176 COMPARATIVE ARCHAZOLOGY. 
religious offering to the Gods, may suggest that some of the 
‘Shetland finds were of this nature; and this idea is strength- 
ened by the careful manner in which the specimens in some of 
the buried hoards were arranged. 
As to their age, we have already seen that some of them 
were associated at Modesty with implements of the Stone Age, 
which belonged to the period when a stunted arborescent vege- 
tation obtained in Shetland. Another important factor in this 
problem is the relation of the knives to the culture remains 
found in brochs, whose chronological range extends for 
nearly 1000 years, beginning about the time of the final de- 
parture of the Romans from Britain. Notwithstanding the 
fact that Shetland contained close on a hundred brochs, it 
is regrettable that none have been sufficiently excavated to 
yield a typical collection of relics. But although none of the 
Shetland knives have hitherto been found among the 
debris of brochs, it does not follow that the inhabitants of the 
latter were not acquainted with these unique implements. The 
spade alone can decide this question; but until this test is 
enforced by practical research there is presumptive evidence 
to show that the Shetland knives belong to the period which 
immediately preceded that of the Brochs. 
_Stone Batits.—Among the more mysterious relics of 
bygone days peculiar to Scotland must be reckoned those 
spherical-shaped objects, generally known as Ornamented 
Stone Balls. It appears that previous to 1851 these objects 
were so little known that only one specimen was in the Scot- 
tish National Museum of Antiquities; but at the present time 
their number is not far short of 200, three-fourths of which, 
including casts, are in the Museum, the rest being in other 
museums or in private collections. All the specimens hitherto 
known have been found within the Scottish area, with the 
exception of one said to have been found at Ballymena, Ire- 
land. 
Previous to 1874, when Dr John Alexander Smith con- 
tributed to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland his ex- 
haustive monograph on the subject (Proc., vol. xi), both Sir 
Daniel Wilson (Prehistoric Annals, 2nd ed.), and Sir John 
Evans (Ancient Stone Implements) had taken n tice of these 
