COMPARATIVE ARCHAOLOGY. WR 
balls, so far as they were then known. According to the 
former authority, the circumstances in which they occur left 
no room to doubt that they belong to the pre-historic period, 
‘“ and were held in esteem by the primitive races of Britain. 
»» 
He states that two were shown to him in 1850, ‘‘ as part of 
the contents of a cist recently opened in the course of farming 
operations on the estate of Cochno, Dumbartonshire, one of 
which was made of highly polished granite, a species of rock 
””) 
unknown in that district. He also refers to another highly 
polished ball of flint, found within a stone coffin along with a 
human skeleton, in a large cairn on the Moor of Glenquicken, 
Kirkeudbrightshire. The arm of the skeleton had been 
broken by a stone axe, of which a fragment still remained in 
the bone. 
On the other hand, Sir John Evans, after discussing the 
various uses assigned to the balls, comes to the conclusion that 
it was ‘* more probable that they were intended for use in the 
chase or war, when attached to a thong, which the recesses 
between the circles seem well adapted to receive.’’ Their 
chronological range he thus defines :—‘‘ Whatever the pur- 
pose of these British balls of stone, they seem to belong to a 
recent period as compared with that to which many other 
stone antiquities may be assigned.’’ ; 
Dr Smith classifies the stone balls into three varieties— 
first, those covered over all their surface with small round pro- 
jections; second, those with circular discs, either plain or 
ornamental, which project from their surface; and third, those 
of a corresponding size with their surface more or less carefully 
polished. 
After careful analysis of all the balls then available, 45 
in number, as regards their provenance, ornamentation, and 
distribution by counties, he allocated them as follows :—¥4 to 
the first class; 35 to the second; and 6 to the third. 
Dr Smith displays much ingenuity in support of ‘‘ the 
opinion that, instead of belonging to Stone or Bronze Ages, 
or any such indefinite or ancient period, it was much more 
likely these curious stone balls might belong to the ancient, 
though comparatively historic, periods of the sculptured 
