3 1/2" clay ball hand blown?

[niteranger]

I got this clay ball at a thrift shop, it measures about 3 1/2" in diameter, has all kinds of lines engraved I guess you'd call them, all over the ball, nothing distinct, the hole looks like it could have been hand blown? Around the hole has like a smooshed down lip around the edge, that piece of glue and paper reminds me of how people mark Indian artifacts or other artifacts, only this came with nothing identifying it. Any help identifying it would be great!! THANKS!

 

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[DCMatt]

Chia pet egg?



DCMatt

 

[Breezie]

LOL Matt! Is this ball solid or hollow? If it is solid, it could be a 'mill ball' used in crushing stones. Breezie

 

[2screwed]

Early hand grenade or fire bomb?

 

[VanitysBaby]

a guy on ebay is selling two for almost a grand. calling them ancient archaeological hollow clay balls. The size seems about right.

http://www.coin-newbies.com/articles/clay.html

At the same time that counting was invented, phonetic or syllabic writing was developed.The earliest tokens, from 8000 BC, are simple geometric shapes. Cones, pinched cones, spheres, and disks probably represented heads of livestock, measures of grain, etc. It is telling that the earliest known _pictograph_ for a sheep is a quartered circle. This is definitely an outgrowth of the precedent token, a quartered disk. Herein lies the startling conclusion that writing did not evolve from pure pictographs. Rather, pictographs evolved from tokens. The shape of a token became the style of the written symbol.The archeological evidence presented in these works includes clay "envelopes" for storing tokens. Once sealed and dried, of course, the hollow clay balls hid their contents. The solution was to impress on the outside of the envelope, the shapes stored inside. These impressions share the surface of the balls with the seals of the magistrates or clerks who tallied them. Eventually, the hollow clay balls, impressed with the shapes of the tokens inside, evolved into clay tablets, marked with the cuneiform representation of the tokens.

 

[VanitysBaby]

it will be really cool if that's what yours is. good luck.

 

[DCMatt]

All kidding aside - I am no expert in pottery but I don't think you can "blow" clay. This piece almost looks like someone formed the clay around a balloon. I looked at the hollow clay balls on ebay and by comparison, I don't get the sense that this one is very old. Also, the ebay seller gives no additional info on the balls.

I need more information if I'm going to do any additional research.

Did you try posting in the Indian Artifacts forum here on Tnet? Where did you buy them?

DCMatt

 

[doublet2a]

Could it be a poorly made carpet ball?

Tim

 

[Breezie]

Fire Bombs

Early hand grenade or fire bomb?

Yes, both China and Japan had clay fire bombs. As I asked earlier, is it hollow or solid? If it is hollow it very well could be a clay bomb, especially since it has an opening. During WWII, Japan was going to drop clay bombs filled with FLEAS on to California (LOL, YES, truth is stranger than fiction.) Breezie
PS: I've opted to post in BOLD since in this new software text is somewhat hard to distinguish the 'post' from the 'signature.' Hopefully everyone will follow suit, and the post will be easier to read. If this BOLD is annoying, please send me a PM.

 

[niteranger]

hi breezie, its hollow.

 

[niteranger]

Thanks, no, I couldn't find an indian artifact list, I got this at a thrift store in lower michigan, Detroit area. It's hollow, I have no idea if they blow clay or not, the lip around that little hole leads me to think it had a tube in it when it was made

 

[niteranger]

Thats a mouthful!! lol!! that would be cool if thats what this is, but, how would one determine that? I'll have to look at that ebay site you got here, how would someone even make that claim without a pedigree for such a claim?? Be nice to know nowadays. THANKS!

 

[niteranger]

THats interesting Breezie! Another, how could even that claim be made?

 

[stefen]

I would suspect that the ball is formed by pouring a clay slurry into a mold in the same manner as ceramics are formed...

In fact, this could be an unfired and unglazed ceramic globe of sorts...

As to its purpose...that's anybodies guess...

 

[niteranger]

welp, I looked at the ebay one you have mentioned, I didn't look at the size, but there is no hole in that ball and the surface looks smooth unlike mine. And I really can't see them balls selling for 999.99 or .95, fergot! lol. Like you stated, they give no pedigree or any other knowledge of their existance what-so-ever. I like the flea bomb notion, ROFLMAO! There's a story to tell. lol...

 

[VanitysBaby]

welp, I looked at the ebay one you have mentioned, I didn't look at the size, but there is no hole in that ball and the surface looks smooth unlike mine. And I really can't see them balls selling for 999.99 or .95, fergot! lol. Like you stated, they give no pedigree or any other knowledge of their existance what-so-ever. I like the flea bomb notion, ROFLMAO! There's a story to tell. lol...

i admit it's a stretch to think they are that old but why not dream big? :P. from what i understand the counting balls had a hole until they were filled with enough clay markers to equal whatever was being inventoried then they were sealed. my first thought though was a toilet float. i guess it's somewhere between the two.

 

[DCMatt]

Early hand grenade or fire bomb?

These are modern and made of paper, but could be an old school fireworks ball?




DCMatt

 

[VanitysBaby]

^ wow, that looks like the best guess.