Todd, T. N. (2006). The aerodynamics of carved stone balls. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 136. Vol 136, pp. 61-74.
Title The title of the publication or report |
The aerodynamics of carved stone balls | ||||
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Issue The name of the volume or issue |
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 136 | ||||
Series The series the publication or report is included in |
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland | ||||
Volume Volume number and part |
136 | ||||
Page Start/End The start and end page numbers. |
61 - 74 | ||||
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Licence Type ADS, CC-BY 4.0 or CC-BY 4.0 NC. |
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Publication Type The type of publication - report, monograph, journal article or chapter from a book |
Journal | ||||
Abstract The abstract describing the content of the publication or report |
Over 400 carved stone balls have been found in Scotland, usually attributed to the Neolithic period and often described as `unknown in function' or `probably ritualistic'. The article offers a new hypothesis for their use, demonstrating that these balls are unexpectedly well optimized, in terms of their aerodynamics and mass, for unaided throwing by hand. This may explain their otherwise surprising uniformity in size and weight and their generally rough surface texture (which reduces air drag), due to carving and/or picking-out left unpolished. The mass distribution for over 200 examples held in various Scottish museums and archive stores is presented in support of this hypothesis. Includes Appendix 1: possible applications of the carved stone balls of Scotland. | ||||
Year of Publication The year the book, article or report was published |
2006 | ||||
Locations Any locations covered by the publication or report. This is not the place the book or report was published. |
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ADS Archive
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Created Date The date the record of the pubication was first entered |
08 Oct 2007 |