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 balls 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 and the lecture are both about the purpose of the spherical stone balls found in the Scotland. The article presents three theories about the functions of the sphere object. The lecturer disputes the claims made in the article. Her position is that, they are all incorrect.
According, to the reading, the spherical balls that were found could have served as weapons in warfare. The article mentions that, ball consists of groves in which the chord could be attached, such that combined as a whole; it could be swing and throw at an object. This specific argument is challenged by the lecture. Her position is that, usually the items that are used as an weapons consists of wears and tears. However, in this particular case, no such wears have been found, on top of that, the objects were found in pristine condition, which helps to prove that, they were not used as weapons.
Secondly, the author suggests that, the balls could have been used in measurement, representing the standard unit of measuring during that period. In an article, it is suggested that, those items could have been used in the measurement of the grains and other daily food items. The lecturer however, asserts that balls were made up of various type of stone as a result, even though their size were same, the masses of each individual balls were different, due to the fact that different type of stone have different density. She goes on to say that, since the balls were made up of different types of stones, no two balls were identical and represent different mass, so it could not have been used in the measurement system.
Finally, the reading suggests that, it could have served as a symbol of higher status among the people living in that period. In contrast the lecturer stance is that, the carving in the stone balls was very simple to consider it as a valuable object. On top of that, she posits that, in past, people of power after their death were buried along with their prized possession, however, the no stone balls were found in the burial sites, proving the otherwise.
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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 1, column 186, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_BEGINNING_RULE
Message: Three successive sentences begin with the same word. Reword the sentence or use a thesaurus to find a synonym.
...out the functions of the sphere object. The lecturer disputes the claims made in th...
^^^
Line 2, column 376, Rule ID: EN_A_VS_AN
Message: Use 'a' instead of 'an' if the following word doesn't start with a vowel sound, e.g. 'a sentence', 'a university'
Suggestion: a
...hat, usually the items that are used as an weapons consists of wears and tears. Ho...
^^
Line 2, column 376, Rule ID: A_PLURAL[1]
Message: Don't use indefinite articles with plural words. Did you mean 'an weapon' or simply 'weapons'?
Suggestion: an weapon; weapons
...hat, usually the items that are used as an weapons consists of wears and tears. However, i...
^^^^^^^^^^
Line 4, column 130, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[2]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: contrast,
...ng the people living in that period. In contrast the lecturer stance is that, the carvin...
^^^^^^^^
Line 4, column 285, Rule ID: IN_PAST[1]
Message: Did you mean: 'in the past'?
Suggestion: in the past
...bject. On top of that, she posits that, in past, people of power after their death were...
^^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
finally, however, if, second, secondly, so, in contrast, as a result, on top of that
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 25.0 10.4613686534 239% => Less to be verbs wanted.
Auxiliary verbs: 7.0 5.04856512141 139% => OK
Conjunction : 5.0 7.30242825607 68% => OK
Relative clauses : 21.0 12.0772626932 174% => OK
Pronoun: 36.0 22.412803532 161% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 49.0 30.3222958057 162% => OK
Nominalization: 7.0 5.01324503311 140% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1718.0 1373.03311258 125% => OK
No of words: 361.0 270.72406181 133% => OK
Chars per words: 4.75900277008 5.08290768461 94% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.35889894354 4.04702891845 108% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.33896080346 2.5805825403 91% => OK
Unique words: 166.0 145.348785872 114% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.459833795014 0.540411800872 85% => More unique words wanted or less content wanted.
syllable_count: 520.2 419.366225166 124% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.4 1.55342163355 90% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 11.0 3.25607064018 338% => Less pronouns wanted as sentence beginning.
Article: 13.0 8.23620309051 158% => OK
Subordination: 2.0 1.25165562914 160% => OK
Conjunction: 0.0 1.51434878587 0% => OK
Preposition: 8.0 2.5761589404 311% => Less preposition wanted as sentence beginnings.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 16.0 13.0662251656 122% => OK
Sentence length: 22.0 21.2450331126 104% => OK
Sentence length SD: 57.3636630956 49.2860985944 116% => OK
Chars per sentence: 107.375 110.228320801 97% => OK
Words per sentence: 22.5625 21.698381199 104% => OK
Discourse Markers: 5.25 7.06452816374 74% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 5.0 4.19205298013 119% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 2.0 4.33554083885 46% => More positive sentences wanted.
Sentences with negative sentiment : 6.0 4.45695364238 135% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 8.0 4.27373068433 187% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.172800319528 0.272083759551 64% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0616175177293 0.0996497079465 62% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0543797552318 0.0662205650399 82% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.116076079543 0.162205337803 72% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0220418863041 0.0443174109184 50% => Paragraphs are similar to each other. Some content may get duplicated or it is not exactly right on the topic.
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 12.3 13.3589403974 92% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 66.07 53.8541721854 123% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 9.5 11.0289183223 86% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 10.62 12.2367328918 87% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.1 8.42419426049 96% => OK
difficult_words: 77.0 63.6247240618 121% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 6.0 10.7273730684 56% => Linsear_write_formula is low.
gunning_fog: 10.8 10.498013245 103% => OK
text_standard: 11.0 11.2008830022 98% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Write the essay in 20 minutes.
Rates: 73.3333333333 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 22.0 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.