Carved stone balls, usually not perfectly round but formed into patterns of knobs and grooves, are Neolithic artefacts from all over Scotland, including from Orkney. This one found at Skara Brae is rougher and less evenly carved than some of the others.
We have a large collection of these prehistoric carved stone balls, but we don’t know what they were for. An academic overview of many possibilities shows that none of them are convincingly supported at the moment. Coming to this as an author rather than an archaeologist, I consider that an opportunity for some creative license – in line with some of the research, particularly the work on the sensory properties of these items, but with a good helping of wild and unfounded speculation.
Specifically, I was struck by their similarity to some modern fidget toys. This round one has a certain visual similarity but in terms of use I think it might be more like a tangle or a fidget cube. Many different fidget toys, purpose designed or accidental, help people to focus – especially, but not only, some people with autism and ADHD. At their best, they feel good, and that’s part of the point.
Comparing the modern fidget toys with the carved stone balls, the points of comparison start to emerge. A purpose built fidget toy is often, although not always, symmetrical or patterned; it often has surfaces with different textures; it fits in the hand easily but needs enough weight and size not to be fiddly or easily dropped; it’s somehow satisfying. A favourite fidget toy is personal, so there are many different designs and people find their own preferences.
When I created the world of Carving a New Shape, I used that connection to imagine that one of the main characters making her own fidget toy, which happens to be a carved stone ball. In fact, the making becomes part of the use, so that she is holding and feeling the toy as she works on shaping it – just as colouring in or moulding plasticine can be calming and help with focus, too. One of the academic studies mentioned that the carved stone balls are a bit large and heavy for children’s hands, but in my story this is a tool used by adults – and so, in modern society, perhaps replaced by something not even designed as a fidget toy but by the jewelry or pen someone plays with while they listen.
Carving a New Shape is coming out on September 4th and can be ordered in ebook or paperback formats.
Rhiannon Grant 