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Encyclopaedia of the North East

B - Ball, carved stone to Beaker

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A large red manuscript capital letter B, with carved stone balls, ceramic beakers and implements for making and cooking bannocks.

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ball, carved stone 19c- n
Small, spherical stone object of unknown use found mainly in NE Scotland, prob made c2500BC. 

attached to sticks and used as weapons
J Smith 1876 

mounted as mace-heads 
Joseph Anderson 1883 

moveable poises on primitive weighing machines 
L Mann 1914 

the same abnormal distribution as the so-called Pictish symbols
V Gordon Childe 1931 

thrown competitively from one place to another 
E Evans 1957 

prestige objects 
E MacKie 1976 

used at clan conferences, the chief handling it as he considered a judgement 
D N Marshall 1977 

Carved stone ball. Roughly the size of a tennis ball. Black, coarse stone ball with six large squarish knobs equidistant from one another.

Found in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:17799

Carved stone ball. Roughly the size of a tennis ball. Brown stone ball, very round, with six large flat circular knobs equidistant from one another.

Found in Kemnay, Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:16289

Carved stone ball. Roughly the size of a tennis ball. Dark grey, polished stone ball with 42 small round knobs.

Found in Kildrummy, Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:14231

Carved stone ball. Roughly the size of a soft ball. Beige stone ball with 30 large round knobs arranged irregularly.

Found in Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:16316

Carved stone ball. Roughly the size of a tennis ball. Black stone ball, very round and polished smooth except for a triangular shaped depression on one side which has six shallow round knobs arranged in a pyramid pattern.

Found in Insch, Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:16273

Carved stone ball. Roughly the size of a tennis ball. Brown, coarse stone ball with six small squarish flat knobs arranged equidistant to each other.

Found in Skelmuir Old Deer, Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:17806

Carved stone ball. Roughly the size of a tennis ball. Black, polished stone ball with four large flat circular knobs arranged equidistant from each other. The knobs have a finely cut grid pattern and each square is rounded to produce tiny squarish knobs. The spaces between the large knobs are cut with lines that flow around the knobs.

Found in Towie, Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:16250

Carved stone ball. Roughly the size of a tennis ball. Beige stone ball with four large, flat circular knobs equidistant from each other. Three of the knobs have different spiral and rose like designs cut on them.

Found in Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:15673

Carved stone ball. Roughly the size of a tennis ball. Grey stone ball with six large, flat circular knobs equidistant from each other. Each knob has a fine grid pattern cut into it.

Found in Fyvie, Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:17804

Carved stone ball. Roughly the size of a tennis ball. Brown stone ball with four large, circular knobs and an additional four small round knobs in between the larger ones.

Found in Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:17800

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bannock 17c-, bannok la16c-e17c n 
1 A round flat cake, usu of oat-, barley- or pease-meal, baked on a girdle la16c-. 
2 A quantity of meal sufficient to make a bannock, due to the servant of a mill from each of those using it la16c-18c. 
3 A flat cake (of tallow or wax) la16c-e19c. 
~ stane n 
A stone placed in the fire, on which bannocks were baked la18c-e20c 
[nME bannok, OE bannuc; cfGael bonnach, bannach]. 

Oatcakes. A square tin of oatcakes.

Oatcakes (1990).

LEMUR:1000091

Sway and cruik. A large iron arm on a pole allowing it to rotate. Suspended on the arm with a hook and chain is a circular griddle composed of straight and wavy bars of iron.

Sway and cruik used to suspend branders, pots etc over the fire from Darnabo, Fyvie (late 18th cent.)

ABDUA:15915

Frying pan. A wide circular iron pan with a spout, and a handle looping over the top.

Girdle / frying pan from Darnabo, Fyvie, Aberdeenshire (late 19th - early 20th cent.)

ABDUA:15921

Bannock stone. A large piece of brown stone, with a circular depression carved out of it. The base is flat allowing the stone to stand with the circular depression upright.

Bannock stane placed in front of the fire to toast 'brandered' bannocks, Sauchenbog, Kildrummy (late 18th cent.)

ABDUA:16317

Bannock spades. Small metal spades or spatulas, top to bottom: tombstone shaped spatula with small holes pierced in it, spatula shaped like the outline of a heart with an arrow on the inside pointing toward the tip, spatula shaped like a rounded shield with a hole in the middle.

Bannock spades for turning and removing bannocks.

top: From Darnabo, Fyvie (1940s). ABDUA:15666

middle: Made by blacksmith, Aberdeenshire (19th cent.) ABDUA:18488

bottom: From Aberdeenshire (19th cent.) ABDUA:18489 

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Beaker n 
A large drinking bowl or cup specif a type of prehistoric pottery. 

Usually discovered by chance, either during deep ploughing or gravel quarrying careful excavation reveals a fragmentary skeleton, laid on its side with its legs drawn up to the chin, and, lying beside the body, a highly decorated, hand made pot this pot, or beaker, has been commonly used to name the Late Neolithic inhabitants of the Grampian Region (c2700-1700BC).
Ian A.G. Shepherd 1986 Powerful Pots

Ceramic beaker. A pot which slightly flares out at the middle, before narrowing at the neck and flaring out toward the rim. It is decorated with dotted vertical, horizontal and chevron lines.

Beaker found in cist with young male skeleton in Auchrynie, Fetterangus, Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:19744

Ceramic beaker. A pot which slightly flares out at the middle, before narrowing at the neck and flaring out toward the rim. It is decorated with dotted vertical, horizontal and zig zag lines.

Beaker found at Westside of Brux, Mossat, Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:19739

Ceramic beaker. A pot which slightly flares out at the middle, before narrowing at the neck and flaring out toward the rim. It is decorated with incised vertical and horizontal lines, cross hatching and large triangles pointing upward containing lines and cross hatching.

Beaker found in an empty cist on Mill Farm, Rathen, Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:19738

Ceramic beaker. A small pot which slightly flares out at the middle, before narrowing at the neck and flaring out toward the rim. It is decorated with dotted vertical and horizontal lines and cross hatching.

Beaker found in cist on the Hill of Elrick, Newhills, Aberdeenshire.

ABDUA:19696

Ceramic beaker. A large pot which slightly flares out at the middle, before narrowing at the neck and flaring out toward the rim. It is decorated with dotted vertical and horizontal lines and cross hatching.

Beaker from cist containing a young male skeleton, strike-a-light, 2 arrowheads, 2 pieces of worked flint, a piece of quartzite and a fragment of a bronze dagger blade in Tavelty, Kintore.

ABDUA:14475

B - Ball, carved stone to Beaker