Video: One of the Biggest Weirdnesses of the Ancient World: The Mysterious Stone of Lake Winnipesaukee
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The Meredith Stone, as it is also called, absolutely rightly bears the title of the mysterious. This unique egg-shaped artifact has baffled all the world's experts since its discovery in the late 19th century. Even today, no one really knows what it really is. What versions do modern scientists have on this score?
This artifact has a very modest size: about ten centimeters high and six centimeters wide. The stone has a perfectly smooth, carefully polished surface. Its processing raises many more questions than answers.
This egg-shaped stone was created from dark quartzite - quartz sandstone, subjected to strong heating and high pressure. By all accounts, he cannot be of local origin. The surface of the stone is painted with very clear symbols and figures. For many years, scientists have been trying to unravel the origin of the artifact itself and its possible creators.
The mysterious object was found in 1872. At the time, businessman Seneca A. Ladd was doing construction work in Meredith, New Hampshire. He hired a team of workers to set up a fence on the site. While working, they accidentally stumbled upon a strange lump of clay. Inside was this mysterious and, despite the dirt, beautifully decorated stone, the size of a goose egg.
Quite recognizable symbols are carved on both sides of the stone, including images of the moon and arrows. The third side shows a wigwam with four poles. On the fourth, there is a certain oval and a human face. The face is carved in such a way that it does not protrude beyond the surface of the stone. The lips seem to give the depicted face some kind of emotional expression.
The symbols depicting ears of corn and crossed arrows are suggestive of Native American influence. Some experts believe that this combination symbolizes some kind of peace treaty. The holes found in the stone also suggest the same thoughts. They are drilled at both ends with different sized tools. These holes allow, for example, to stick a stone on a pole, which marks the border between the territories. Other ideas about the origin of the stone include the theory that it was a tool, weapon, or permanent tribal record.
Seneca A. Ladd at one time decided that the stone belonged to Native Americans. The level of craftsmanship with which the stone was cut raises doubts about this. The holes drilled in the stone are different in size and do not have a conical shape. They are very smooth inside, which makes you think that someone drilled them with the help of modern tools.
What is certain is that this egg-shaped object was made by an unknown craftsman, probably in the mid or late 1800s. And now it has been confusing historians for over a hundred years. There are theories of scientists that the artifact probably came to us from Celtic history. Perhaps this is the so-called "thunder stone"?
This assumption was made in 1931. The stone may be of Celtic or Inuit origin. A "thunder stone," also known as "thunderclap" or "thunder ax," is a machined stone object, often wedge-shaped like the blade of an ax, that allegedly fell from the sky. This may explain the fact that the stone was found in a lump of clay.
Many centuries ago, stones of this very strange shape often appeared in the fields. The peasants usually believed that this was the punishment of heaven, heavenly thunder and lightning. The mysterious Meredith Stone is not the only one of its kind, but is definitely unique to America so far. The Historical Society of New Hampshire received this stone as a gift from the Ladd family. It is now in the local museum where you can study it. This must be that rare occasion when you can look an egg in the eye! Will anyone ever be able to decipher the symbols on this artifact and unravel the mystery of one of the strangest historical finds …?
If you are interested in interesting archaeological discoveries, read our article on how archaeologists are puzzling over an ancient bowl with Christian symbols: the vandals of the past or the Holy Grail.
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