Julian Cope presents Head Heritage | The Modern Antiquarian Forum

Steve Gray

931 posts

Re: Rock Art Mystery

Oct 09, 2003, 18:26

Pity about that last post of yours Hob, I was just about to launch in with a merry jest about your antlers.

Anyhow, I wouldn't go wasting you antlers on anything hard. When hard stones were sculpted by the ancients it was with other hard stones. The Egyptians crafted granite by striking it with dolerite balls and then polished it with stone slips and water. I assume these techniques would be well known to many Stone Age cultures.

Incidentally, Mark Lehner (Egyptologist) tried to use a dolerite ball to chip away at some granite and gave himself a nasty ache in his wrist, silly man. I sent him an email telling him how to do it, but he didn't reply. :o( You have to let go of the ball a few inches from the surface so that it bounces back and then you catch it. It takes a bit of practice, but it don't arf save your wrists. Also, a bounce produces up to twice the force of a non-bouncing impact. I believe that the balls would have started out as cobbles and become approximately round through repeated use.

In reply to:
Re: Rock Art Mystery (Hob)

Replies:
Jimmy Somerville says ... (FourWinds)
Re: Rock Art Mystery (AtomicMutton)
Re: Rock Art Mystery (Hob)

The Modern Antiquarian Forum » Rock Art Mystery	Log In to post a reply

112 messages	Topic View: Flat \| Threaded