Carved stone balls are a curious type of artifact found at a number of locations in Scotland. They date from the late Neolithic period, around 4,000 years ago. They are round in shape; they were carved from several types of stone; most are about 70 mm in diameter; and many are ornamented to some degree. Archaeologists do not agree about their purpose and meaning, but there are several theories.
One theory is that the carved stone balls were weapons used in hunting or fighting. Some of the stone balls have been found with holes in them, and many have grooves on the surface. It is possible that a cord was strung through the holes or laid in the grooves around the ball. Holding the stone ball at the end of the cord would have allowed a person to swing it around or throw it.
A second theory is that the carved stone balls were used as part of a primitive system of weights and measures. The fact that they are so nearly uniform in size—at 70 mm in diameter—suggests that the balls were interchangeable and represented some standard unit of measure. They could have been used as standard weights to measure quantities of grain or other food, or anything that needed to be measured by weight on a balance or scale for the purpose of trade.
A third theory is that the carved stone balls served a social purpose as opposed to a practical or utilitarian one. This view is supported by the fact that many stone balls have elaborate designs. The elaborate carving suggests that the stones may have marked the important social status of their owners.
The reading passage and the lecture both mainly discuss the purpose of carved stone balls which have been found in Scotland and are considered to be 4000 years old. While the writer provides three different theories explaining their purposes, the lecturer disputes them and calls these ideas very unconvincing.
First, according to the reading, it is possible that they could have been weapons used for hunting or fighting, however, the lecturer challenged this idea, she added that other weapons such as arrows and hand-axis which had been used as weapons have shown signs of cracking or damage due to the fact that, they had been using, yet in these balls, there is no sign of damage and actually they have been very well-preserved.
Secondly, the author suggests that the carved ball stones might have been used as a standard scale for measuring weight since they are similar in size. On the other hand, the woman in the lecture opposes this theory, she professes that the stone balls are similar in shape and diameter but not in their weight. Considering that they had been made from different types of stone with different density, therefore, they are different in their weight and could not have been used for measuring.
Lastly, the author posits that carved balls would have brought social status for their owners, due to the elaborated carving on them. In contrast, the lecturer contends that, traditionally, if someone belong to high status had been died, they must have buried with their position, but none of these balls have been found in tombs and graves. Moreover, she adds that some of the carvings on the balls are extremely simple to be used for elaboration in design.
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| 2023-01-31 | reza_fattahi | 83 | view |
| 2023-01-20 | nikki07hung | 85 | view |
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Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 7, column 202, Rule ID: HE_VERB_AGR[1]
Message: The pronoun 'someone' must be used with a third-person verb: 'belongs'.
Suggestion: belongs
...ontends that, traditionally, if someone belong to high status had been died, they must...
^^^^^^
Line 7, column 367, Rule ID: SOME_OF_THE[1]
Message: Simply use 'some'.
Suggestion: some
...mbs and graves. Moreover, she adds that some of the carvings on the balls are extremely sim...
^^^^^^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
actually, but, first, however, if, lastly, moreover, second, secondly, so, therefore, well, while, in contrast, such as, on the other hand
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 19.0 10.4613686534 182% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 5.0 5.04856512141 99% => OK
Conjunction : 13.0 7.30242825607 178% => OK
Relative clauses : 11.0 12.0772626932 91% => OK
Pronoun: 32.0 22.412803532 143% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 30.0 30.3222958057 99% => OK
Nominalization: 2.0 5.01324503311 40% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1413.0 1373.03311258 103% => OK
No of words: 285.0 270.72406181 105% => OK
Chars per words: 4.95789473684 5.08290768461 98% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.10876417139 4.04702891845 102% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.36170327338 2.5805825403 92% => OK
Unique words: 150.0 145.348785872 103% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.526315789474 0.540411800872 97% => OK
syllable_count: 419.4 419.366225166 100% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.55342163355 97% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 7.0 3.25607064018 215% => Less pronouns wanted as sentence beginning.
Article: 7.0 8.23620309051 85% => OK
Subordination: 2.0 1.25165562914 160% => OK
Conjunction: 2.0 1.51434878587 132% => OK
Preposition: 4.0 2.5761589404 155% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 9.0 13.0662251656 69% => Need more sentences. Double check the format of sentences, make sure there is a space between two sentences, or have enough periods. And also check the lengths of sentences, maybe they are too long.
Sentence length: 31.0 21.2450331126 146% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively long.
Sentence length SD: 86.966717062 49.2860985944 176% => OK
Chars per sentence: 157.0 110.228320801 142% => OK
Words per sentence: 31.6666666667 21.698381199 146% => OK
Discourse Markers: 15.3333333333 7.06452816374 217% => Less transition words/phrases wanted.
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 2.0 4.19205298013 48% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 1.0 4.33554083885 23% => More positive sentences wanted.
Sentences with negative sentiment : 3.0 4.45695364238 67% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 5.0 4.27373068433 117% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.192130866229 0.272083759551 71% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0945415710035 0.0996497079465 95% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0521847480421 0.0662205650399 79% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.126051240953 0.162205337803 78% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0538088423837 0.0443174109184 121% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 17.8 13.3589403974 133% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 48.47 53.8541721854 90% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 14.2 11.0289183223 129% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.08 12.2367328918 99% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.89 8.42419426049 106% => OK
difficult_words: 67.0 63.6247240618 105% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 17.5 10.7273730684 163% => OK
gunning_fog: 14.4 10.498013245 137% => OK
text_standard: 18.0 11.2008830022 161% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 85.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 25.5 Out of 30
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.