Carved Stone Balls Artifact

Looking at an artifact’s physical attributes is always the first step to uncovering the archaeological significance

The first tools developed during the Paleolithic Era were made from chipped stones, wood and bone, and "nets from plant fibers and animal sinew" (Holt, Rinehart, & Wilson, n.d.: 2). The Neolithic Era brought forth greater specialization. People began to make chisels, drills, and saws to address specific needs and also polished stones to create sharper and more defined points (Holt, Rinehart, & Wilson, n.d.: 2). Language scholars trace the development of the first forms of systematized language to this era: "The crucial evolutionary development that led to the burst in creativity in the Neolithic was the emergence of human language as a method for integrating across cognitive modules" (MacWhinney 2005: 383). During this era, the use of stones began to have a utilitarian purpose in a manner that showed more sophisticated thinking.

The Minoan culture came to abrupt end an extremely old long time ago, roughly around fifteen lifetimes of the history of the United States, because wood and textiles were literally eaten away through decomposition, very few pieces of Minoan survive today. The Harvester’s Vase is one of the “finest” examples of Minoan pottery along with other notable Minoan works such as the Chieftains Cup and The Boxer Vase

The author Joy McCorriston, was a student at the Institute of Archaeology in London and found out about the chance to visit the Lascaux cave from a radio show contest. Although she didn’t “win” she was lucky enough to join the tour. She listens to stories from Monsieur Jaceues Marshal, a discoverer of the cave and the cave’s guard as she gets to tour the cave. Lascaux Cave’s discovery had come about because four local boys found a hiding place to tease and abandon an outsider, a Jewish boy sent south to flee Occupation in the north. (An alternative story of a lost dog negated the real and non-politically correct truth of the cave’s discovery).

And then transitioned to the Neolithic with the sculpture of the women and the physical remains of the Otzi caveman. The sculpture showed how they expressed and recorded their ways through art and Otzi showed how important personal items were.

In the 7th Century AD, an important individual was buried inside a ship in East Anglia. The ship most likely hauled up from the nearby river, a burial chamber was built in the center of the massive vessel. Luckily grave robbers did not reach the ship burial as they did other nearby burial mounds, because the ship was rich in history and artifacts including gold, silver, bowls, spoons, weapons, drinking horns and much more. Originally discovered in 1939, the artifacts and ship burial have been closely examined another 2 times. The artifacts found within the magnificent burial site have created a lot of stir over the past 80 years. Theories have changed on the significance and origins of the artifacts due to changing hypothesis or the arrival of new and different evidence. Because there are dozens of artifacts within Sutton Hoo, this paper will be focusing on a select four of them including; the ‘baptismal’ spoons, the Merovingian coin hoard, the whetstone, and the scepter. According to scholars over the past 80 years, how have opinions, evidence, or assumptions changed relating to these exact artifacts? This paper will be taking a contemporary look at the perspectives of different scholars on different artifacts and, finally, analyze why these perspectives have shifted or changed over time. To my knowledge, scholars do give credit to previous perspectives, but no scholar has every brought all the perspectives together and analyzed their findings.

4a) Using the sources 4-7, what do these artefacts tell historians and archaeologists about the iceman?

“In the dawn there is a man progressing over the plain by means of holes that he is making in the ground. He uses an implement with two handles and he chucks it into the hole and he enkindles the stone in the hole with his steel hole by hole striking the fire out of the rock which God has put there. On the plain behind him are the wanderers

First, the reading argues that the grooves and the hole on the surface of the carved balls indicate that people could hold and throw them for hunting and fighting. On the other hand, the lecturer refutes this claim and explains that the ancient weapons like arrows and hand weapons had a sign of wearing which there is no sign of it on the balls. Also, the surface of the ball is not cracked or broken and seems very well was preserved.

First, the reading states that the carved stone balls were weapons used in hunting or fighting. The professor opposes this point by saying that all the waepons from the neolithic period like the arrow have signs of war around the weapons head like cracks, these signs mean that they have been used before in fighting, while the carved stone balls don't have these signs, but they are very well preseved without any damage.

The first origin story presented in the text is one that is most subject to scrutiny. For the purpose of this paper, the interpretation used here is from an archaeological teacher that used this text as a way to explain the origins of the same three subjects I am discussing. By interpreting the proposed origin story of bronze through the corresponding text and looking at the time period Enmerkar is believed to have ruled with the historical and archaeological data that has been discovered from the site of Uruk, the first origin story describes the creation of bronze in the form of a scepter created during Enmerkar’s response to the second counterchallenge. The lord of Aratta requested that Enmerkar make a scepter from no known substance and bring it to him (Vanstiphout 79).

If you want something to last for a long time, there are not many better ways to do it than in stone. Though they are separated by hundreds of years and miles, two sculptures make an interesting study in the similarities and differences in such attempts to last the test of time. The Royal Acquaintances Memi and Sabu, from approximately 2500 B.C. Egypt, captures two individuals, a male and female in simple clothing, standing and holding one another with some hieroglyphic writing on the base (Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.d.a). The Statue of Gudea, from 2090 B.C. Mesopotamia or modern-day Iraq, is a statue of a sitting male wearing seemingly special clothing and a robe upon which text is inscribed. Visual observations of the pieces may suggest some similarity, but an understanding of each with context seems to drive them further apart from one another.

Ancient Mesopotamia was home to many artistic and mechanical developments. This was due to the emerging civilizations in the fourth millennium BCE. Among these creations, archaeologists discovered musical instruments, which were carefully crafted by Sumerian artists. One of the most acclaimed artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia is the Bull-Headed Lyre. The discovery of the lyre has reinvented the way that history professionals evaluate early human civilization. The Bull-Headed Lyre has impacted history by creating a foundation for an expression of beliefs about wealth in the Sumerian culture. This will be examined through a visual analysis of the Bull-Headed Lyre, evaluating its discovery, and analyzing its representation of wealth.

No place has generated so much speculation and wild theories as the standing stones of Stonehenge. After traveling for miles through the rolling hills and plains of the English countryside the sight of this unusual structure made me gasp. A walk around it only provoked more strange feelings. There's a sense that this is something very important. For over 5000 years it has stood silent vigil over the

The “who’s,” “how’s,” and “why’s” behind this majestic monument are based on many (usually conflicting) myths, guesstimates, and theories. As a result, we have no definite answers for the probing questions about Stonehenge’s existence. However, each theory grants the Neolithic monument its character and mystique, as well as society’s best guesses as to its true origin and purpose. Therefore, I shall proceed to discuss both the fantastical and probable theories behind the mystery of Stonehenge.