons, (a feature of some Mongolian deer stones) . There is a trinity of dots in one of the fields between the knobs, a feature which is shared broadly within the milieu, and exampled in the linked post ; (it may be an element which survives to this day, as displayed at the top of this woman's right sleeve tattoo, which also includes herringbone and zig-zags) . There is also a merging trinity of concentric rings on one of the knobs . Another knob appears to have a quartet of spirals . There is also a reversing curve, (in fact, several, some in parallel), a serpentine form said to be associated with death . I'm not so sure, (as i've written before), and it occurs that in some contexts this might have held gut/intestinal meaning referencing earthly existence –– the fire in the belly .



No other stone ball is as finely worked as the Towie . Many have no ornament beyond their knobs, and many have rounder knobs . Rounder knobs may represent the fly agaric while it is still 'in bud', and the densely studded examples might represent a single cap, (with its fragments of broken veil) . Some bear too little resemblance to this toadstool to draw a connection . There is discussion of the balls representing platonic solids . Perhaps in some cases they do, and perhaps that math was seen as a charm . However, i think the six knobbed balls were referencing the cardinal points, with up and down, as set out in this post ; (though the intent could have been both) . Four knobbed balls, such as the Towie, might be worth checking to see if twice the site's latitude, (57˚12'0"), was reflected in the spacing between two of them, (114˚24'0") .

[Anew]

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I think that it is most probable that these stone balls were used as ritual maces in mortuary practice .

~ myself, from last post

This still seems probable to me, (the next day –– a common test) . (But their having used these to play drums does not seem probable ; and their having held them as meditation/trance aids does not seem principal, although it may have been done) . The mortuary practice i imagine is platform burial / sky burial, a form of excarnation . As maces, these could have been used to shatter bone –– assuming they took it that far, as a lack of sufficient (found) burials to account for the time's population in (some) British regions seems to imply . One can imagine that after the initial, (most ritually significant), blows were struck with such a mace, the bones were ground down using less ornamented stones, and/or pounded against each other using a large hardwood pestle within a hardwood or stone mortar . Into this context, one might fit mortuary stone basins such as the ones at the Brú na Boinne . One can imagine that the ground bone was then either mixed with fat and grain, (and fed to the birds, a practice continued in Tibet), or scattered around in places considered to have been significant to the dead .

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If that was the case, the smooth face would have been the working surface

~ same

I disagree today . It would be better if the Towie ball's unworked fourth knob was its hafting surface . Two methods could have been approached . First, to haft it like a meatball in a serving spoon, with the unworked knob facing the 'spoon-haft', and the valleys between the knobs used to lash the two together securely . This would favor striking with the corners of the three ornamented sides together, (which might spare delicate carving some damage) . Second would be a scepter-like centered mounting which would favor striking with the faces ; but i think that would not have been as strong as was needed for this work . A look at the ancient-wisdom page linked in the above post shows many stone balls which seem very much intended for this kind of duty . The center ball from pashmin@'s post is also persuasive . It's carving seems to have value as ornament, but much value as grip –– keeping the potentially slippery bone from skidding away .

[Anew]

I think the care paid to this item may have reflected beliefs about a charm/divinity in the number three . The tetrahedral shape presents faces with three sides and three corners . Three of its four knobs were engraved, and these (i believe) may have been meant to strike together .