TPO 33 Integrated Writing Task

The article presents three theories about purpose and meaning of curved stone balls, a curious type of artifact found in a number of locations in Scotland. However, the professor explains why none of them are convincing, although they seems plausible.
One theory states that the carved balls were weapons used in hunting or fighting. The professor refutes this point by saying that weapons should show sign of used, similar to the wear and tear patterns visible in other Neolithic period hunting tools such as axes and arrow. In contrast curved ball surfaces are very well preserved which contradicts the first theory.
A second theory is that carved balls were used as part of a primitive measuring system. However, the professor refutes this point by saying that masses of curved balls vary significantly which disqualified it to use for measuring weights. She further explains that stone balls were made with different types of stones with different densities. Therefore same size stones could have largely different weight, which is not a good feature to a measuring system.
Third theory states that the carved stone balls served a social purpose as opposed to a practical or utilitarian one based on elaborate designs found on them. The professor opposes this point by some curved stone are small and simple to be used in a social event. She further states that, in neolithic period funeral rituals were major social event and when some one died it was customary to bury their possession near the grave. But the fact that the researches have never found these curved near neolithic burials suggest that third theory has lost it's grounds.